VESTURLAND
HOLSVATN

Accessibility: ★☆☆☆☆

Access to the recording area itself was simple. Apart from having to wade through the tall grass at the very beginning and try to avoid the holes in the ground, once you got to the overhang, there was no problem getting around.

Recording: ★★☆☆☆

As this area of the Vesturland is generally flat, it is swept by winds of varying intensity. This results in a ubiquitous background. The most difficult thing was to find a location that could be sheltered from any gusts of wind.

Overall rarity: ★★☆☆☆

This place is not secret, but it is very little frequented by tourists and islanders alike. Only a few rare planes can disturb the calm of this area.

(more on the rating system here)

My first trip north from Reykjavik took me to the town of Borgarnes. And already, the journey itself is not lacking in surprises, just passing through the Hvalfjörður tunnel is an experience. The descent to more than 160m below sea level is memorable.

More on Hvalfjörður

After an almost obligatory stop at the local Bónus, I took the road again towards the north. And it is at the Borgarbyggð waterfall that I decided, on a whim, to turn left, towards a mysterious direction, the one which led me to the village of AKRAR.

After some time of alternating between driving and stopping to admire the view, or trying to take paths that could very well be dead ends or not paths at all, I finally settled on Holsvatn lake.

In the flatness of the landscape, one feels tiny and isolated. Our vision allows us to see so far away that the mountains that we know are imposing seem like hills.

From a stone mound near the lake, I saw that there was an arm of land jutting out into the water. I had found the place of my recording.

Nature is pernicious in this country. The road was strewn with pitfalls, harmless but painful. It is in the middle of the high grass that many unpredictable holes are hidden and whose existence is only discovered once the foot is stuck in them. One could almost think that nature has installed a barrier to filter the entrances. Once you have passed this test, the earth overhang offers a splendid view of the whole area. The capricious wind sweeps erratically across the surface of the water, which made the recording more complicated than expected.

But after a few attempts, all that was left to do was to lie back and enjoy the peaceful and serene nature, where flora and fauna live side by side in peace. Only a few planes disturbed this tranquillity.

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