Rotten Eggs

Thursday morning we were blessed with clear blue skies and sunshine. Just as well as today was our longest journey and to do it in the rain would have meant that the planned 376 miles would have taken even longer and our appreciation of the scenery would have very much taken a back seat.

Our itinerary said it would take us 5 hours and 10 minutes without stops so our only plan was to just stop spontaneously along the way. We travelled through lush heathlands, around and over lofty mountain peaks, past and over rivers and lakes, round fjords and admired silver fingers of waterfalls bursting from the black volcanic craggy rock faces. We went from thick snow and ice by the roadside to lush green meadows with sheep and Icelandic horses grazing in the sunshine. Icelandic horses are quite small, what we would call ponies. We saw many tourists stop to pet them but before you ask, no Rachel we did not stop to stroke the ponies.

Here is a video of some of the scenery. The mountains you see here straight opposite our car are in Húnaping Vestra. They are also in the photo with the electricity poles. We drove round and over these. We were very much sheltered by them to begin with and we even had to open the windows to cool down. However as we started to climb the temperature fell from a sultry 15ºC to 6ºC at our highest altitude. Interesting to see that the fluorescent pole markers that line either side of the road grew in size as we climbed the mountain. On most roads they are short, the same height as in the UK. On the mountains they are the same height as the car, presumably so they can still be seen in all the snow in winter as they give guidance to the cars and the snow ploughs.

Like in many countries there are monuments along the way and the one we stopped at was a tribute to Stephán Stephansson in the place of his birth, Skafjörður. He emigrated from here to Alberta Canada. Whatever his achievements, the monument affords great views for the mountains and plains. We also stopped at Hraun in Öxnadalur with the black jagged Dranga­fjall ridge behind it. Finally we approached our destination and we knew we were in the right place when we passed Father Christmas at the side of the road welcoming us to Akureyri. We checked into our hotel after about 6 hours. Not content with sitting all day, Steven wanted to drive to Godafoss waterfall so we could do some walking. Well he could do some walking and I could do some snapping. It was early evening and quite cloudy so the pictures aren’t great so we might go back en route to Húsavík as we drive on the “Diamond circle” right past it.

This hotel has the densest blackout curtains so far and so after the most wonderful night’s sleep our plan was to visit the regional geothermal areas of Mývatn. This journey entails us going through a 7km toll tunnel through the mountains. We enter the tunnel at 11ºC and it climbs to 24ºC in the middle before falling again at the exit. The entrance/exit is rimmed with bright red and from afar when you see this bright red circle in the green of the hills it reminds me of the Teletubby house.

Our first clue that we were in the geothermal area is the smell that started to waft in to the car. Hydrogen sulphide accompanied us for most of the day. It’s fascinating to see the steam rising from the side of the road where we passed power stations harnessing the geothermal energy and a lake as blue as the blue lagoon, and yet they were surrounded by ice which was even encroaching on the road. In one place we couldn’t’ even see the path we were supposed to be walking on, and that is after we’d spent ten minutes kitting ourselves out so we were properly prepared for the conditions! 200m past the geothermal power station is the Viti crater in Kafla. It is 300m in diameter and has an azure lake at the bottom. You can see it is still frozen but the colour of the water is shining through. That with the frozen lands around make for stunning views.

Our next stop was the close by Hverir in Namaskard. This is a smouldering moonscape with fumaroles (steam springs) and mud springs scatter the landscape in a smorgasbord of colours, bound by the colourful Námafjall mountain. Except our array of colours was matched not by an array of taste, but smells. Of course someone I know had to put his hand in the steam and nearly burnt his hand!

You can see and hear a video of the bubbling geothermal mud here

As today was volcano day, it would have been remiss of us not to visit the Hverfjall volcano. It is a 2,500-year-old explosion crater east of lake Mývatn, 80–170 m above the surrounding landscape. It is one of the most distinctive landmarks in the Mývatn district, an enormous circular crater that is approximately 1km in diameter. The sky was very grey when we arrived and I tried to use that as an excuse not to walk up it. However, as our walking poles had been resting peacefully since we arrived and Steven had only questioned the day before whether they were here for a holiday too, I agreed to walk up. At the top of the long slope we were 100m higher than on the ground, and it was well worth it, with view over Myvatn and the surrounding area. If Vesuvius was a “big empty swimming pool” then this was a “huge empty swimming pool” by comparison. As it is 2 miles to walk all the way around the rim, we really didn’t go much further once we reached the top. The poles got their workout particularly on the way down so they’ve justified their place in the suitcases. And as the volcano is approached by driving “off road’ we justified the hiring of our 4×4!

Prior to returning to Akureyri we stopped at the Skútustaðagígar pseudocraters at Lake Mývatn. They are essentially grassy hills with grassy bowls or craters. Lake Mývatn means “lake of midges”, yes really. They are out and about in summer so we weren’t going to hang about that long, even though it wasn’t that warm and we were told they were friendly midges ie they didn’t bite. Apparently they are “only” here to be used as food for the ducks and are the reason for the plentiful birdlife in the area.

A mere 132 miles later we returned to Akureyri. It is known as the “capital of the North” and you can see why. It is next to Eyjafjörður Fjord, Iceland’s longest fjord. Icelandair started here and so it is only fitting that it has a decent airport, with the runway jutting out into the water adding to the drama of the arrivals! It has separate aviation, motorcycle, art and city museums. The houses are really Nordic chocolate box, picket fences and bright colours and the Church is the symbol of the town. With all of this, it really is a very lively and picturesque place. The fjord also means that cruise ships berth here to explore the north of the country and we were “treated” to their customers and their coaches as we drove around. But the best bit of this town, which epitomises both it and Iceland, are the traffic lights with their heart shaped “stop”.

As we prepare to leave for Húsavík it is time to celebrate. We’ve now been here a week and literally every day has been different.
Even just driving and looking out of the window is a relaxing nad varied experience – helped considerably by the fact there are literally no cars on the road. Steven is now an expert at driving in Iceland. It’s been the perfect first week.

Our master plan of marking points of interest on the big map to plan our daily itinerary and then using the satnav (aka Agnes) to get from a to b has meant a week and 887 miles of virtually no arguments about directions. Every couple knows that has to be a major cause for celebration. But really the celebration to beat all celebrations is because United won the FA cup for the thirteenth time, and the icing on the cake was that they beat City to do it!