Second week in Iceland (part 2)

After another night in the tiny car, I continued my trip, leaving The Westfjords behind. This day passed relatively uneventful, in spite of a few perilous situations on the gravel roads.
I drove as far as the western regions of Húnavatnssýsla, and went to sleep next to Hvítserkur, a 15m-high sea stack just off the shore. /picture below/

Around 4am, I woke up, as the first rays of the rising sun made me to. I could not miss the special lighting conditions, so I decided to go for a walk in the chill morning air, along the fjord. I soon noticed, that I was being followed by a couple of seals, who were keeping an eye on me from the water. I spent there an hour or two, just by observing busy oystercatchers, the occasionally passing flock of common eiders, and a few dozen of arctic terns protecting their nests. The latter ones are very aggressive birds, especially in the nesting season. The photo on the right was taken of one above my head, right before striking on me.

/click on the pictures to see them in bigger size/

Driving along the peninsulas in the north, makes you get used to the permanent view of snowy peaked mountains, fjords and the vast Greenland Sea.

But before you would get bored of them, you have the chance to dip in a natural hotspring (for example at Grettislaug - in the middle of nowhere, in absolute peace and silence), look inside a turf church, spot whales close to the shore of Eyjafjörður (the longest fjord in Iceland), or visit cold but very characteristic fishing villages.

Pictures from Siglufjörður and Ólafsfjörður (two settlements in the mountains):