After a day of inactivity due to strong winds, we were able to resume our tour, travelling west to Hofn, our farthest point on the outward journey. First though we re-visited the Diamond Beach for more pictures of the icebergs on the sands. This time we spent a little more time there and walked further up the beach where the icebergs are more isolated, which allowed us to get some longer exposure shots of the receding waves. This required a little care though, as occasionally an extra large wave would come in, and we had to grab our gear and run up the beach to avoid wet feet.
The weather on the rest of the drive to Hofn was quite overcast and dull, so there were not many photographic opportunities except for a distant view of Flaajokull, one of the exit glaciers of the massive Vatnajokull ice cap. On arrival at Hofn, we carried on a little way past the village and turned off to the Stokksnes peninsula, which gives superb views across a small black sand bay to the Vestrahorn. The Vestrahorn vies with Kirkjufell as the most photographed mountain in Iceland, and similar to Kirkjufell it stands in isolation rising directly out of the sea. Also similar to Kirkjufell, it is not particularly high at 454m (1490ft).
The Stokksnes peninsula is privately owned and there is an access fee that is paid at the Viking Cafe cafe. In addition to the views of the Vestrahorn, there is also a Viking village to explore which was constructed for a TV series. We had planned to spend a full day at Stokksnes to catch the sunrise and sunset, but due to the delays over the previous days, this was where we lost out, and we only arrived in the late afternoon and spent an hour or so at Stokksnes. Conditions were also quite bad as the winds remained strong, which blasted us with fine black sand, making it difficult to properly enjoy the views. Due to the scale of the mountain, all the images of the Vestrahorn are stitched panormas.
