After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast Haldόra and I started the third day of our Westfjörds Adventure by driving to the seaside Ósvör Maritime Museum located east of Bolungarvík, about a twenty minute drive from Isafjörður.
We were the day’s first visitors and thus we had the whole museum to ourselves and got a chance to chat with the museum’s charismatic curator, Jόhann from Hanghόli (seen in photo above) who greets the museum’s visitors wearing a skin suit, similar to the one Icelandic sailors wore at the time of the fishing base.
Jόhann was very knowledgeable and we had a truly memorable and fun conversation with him while he showed us the double 19th century fishing base, the salt hut and the fish drying area with its drying hut . . . as well as the various displays with fish equipment, tools and last but not least the Ölver rowboat that gives a good idea of the ships that were used for fishing at the time.
Our next destination was Skálavík; an isolated bay and valley westwards from Bolugarvik that is walled of on all sides by mountains and is now uninhabited save for a couple of summer houses.
In former days, it was the home to a few fisheries-dependent farms by the seaside whose fishermen often faced the heavy surf from the open Atlantic, making landings in rowboats like Ölver (that we had seen at the museum) a dangerous and risky business.
Fortunately for us, we faced no winds and enjoyed a brisk walk in beautiful surroundings with only a few sheep and birds to keep us company.
By this time we were famished and to silence our grumbling stomachs we headed as quickly as possible to the small fishing village of Suðureyri, perched on the tip of the 13 km-long Súgandafjörður, where we enjoyed a delicious picnic before checking out the village and its popular outdoor swimming pool and hot-pots . . . that turned out to be tops!
Like I always say, when you are enjoying yourself, time flies and before we knew it was time to return to Ísafjörður . . . made easy by a newish 5 km tunnel through the mountains . . . for an early dinner at the Tjöruhúsið seafood restaurant. This restaurant is known for its fish soup and generous seafood buffet . . . and was the perfect venue for a truly entertaining evening with a lot of delicious food!
My Westfjords Adventure 2021/4! . . . coming soon . . .