Three Dizzy Dames

3 lovely Aussie ladies came to stay for a week, they call themselves the Three Dizzy Dames,  Leith, Laraine and Kate all belong to a Perth chapter of the Red Hat Society which is the largest women's social group in the world, only rules are that you must be at least 50 years old and at all Red Hat events you wear purple and of course a red hat....which pretty much rules me out ever joining!!! However the 3 Red Hat Dizzy Dames are game for pretty much anything and visit me on the tail end of a 160 day world trip.

 Kate, Laraine and Leith on the steps of the Old Post Office

just before they departed Sauðárkrókur.

The ladies decided to stay a little longer than originally planned to catch their breath, relax a little and what better place to do that than in the stunning and serene setting that is Iceland.

My itinerary for tourists was once again given a tick of approval from the Dizzy Dames who seem to thoroughly enjoy the places we visited in the Skagafjördur region.  I  will try and only post images of these places that are a little different from previous posts.  First stop during the week was once again Glaumbær where I think every tourist who ventures north visits to see this lovely restored turf farmhouse and of course coffee and cake at Áskaffi.  Askaffi also has a historic display upstairs and after our tummy's were full we spent sometime perusing these.

 

I just love the old boxes and carved bits of wood

We timed our visit to the local tannery the next day to coincide with the tour of their factory.   We saw all areas of the leather processes including some experimental stuff such as parchment, bird wings and a couple of cats...these of course are found carcasses...no kitty cats harmed in the process.  I was fascinated by these experimental things and a few potential art projects whizzed around my head.  For some reason I was too busy looking and not clicking with the camera...so sorry no pics, however I did find a great little video of the actual tannery here in town created for a BBC documentary and this really is similar to the tour we did...but only shows the fish leather process...whereas we also got to see the lamb, cow and horse tannery processes.

The next day the weather was glorious, the top of my head even got a little burnt would you believe it got to a sizzling 19c...proof below.

So during this heat wave we spent much of the afternoon at the very pretty township in Hofsós

where we explored a couple of the museums.  Each time I go I visit a different museum...one more lot of visitors and I will have seen all 3.

The girls taking a closer look at the Basalt rock formations.

On the way back to Sauðárkrókur, we stopped off at Hólar and took a stroll around the University grounds

The bell tower

more turf houses

 A view over the student accomodation area

 Replica building of the original bishops office using the same tools, materials and building methods.

Of course I happened to mention Geocaching to the girls who became very interested to know more so this is Leith finding their very first cache. 

When we were at the tannery we were told about a handcraft festival that was happening just outside of Akuyreri on the coming Fri-Sun, so we earmarked Fri for that event.  The closer we got to Akuyreri the colder and wetter it became but as we approached the festival the rain subsided and we had a great day.  Once again I have very few photos to share...far too busy looking.  

It was an excellent opportunity for me to talk and get contact details of several fabulous artisans who are producing quality Icelandic Arts and Crafts and I will contact them hopefully in the near future when I am about to open a retail/gallery venture in the Old Post Office. 

Lots of overhead cloud and low lying fog as we entered the carpark...it was quite a chilly day.

But the children don't care as they swim in the outdoor heated pool, rain, hail, snow or shine.

 Most of the handicrafts were indoors, it was very crowded and sellers expected it to be even more so over the weekend.   It is a bit hard to go to something like this and not spend a little money, Laraine bought a lovely felted wool and silk scarf...I was tempted. Kate bought some herbal hand creme and Leith was strong and able to resist temptation.

Laraine's lovely scarf.

I fell in love and went home with a folky ceramic piece and a little miniature bird woodcarving.  

 I think I have a little birdy thing going on at the moment!!!

On Sunday we visited Grettislaug and I think this for my visitors rated best place to experience in this area...I know Gill and Bern also loved it.  Click on the link above and check out this 360 degree panorama view...it's pretty cool.  For 500 kronurs approx $4 AUD each you can soak as long as you wish in the hot pots surrounded by magnificent countryside with a great view of Drangey.

 Drangey

 Kate, Leith and Laraine very much enjoying their soak.

Laraine not wanting to be outdone by the young ones went for the triple...ie from hot pot to icy cold North Atlantic ocean and then back to hot pot.  You can see the relief on her face as she once again felt the lovely warmth of the natural hot water thawing her body. 

 Laraine all rugged up as we looked for the cache here at Grettislaug.

 Sprinkler watering a roof top lawn

We stopped and waved to a group on a horse riding tour on the way back.

Last day Monday was mainly spent at the hairdressers. The girls decided that they all needed a bit of a spruce up before continuing on their journey.  

 

Would you believe that in this small town there are 9 hairdressing businesses.  I booked them into  Móðins hárstofa where I go and they were all really happy with the results and the price which is a lot cheaper than most places in Perth.

After the hairdressers and a bit of a late lunch they took photos of the town from the graveyard and then came back to the Old Post Office for a little craft lesson before dinner in felting soap. 

Kate, Leith and Laraine.

The girls left on Tuesday morning to drive the Golden Circle route back to Reykjavik where there is so much more to see before they fly out on Friday morning to Edinburgh.  All in all it was a pretty full week for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these Red Hat ladies and look forward to catching up with them again sometime in the future.

P.S. 

I just had a bit of a chat to Leith on Skype and apparently they had a sensational trip around the east coast and saw amazing glaciers, icebergs and water falls to name just a few...girls I look forward to your blog update of this.