Sheep, dogs, nature and endless (totally true) stories
ReportLocation: Króksfjarðarnes, Iceland
We are a father-daughter duo living in the beautiful Westfjords. I am a 54 year old sheep- and musselfarmer, hunter, sailor and a hilarious storyteller, while my daughter is a 27 year old folklorist that comes and goes. We have sheep, dogs, a grumpy cat and rabbits roaming around. We live on a “double farm” where my brother-in-law has also, with his own family, cows and horses. My father-in-law is also living there, he’s a 90 year old ex-farmer, engineer and genius handcrafter. We also grow our own rhubarb, potatoes and are experimenting with garlic. We are also trying to put together an artist residency in the area.We are looking for hard-working and down to earth people with the occasional strange, creative dreamer. We need good people with us to help with every day chores, I need someone to laugh at my jokes and we need another brain for the artist residency, which is in a house that's being renovated. As I mentioned we have few dogs, so it’s very important to play with them, along with feeding few lambs. The tasks vary a bit depending on what time of the year it is. If you like hiking then the fall is the right time to come, if you like snow then we recommend winter, although we can find snow all year around. Spring has lambing season and is full of life, while summer is often spent mending things outside that can’t be mended the rest of the year. Just tell us when you’re thinking of coming and we can tell you exactly what we will be doing at that time. My brother-in-law doesn't require help with the cows, but if anyone comes from a cow farm then they are probably welcome to check them out.
Driving license is in most cases required, because otherwise you will get stuck. There are 4 km between the farm and your accommodation, 15 km between the farm and the house that we're renovating and 30-40 km to the next three villages.
Accommodation: you will have a 120 year old house (which is old by Icelandic standards!) right by the ocean where you can witness gorgeous sunsets and have a perfect view of the midnight sun all summer. It has everything, Wi-Fi, kitchen, several rooms, a hot tub outside, few mice living inside and possibly some ghosts. We love to have big meals with everyone, which includes a captain of a whale watching boat who rents a room in this house (he’s a great cook, that’s why we keep him around). We provide almost all the food, but you will have to cook it yourself. Me and my daughter don’t sleep there, but we often spend more time there than at our own home. There is usually more than one volunteer with us at each time, once we accidentally had 15 at the same time because some delayed their flights back home. We will let you know how many there are when you send us a message! If you want to pitch a tent somewhere, you can do that. We eat a lot of meat and fish, so we don't recommend vegans or vegetarians to apply (no harm in trying though).
You will get to stay in beautiful nature in one of the less touristic places in Iceland, which is not so easy these days. We can tell you endless stories about everything, doesn’t matter if it’s local folklore, dramatic Viking sagas or just funny stories that are definitely true. We can take you sailing, hiking, lend you cars (most are manual and not automatic, you have been warned) if you want to drive around yourself. Other than that, it depends on you how much you wish to learn. We can teach you the way sheep think, how to feed lambs, fix fences, paint ships/walls/roofs, about the interesting life and psychology of mussels, how to behave in snowstorms when the electricity goes out and even take you with us when we slaughter sheep in the fall. It depends on what you wish to learn and when you come. We love different myths and religions, but aren't very religious ourselves.
There are endless possibilities to see natural wildlife, like eider ducks, eagles and puffins (will have to drive a bit for those), there is a handcraft store very close with some of the cheapest woolen sweaters in Iceland, three small and beautiful villages, each with their own attractions.
