Grænibakki house rules
WELCOME TO GRÆNIBAKKI
Welcome to our most favorite place which is called Grænibakki (Green bank)
The land is about 5 hectares of our own land and is part of the 350 hectare land of Árbakki, where Icelandic horses are bred and trained, the white houses with red roofs you passed on your way here.
The river Rangá flows past here but it is a well-known salmon fishery.
The mountains to the east are from the left, the famous volcano Hekla, then comes Tindfjöll, the black mountain is called Þríhyrningur and then comes the glacier, the volcano Eyjafjallajökull which last erupted in 2010 and stopped all air traffic around Europe.
10 km away is the small town of Hella where you can find a supermarket, bakery, Pharmacy, wine shop, swimming pool, restaurants and various services.
The most popular tourist destinations to the south are further east, Seljalandsfoss and pool, Skógarfoss, Reynisfjara - Black beach.
Þórsmörk, where the highland landscape is really beautiful. Scheduled tours recommended since 4x4 super jeep is need and skills to drive rivers and rough trails
It can be fun to take a ferry to the islands of Vestmannaeyjar, where ash covered many residential buildings in a 1973 eruption. There you will see a lot of puffins.
Further up in the country to the north are Landmannalaugar, which is a uniquely beautiful place.
Tours can be booked with this website https://penthouse.tourdesk.is/Tour
To the west about an hour's drive from here you can then go to The Golden Circle and see Geysir and Gullfoss. Necessary to stop in Friðheimar and get tomato soup and bread, where a large part of tomatoes are grown for Icelanders.
Then further towards Reykjavík it is very interested to drive through the beautiful national park Þingvellir which I recommend when going back to Reykjavík or on the way to the airport.
Not far from here, ca 7km away is the horse farm Skeiðvellir which offers horseback riding and a tour of the area which is fun to see the conditions of Icelandic horses.
Many details, booking links, recommendations and interested things is to be found at our website www.guidebinder.is – also see the guide on my airbnb site here
INFORMATIONS FOR THE OUTSIDE AREA
FIRE
Please do not smoke or place any fire outside. The grass around the trees can very often be so dry and the most danger and harm for this place would be if our forest would burn down.
PLAYGROUND
There is a small playground for kids to be found hidden in the forest
HORSES
Horses are inside fences that keeps them inside with a small electric current. Many of them young and untrained as well as stallions so don‘t go inside the fences.
RIVER
The river is danger and please keep an eye of kids in case they walk that direction.
BASKETBALL
When not in use please have the basketball in the lowest position, In wind the basket might fall down so please also do not park your car too close
INFORMATIONS FOR THE COTTAGE
SMOKE
I do not expect people to smoke but it is of course forbidden here
WIFI
HUAWAI B818-D9D2 PASSWORD: QEA5EBLD1B8
FOOD
You are very welcome to use all the food, oil, spices and ect you will need. We normally use the Nespresso coffee machine and your are very welcome to use it, capsules in the silver box. If you prefer normal coffee then there is another machine under the sink and ground coffee in the kitchen.
HOT TUB
The hot tub is always on, cleaning and heating automatically but to keep it in good shape then a quick shower is very good. Don´t bring any food and drinks to it and the most important, do not change any settings or turn any buttons, specially not the one at the top of it (will empty the water) and keep all nozzles open, very important for the cleaning system.
Make sure all locks on the cover are open before lifting the cover and please lift it gently.
Very important is to make sure not to sit or stand on the cover.
FRONT DOORS
You might know that wind is normal situation in Iceland so please keep front doors closed in wind and rain, both to protect them for damage and also because you will loose the heat in the house quick.
GRILL HOUSE
When using the barbecue grill make sure not to leave it and be aware of the fire while cooking, specially fat food like lamb meat, bacon and such a food. Beware that all around is wood which burned down easily quick.
I recommend to have one of the fire extinguishers by the hand. You are also welcome to move the barbecue grill outside on the grill house if you want and feel more comfortable with that.
Please clean the barbecue grind after using and put the cover back on when it has cool down and turn off the gas.
Normally it is fine to keep the grill house open but if the it a great strong wind then you close it but please make sure the pins down on the doors are well up so it does not damage the terrace.
GARBAGE
You can throw rubbish at Hella (click here) or on the way back to Reykjavík right by the petrol station at Landvegamót (roundabout). Go out of the roundabout, 3rd right to Sandhólaferja and you will see the trash container shortly, click here for the location.
It is very important to take all the trash when leaving the cottage since there might be some days before we come back.
TV‘s
There are Smart TV in all rooms and free Netflix account. If you have any issues then don‘t hesitate to contact me and send me a message.
DECORATION
All items are very personal and many of them from special places which we have visit around the world and we would appreciate if items are not used to play with or moved.
Please don´t play with ball inside.
There are some games and more under the bench by the window in the kitchen which you are welcome to use.
ITEMS
Please don´t take any item's with you from the cottage like, towels, glasses, silverware and etc.
HEATING
The heating is in the floor, controlled by a system placed in the laundry room. In any case it is too hot or too cold then send me a message and I will guide you what to do.
The hot water is heated cold water in tanks you will see in the laundry, it is 200 liters which has always been enough but keep it in mind when using the hot water and shower that it is not endless.
DISHWASHER
The dishwasher is simple and we normally use the fast program, please clean the most of the dishes before placing them. Detergent is keept under the zink. Don‘t put wood in the washer
ROUGH PAPER / TOILET
Very important is not to place cleaning paper, tissue or any rough paper to to toilet because we have our own very septic tank in the ground which is sensitive for such a paper.
TOWEL OVEN
To save earth we recommend to use the towels more than one time and to dry them and use them again warm you can hang the towels on the black towel oven.
LAUNDRY
The washing machine is quite easy to use but concerning the DRYER it is very important to empty the water tank between usage and clean gently the filter inside the machine.
We hope you enjoy our lovely country place and if there is thing you need what so ever then don‘t hesitate to send us a message to +354 660 1755 and we will respond immediately.
We wish you a great time and a pleasant time here.
All the best
Hilmar, Laufey & family