Reykjavík Grapevine - jun 2023, Qupperneq 28

The Reykjavík Grapevine 6 / 23 28Travel
We Tried It Paddling Around
The Arrowhead
Experiencing Iceland’s most picturesque mountain from a new angle
WORDS Lea Dörschel
IMAGES Art Bicnick
Tour provided by VesturAdventures.is
Where are my Game of
Thrones fans at? Do you remember
the Arrowhead – one of the most
iconic landmarks beyond the wall?
Outside the confines of your tele-
vision screen, that mountain is
known as Kirkjufell and it is located
a two and a half hour drive from
Reykjavík on the northern shore
of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.
Kirkjufell may just be the most
famous mountain in all of Iceland
– at least it’s the most photographed.
Today I’m experiencing this gor-
geous mountain from a completely
new perspective: sea level. Let’s go
kayaking!
GRAB YOUR PADDLE
While most people prefer to go
to Kirkjufellsfoss to take photos of
Kirkjufell rising like a magnificent fin
in the background of the falls, I won’t
stop there today. The starting point
for my kayaking tour is the small
town of Grundarfjörður, so that’s
where I head to meet with Garðar,
the founder of Vestur Adventures.
He will be my guide for today’s
tour and efficiently goes about
equipping me with a dry suit, gloves,
shoes and a life jacket to keep me
dry and afloat should I find myself
overboard. I recommend wearing
some woollen clothing – ideally thin
merino wool clothing – underneath
for added warmth and comfort. It
can get chilly while kayaking on the
ocean. Thankfully the weather was
cooperative when we hit the water
in early May. The sun was out and
it was actually quite warm – at least
by Icelandic standards.
THE MYSTERIOUS PUFFIN
ISLAND
After a short demonstration of
how to paddle, we walked down to
the beach where our kayaks were
already waiting for us. I jumped
in my kayak, got pushed into the
ocean and started to get a feel
for how to paddle myself forward
and turn the boat. While kayaking,
Garðar informed me about the
special landmarks around the area.
Obviously, he started by telling me
everything he knows about Kirkju fell
mountain. Then he went on about
a puffin island not far from the coast
of Grundar fjörður and the dramatic
story surrounding it – I won’t spoil
it for you, though, you’re going to
have to hear it from Garðar. It was
an edu cation being out on the water
with someone who is so knowledge-
able not only about his home town,
but the entirety of the Snæfells nes
peninsula. I stored away valuable
tips about the must-sees in my
memory for my next trip west.
TIME TO STRETCH
Our first stop was an old harbour
that consisted of nothing more than
an old landing stage. Continuing our
kayaking tour, we stumbled upon a
lost puffin who bobbed in the water
and watched us pass by. He was
quite curious until we came a bit
too close, so he decided to dive to
safety. We’d been kayaking for half
an hour at this point and decided to
make landfall. It felt so good to just
stand up and stretch my arms and
legs a bit – kayaking is an effective
upper body workout!
While taking a short break on land,
Garðar showed me the old pens
for sorting sheep during the “réttir”
back in the days.
Soon yearning for the open water,
we jumped back into our kayaks and
off we went!
A FRESH ICELANDIC SNACK
Blue skies, the sun sparkling on
the surface of the water, feeling
the warmth of the sun on my skin
– what a wonderful day for kayaking!
On the way back to the basecamp
Garðar stopped by some seaweed,
ripped it out of the water and gave
it to me.
I looked at him with a sceptical
expression. What does he want me
to do with it? He smiled and told me
to eat it. It’s our little snack: Truffle
seaweed fresh from the ocean. It’s
called “truffle seaweed,” he said,
because the aftertaste is pretty
similar to the taste of a truffle. Let
me just tell you, my mouth tasted
like seaweed for the rest of the day.
While I was still chewing on my sea-
weed, we encountered a seal. Quite
curious, it first watched us from a
distance, then decided to dive and
swim around us.
When it was time to paddle ashore
and return to Vestur Adventures’
base, I changed out of my dry suit
while Garðar prepared some hot
beverages for us.
We sat down outside in the sun, en-
joying our hot chocolate and coffee,
talking about what we have just
experienced: Learning more about
Icelandic nature and history, eating
seaweed and encountering wildlife
– this was truly an adventure.
We’d been kayaking for half
an hour at this point and de-
cided to make landfall. It felt
so good to just stand up and
stretch my arms and legs a
bit – kayaking is an effective
upper body workout!