Day 6 To Westman Islands

Weather forecast 8 to 15 degrees and no rain.

Today we drive east along the south coast to visit the Westman Islands -  or Vestmannaeyjar. Home of several million puffins and some spectacular scenery. A 2 hour drive and 45 minute ferry trip.

Once out of Reykjavik town the real Iceland started to come out of the mist - moss covered lava and mountains

Then farmland, with lots of haybails and horses, and the odd sheep and goats

Then off on the ferry to the islands

The main island

The town

Aerial view courtesy of Google

Entering the harbour

Our hotel for the night - note the puffin logo

We dropped our bags and went for a walk around town. Any thought this was other than a puffin town quickly dispelled

We walked to the old English fort area passing this on a wall

And back to the church by the harbour - donated by Norway

A fishing boat was heading out as we left the harbour

Next was the museum depicting the 1972 eruption of Eldfell volcano that destroyed 400 homes in the main town

A house dug out from the lava flow that engulfed part of the town

Photos from the time of the eruption

From here we set out to climb Eldfell itself for views over the town and surrounds

You could see the early colonising plants in the lava

Sea campion (below)

Last, but not least, was a trip to the cliffs for puffin spotting

Looking back from the puffin area

We spotted these hardy locals on the way back. Air and water temperature about 12 degrees

Dinner was in town at Gott restaurant - fish of course