Iceland: Day 3 - Beach

June 27, 2004

Because it was too windy to go on the glacier, they decided to take us down to the beach instead. This area is called myrdalasandur... "the myrdal sands". This is one of those areas where volcanic activity, high winds and glacier water make it very difficult for any vegetation to grow and if you ever get wind storms here, it's not good news for the paint job on your car! On calmer days, ATV-ing seems to be a favourite pastime here.

We drove through the sands with our big truck and passed by an old US Navy plane wreck (and that's why you have the Air force and not the Navy be in charge of flying planes!). The guide told us the story of the pilots who had been flying the plane when they got caught in bad weather and their fuel ran out. They had to do an emergency landing on the sands and made the call to be rescued. However, while they were waiting they discovered that they would have had enough fuel but they had forgotten to switch to the second tank. Feeling very sheepish they headed to the closest farm and told the farmer he could take all the extra fuel if he promised not to tell anyone about it. The pilots were 'rescued' but bad weather prevented the US from reclaiming the plane and they finally abandoned it completely.

Mighty waves crashing on the black sands

The roar of the waves was pretty impressive

Our bright orange truck against the black sands

We climbed up a big sand dune to get a better view from up top... our tour group is down below

A quick glance as we pass by the plane wreck

Looking out the window as we drive through a river.

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