After a stormy night, we woke up to some glorious weather at Kirkjufell Guesthouse, with a view of several waterfalls from the window. 

After packing up and self-administering rapid COVID tests (required for plane travel the following day), we began our day of exploring the Snaefellsnes Peninsula by heading towards the nearby Kirkjufell mountain (which we could see from our window as we swabbed the mucus is our nasal vestibules).

I was bummed to not have a functioning DSLR for this place, because I've always wanted to shoot the Kirjufell/Kirkjufellsfoss scene. Although the iphone does a decent job of capturing some of the beauty, without a tripod, a slower shutter speed, and wide angle lens, it's difficult to convey the scope of the scene and size of the mountain. 

Next we headed around the tip of the peninsula to explore Djúpalónssandur Beach. You walk from the parking lot down a path of strange moss covered lava formations

to a beautiful black sand and black pebble beach. Smooth lava formations form the beach line, under taller craggy lava towers.

Jay was in heaven crawling all over the lava rock playground.

We did a short hike from Djúpalónssandur to Dritvik Cove over a beautiful coastal mossy lava field wonderland. 

Dritvik Cove was an equally gorgeous beach of black lava sand and black lava pebbles.

Jay loved this rock formation which looked like a crocodile (his favorite animal) peaking its head out of the water.  

He did not want to leave; he was having so much fun climbing all over the place.

We hiked back to Djúpalónssandur,

and made our way to the next stop: Lóndrangar cliffs, a breath-taking overlook which includes two basalt pillars known as the "rocky castle", looming on the cliffs over the sea. I just love this kind of oceanside scenery, although Jay was less interested given that there was nothing for him to climb on at this site. I flew the drone about the cliffs:
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Then we went on to nearby Hellnar, an old fishing village on the ocean, with spectacular rock formations and lava rock patterns. 

The kids had had enough scenery at this point, and after a quick stop at the Arnarstapi Cliffs, we made our way back to Reykjavik.