The morning of the 1st of June presented itself well. Bright sunshine, no wind and a balmy 9C at 9am, summer had arrived - overnight. Got as high as 11C.That was until we got into the west fjords area then things went downhill, the sun got somewhat bashful and hid behind clouds and the wind picked up so that over some of the higher mountains along our route it dropped the temperature back to around 2C. There was plenty of snow on the ground too.We camped one night up in the mountains, not a real good idea, the overnight temp was below zero. that didn’t worry anyone so long as we were in the car it was lovely and cosy, however, when it came to getting out and making coffee or cooking porridge outiside then it was not such a happy circumstance. Don’t think my lot will be doing that again soon.A trip out to the cliffs at Latrabjarg to see the nesting sea birds is one of the highlights of a trip to Iceland. My lot had been out there last time and had got up close to Puffins and saw the other birds as well. So we headed out there: It was a terrible day. The wind was howling, the sun had up stakes and moved to warmer climes, and it seems as if the puffins had too. Not a puffin in sight. Through the howling gale, I very nearly got my ears blown off, we trudged up hill along the cliff top. Not the ideal place to be in a howling gale, one doesn’t venture too close to the edge because the wind was constantly veering from one direction to another so it blew us this way and that. We did get to see nesting fulmars and gullimots but couldn’t get close enough to the edge to lean over and see the Auks that nest near the bottom of the cliffs. the Puffins nest at the top, they dig burrows into the soil at the very edge on top. But as I said at the start not a puffin to be seen. It seems, we later learnt that at present they are only seen in the early morning and late in the evening. Now in this country where it doesn’t get dark at all at this time of year neither of my lot are quite game enough to ask just at what time early morning might be, it is 2am to 3am or a more acceptable 4am to 5am, as for the evening, probably late means 11pm to midnight. Certainly the Icelanders wouldn’t call anything before 11pm late, 7pm is like the middle of the day here.Well, none of us actually got blown off the cliff which is pure good fortune I believe. So we carried on our way. There are lots and lots of waterfalls but one of the best in the whole country is Dynjandi. It drops an initial 100m in a single drop then continues cascading down in rapids and small falls for almost another 100m. although it was chill and windy here it was nothing compared to the bird cliffs so I could pose here and there for photos.A swimming pool fed from a warm spring was a ‘must’ stop place along the way. It is right beside the road and near the seashore. Mind you it does need some maintenance, there is enough grass growing in the bottom to feed many a hungry turtle. Just below the pool and almost in the wheel tracks in the gravel main road an oyster catcher has decided to nest. She is sitting on at least one egg. L wanted a photo but D decided that she seemed a bit edgy when he stopped the car so we left her undisturbed. We doubt very much that both she and the egg will survive to hatching stage. It was possibly just a few days ago when she laid. The road was only open to local traffic last weekend due to the heaving snowfall on the mountains that closed the road for a couple of days. Also in this area we saw an eider duck nesting colony. They were on a farm and each nest had a stake beside it. The farmer probably collects a small amount of down from each nest and marks it with a stake. The ducks can cope with about 25%-30% of the down they pluck from themselves to make their nests being taken. They seem to be able to replace that much without coming to any harm. The farmers here in Iceland collect a large percentage of the world’s supply of eider duck down. Later we were to learn that this is not how it’s done in Iceland. The above is how it is done on Svalbard where the welfare of the ducks takes priority, however, here in Iceland we were told that all the down is collected around midsummer, the 21st to 25th June and it is replaced with hay. This is done before the eggs hatch, so the eggs have to be picked up, the down collected and at the same time graded depending on its wetness, then the eggs replaced. L wonder just how many eggs this must damage because she knows that at certain times during the development of the turtle eggs that they cannot be rotated without causing internal damage and losing the turtle. So L expects that the same thing probably happens with the eider duck eggs too. How many do they lose too because bad weather comes and the eggs get too cold without their down padding. Seems very much as if the money is far more important than the welfare of the ducks. The population does seem healthy enough around here so just lets hope it stays that way. in Russia the eider duck have been almost wiped out. They are a very pretty duck, the males are black and white, and the female a speckelled brown.We crossed those mountains where the snow fall had closed the road for two days last weekend. Snow was piled up deep where the plough had pushed it to one side. Still some on the road in places and a grader was working to clear some of the worst in one place. So much for summer! When we called into one of the tourist information places we were told that a lot more snow has also fallen in the interior where my lot are hoping to go. It seems that there is so much snow there that no-one has any clear idea of when the roads might open. So it looks as if another trip to Iceland in the future might be our only chance to see the interior, will have to be peak season I suppose.As we travel around the country we find that there is a lots of information for travellers everywhere. there are picnic spots and view points with information boards and maps. We can read about the history of the area and people in the sagas who lived in each area. There are map boards that show all the points of interest but sometimes forget to put a marker that shows just where you are on the map. The thing that seems to be missing mostly is public toilets. There are some at popular stops but other times there isn’t any for a long way. This is especially true at the bird cliffs where there was a lot of people who would probably be there for hours and not a loo within 40k’s. I might add that there is virtually no trees or shrubs to hid behind either. None of this bothers me, I’m a stuffed toy, but L gets a little anxious at times.Behind the town of Thingeyri there is a high hill called Sanderfell. A very steep and narrow road climbs to the top