A few local "bathing enthusiasts" took an old cheese making tub, plonked it on top of a hill, filled it with geothermally heated water and BOOM, created Nix's ultimate outdoor bathing experience.
The only issue was that it had been drained an hour or so before we got there and was now only a few inches deep. That didn't stop us, it just meant having to lay down flat to avoid the ice cold rain and bitterly cold wind.
After our bath we took off refreshed and with a tank full of fuel and a belly full of Koko Mjolk were set for a day of exploring north eastern Iceland.
First stop was Asbyrgi, a u-shaped valley that legend has it is the footprint of Norse god Odin's eight legged horse, Sleipnir. We didn't see any eight legged horses but did walk down to the small - frozen at the time - lake Botnstjorn.
Whilst at Asbyrgi I went into the tourist information and asked for some advice on what else we should see in the region. The lady there said the words, "puffins", "bird cliffs" and "not many tourists go there". I was pretty much out the door before she'd finished speaking.
We took off to Nupskatla-Raudinupur lighthouse, driving for a couple of hours on mostly dirt tracks before arriving at an abandoned farm that was a a thirty minute trek from the cliffs.
Before heading off Nix knocked up the first two minute noodles of our trip. Yes, eight months and they were the first. An impressive feat we thought.
Back to the cliffs. We struggled across 500 metres of rocks and boulders before heading up the edge of the cliff and finally making it out to the point. Two sea stacks protrude up out of the ocean and were swarming with birds. It was a sight to behold and like nothing we'd ever seen before. Hundreds of northern gannets (the largest bird of the North Atlantic) flew around over the top of the stacks, whilst Nix's newest pals, Fulmars (like large gulls with an evil scowl about them), soared in between them and thousands of guillemots and razorbills stood proud on the cliffs and bobbed about on the ocean.
But where were the puffins? Either they were out at sea or we'd been fed fibs. Our search for puffins waddling around clumsily on land would have to continue. However, we were committed to the cause. You will see over the next few days exactly how committed.
As we wandered back we found raven wood and Miss Piggy. Picture of the trip? Nope, I'd taken that one a couple of days before. You'll have to wait to see it adorning one of our walls at home once we make it back.
We then headed off with the intention of seeing how far we could get back down the Ring Road before pulling over for the night.
We stopped in to Vopnafjordur at about 6ish for a coffee top up before, against Nicola's good advice, I suggested that we should push on and sleep somewhere up in the mountains. My "instincts" said it would be a good idea.
As we headed up higher and higher, the snow got thicker and the conditions became a serious acid test for my driving ability, Nix's intestinal fortitude and the very fabric that holds this relationship together.
We passed signs like this that added further concern.
And then a car crunched up in a little ball on the side of the road that took things up a notch again.
We had to push on. Even if there had been somewhere to pull in, the threat of getting snowed in was a real one and given we were already sleeping in three layers to stay warm, subzero temps weren't a great prospect.
We continued up over the mountain pass and began to slowly creep back down into territory that had more rain but at least there was less snow and the road wasn't frozen.
At about 9pm we pulled in for the night at a spot looking onto a waterfall and out over the the Jokulsa a Dal river.
The Brennivin hadn't tasted as good as it did that night.
Click here for day 5.
