Day 180-exploring around Óspakseyri

   July 2-It has been relatively dry in Iceland for the past month, so Gaui and Magga were very happy with the light rain that came through this morning.  However, the Hayses were happy to see it end so we could go out and see the sights.

Magga, Gaui, Gunnhildur, and Sally at Óspakseyri.

Óspakseyri and the head of Bitrufjörður.

Gaui collects eider down from the eider duck colony on his island in Bitrufjörður.

All farms in Iceland are named and signposted, like Einfætingsgil is here.

The view of the mouth of Bitrufjörður from Einfætingsgil.

   After a light dinner of waffles, we drove around the mountain
that Gaui and Magga own as part of Óspakseyri and up the Krossá river to Einfætingsgil, where Gaui grew up.  His father is dead and his mother is in a nursing home in Hólmavík, so he and his siblings maintain the farmhouse as a summer house for the family.  The modern sheephouse that his family built in 1978 was quite interesting.  They mostly use it for storage these days.

Shan and Gaui with a (blue?) whale's vertebra.

Alex and Gunnhildur play with the Zetor tractor, the newest tractor on the farm. Made in the Czech republic, it is apparently pretty well built. Gaui is showing Sally a "treasure" that his brother is storing at the farm. 

This sheep shed was a great advancement for the farm. The sheep were housed on the ground floor, and their dung would fall through slats into the basement, where it was collected and spread on the hayfields in the spring. The spacious basement would fill up over the course of two winters. The previous building's basement had to be cleaned out much more often, meaning that cleanings might have to take place while the sheep were still in their stalls, making the process that much messier.

Gaui's father and grandfather smoked their lamb and fish caught by their neighbors in this smoke shed.  They kept some of the smoked fish as payment. The heavy piece of metal machinery is attached by a cable over the top to another one on the other side. They keep the shed from blowing away in the high winds.

Gaui, Magga,  Ágústa, Gunnhildur, Brindís,
Alex, Shan, Spencer, and Joslyn. 

   We returned to Óspakseyri and helped Gaui move the trampoline to a place better protected from the wind.  We then stuck around a little longer to help them eat more of the yummy lamb from yesterday’s supper, but then it was time to head south for Bifröst.  None of us really wanted to leave since it was so comfortable at Óspakseyri.  Magga and Gaui even told us we could stay longer, but we had stuff to get done at the apartment, so we hit the road about 8:30 in the evening.  As we headed inland, we ran into the rain that Gaui wants for the pastureland up north and it stuck with us most of the way back home.  We all unpacked and got to bed “early.”



Joslyn, Ágústa, and Brindís on the trampoline, which was almost constantly in use during our visit.

Óspakseyri at low tide. The harbor that Óspak may have built 1000 years ago is clearly visible.

Óspakseyri from across Bitrufjörður a few hours later. The harbor is now submerged.

On the way home, we spied Reykir on the east side of Hrútafjörður as we cruised down the western shore. Alex courageously spent a week here with her class nearly six months ago, despite having spent only one day with her classmates before going on the class trip. She says that it looks much different now.