of it where there are some towers. Don’t think either Heather or Denise would like that road, it follows a very narrow ridge, with almost vertical drop offs on both side. It even got too much for David who didn’t drive the last 200m to the very top, he turned around where several others had chickened out too and the road was wide enough. L had to walk up that last bet. The view was stunning all around.We continued on to Isafjordur passing through a tunnel over 9k’s long and emerging into bright sunshine not far above the town. It looked very pretty sitting as much of it does on a spit jutting out into the fjord.The tourist information was open here, but it seems WiFi internet is much harder to come by. It may have been available at the hotels and possibly at some of the restaurants but not at TI or the library, the usual places that we find it.Whale watching is quite a popular thing here and we took a whale watching trip. It was on an inflatable boat that carried only 10 passengers, there was 6 humans and me, except that in the end I didn’t get to go as I wouldn’t be able to see anything stuffed inside one of these heavy suits, so I was left on car detail. NOT HAPPY! The day was glorious with bright sunshine and a light breeze. The sea was a brilliant blue and snowy mountains in the background shining in the afternoon sunlight. The temperature was a balmy 6C. Each person was kittied out in a thick heavy overall. It is meant to be very warm and wind proof, and other suits like this that my lot have had in similar situations have been, however, this time they weren’t impressed with these suits, both of them got quite cold on the trip back.Powered by a big outboard they roared out into the fjord skipping along from wave top to wave top. My lot just loved it. A whale was spotted so they watched it until it dived bringing its fluke high out of the water as it did so. Then another nearby was spotted and again watched until it dived. They cruised around past the island of Vigur where there are thousands of nesting puffins. A lot of research into the birds is done on this island apparently.They went into another finger of this huge fjord disturbing a lot of puffins and other birds that are out on the water at this time of day. Each of these birds disappears in a frantic flutter of wings as they skim the wave tops in an effort to get as far from the boat as possible. Another whale was spotted and they watched it for quite a long time, after which their time was up, only a 2 hour trip, and they returned to Isafjordur and me. They had enjoyed the trip except for getting cold on the way back. The guide had been a Canadian girl who is studying the marine wildlife and sustainable management of it, or something along those line according to L. She had been very informative and it was she who told us about the eider ducks.Tried to get to another town further out along this peninsular but again we encountered a closed snow covered road. As we wound our way in and out along the fjords south of Isafjordur we found the little ‘hot pot’ the fellow in TI had told my lot about. It proved to be very hot so my lot didn’t stay long in it but did find it very enjoyable and refreshing. What’s more, they had it completely to themselves. We saw a whale in the same fjord as my lot had on their boat trip and also saw some seals along this coast too.Travelling up the other side of this fjord on a dead end road we found another little ‘hot pot’ but it was no where near as hot. in fact it was a little too cool. My lot did take a dip but didn’t stay long because with the very chilly breeze they found it too cold. Plenty of goose pimples when they were getting changed.From the end of this road the rest of the peninsular is supposed to be a wilderness area but there is at least one farm past the end of the road. Just before the end we drove into towards the Drangajokull (Dranga glacier). It is possible to walk up onto the glacier from here my lot had been told. We all went up on top of the high moraine and from there it looked to be several k’s to the glacier terminal. Perhaps if the weather had been warmer my lot might have felt more inspired to do the walk, but the wind was bitterly cold and blowing a gale straight off the ice and there was no way of going very far without having to cross the multitude of waterways that flowed from the ice across a black gravel outflow plain before joining up to become one stream past this moraine we stood on and on out to the fjord. Now if there’s one thing my lot are especially adverse to it’s having cold wet feet. NO WAY! So that was that.Enjoyed another brief dip on our way back past the cool hot pot. Drove over a very snowy plateau, just a few hundred metres high but deep in snow with the snow piled high on the road sides, and descended into Steingrimsfjordur and followed the coast north as far as the end of the road where there is another warm pool with a spa tub right by the sea shore. It was at this point that they saw a motorhome with French number plates and something on it about China 2012. Turns out it was probably one of a group of about 20 that we had encountered and spoke to in Kyrgystan the day before we entered China. This group had only come out that day, the 27th August 2012. The man D spoke to here can’t remember the exact date but thinks it was about that time. The beaches all along this coast are littered with drift wood. Good sized logs much of it is. Some of it has been collected and pilled into big heaps. No idea what these people do with it, but it is good seasoned timber having floated here on the currents from Siberia. Of course there is plenty of other rubbish washed up here, mostly stuff from fishing boats, nets and bouys and plenty of plastic 20lt containers.Back at Drangsnes there are more ‘hot pots’ right on the shore. So again my lot partook of a soak. This time there were 3, each a different temp but only one found favour with my lot. After here we bid farewell to the west fjords: We again tried to get through the interior to the lava tubes but the road is still closed. Instead we did a trip round the Vatnsnes peninsula. There is supposed to be several seal colonies around this coast but we only found one and that was near the whimsically shaped sea stack called Hvitserjur.Then we climbed to the top of Borgarvirkith, a natural rock fortress. Probably an old volcanic crater it has naturally high rock walls except for one side where a stone wall was erected. It is believed that it was used as a fortress from the 10th century but there is no record of any battle ever having taken place here. The wind up here nearly blew my ears off and both me and L off the top of the rock wall. Phew! it was a close thing. © Lynette Regan 7th June 2015