Our first port in Iceland was a tender port.  We were scheduled to arrive at 8 am and our tour was scheduled to depart at 8:30 ashore.  Our goal was to be on the first tender, but we had no idea how many other people would be competing for the same tender.  At some popular ports around the world, Easter Island, for example, people will often line up several hours early to get on the first tender.  We arrived around 7:15 and as it turned out – we could have waited until 8 am and still be on the first tender.  There were very few people on private tours in this port.  There wasn’t a lot of availability for private tours which does keep the crowds down.  

As we headed out toward our first stop Barbara, our guide, pointed out the avalanche fences that were installed on many mountains in the area to reduce the danger of avalanches in the winter.  

Dynjandi is a 330-foot waterfall, and below it are five other waterfalls:  Háifoss, Úðafoss, Göngufoss, Hundafoss,, and Bæjarfoss.  There is a large parking lot at the base of the falls with a clean restroom.  Paved paths lead you to the lower falls.  Afterwards, the path is steep, rocky and treacherous.  You can see Dynjandi from midpoint if you don’t feel like taking on the steeper grades.  

The feature photograph at the top of this post is the view of Dynjandi from the mid-point

Judy sat on the bench at the midpoint while I continued up to the base of Dynjandi.

After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, we continued on toward our next stop:  The Hrafnseyri farm, which is the home of Hrafn Sveinbjarnason, a famous Iceland chieftain.  This spot is better known for being the birthplace of Jon Sigurdsson, one of Iceland’s founding fathers.  They sell a few souvenirs and T-shirts at the front desk in the museum.  

In addition to the museum,  there is a restored turf house and a church.  Inside the turf house is a cafe that serves coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in addition to the tasty Skyrterta Cake – made from blueberries and cream over a crumbled biscuit.  

The church is next door to the sod house and is open for visiting

On our way back to town, we spotted “The World” cruise ship with the falls in the background

We were ahead of schedule so we made a brief stop at a beach close to town.

Instead of taking us back to the ship, our tour driver dropped us off in the center of town.  I found an ATM and withdrew some local currency.  We haven’t found any shops that don’t take credit cards, but we like to have some local currency just in case.  The ATM machine gave us large bills so we stopped by the nearby grocery store and bought a little chocolate to get smaller bills as change.  

We discovered this Yarn shop near the center of town

Judy spotted yarn in the window of Klaedakot before I did.  This shop sells yarn as well as children’s clothing.  Always looking for yarn that is new to her, she bought some ‘Selma’ by the Danish company, Permin.  She got 1,428 yards and is now looking for a pattern that would look good in this yarn.  

There aren’t that many restaurants in town and most were closed in the early afternoon.  We eventually found Husid, near the 3D crosswalk, and enjoyed a tasty meal.

Ísafjörður is a very nice town.  You could easily spend the day here exploring in more detail and spending time in the museums.