Dyrhólæy

The southern tip of Iceland is dominated by the natural beauty of the coastlines, including Dyrhólæy and Vík. We had to drive through somewhat unpaved roads for about 10 minutes to get to the former. It was well worth it. The beaches are made up of dark black sand, debris that was rubbed off from volcanic rock and was transported south to the coast by periodic flows (more like floods) of melt-water and sediment following earthquakes and volcanoes from the north. (These flows are actually very dangerous. They travel very fast and wipe out everything in their path. We crossed a bridge that was totally destroyed by such a "hlaup" in 1994.) Anyways, the road takes you to a ledge about 30 feet or so above the beach. You can walk up to various spots on the ledge and look down. But it was dangerous. The winds were gusting like at 50mph. One sudden gust and you're blown off. Down on the beach, there were beautiful rock formations, and the cool sight of white sea foam on the black sand. Also in the distance were outcrops of rock into the sea.