Takk, Iceland... Day 2

The morning started with the next eight mornings' routine.  Nix makes the oats, I make the coffee (with Tim Wendleboe beans no less).  I'm the beverage man you see.  Nix makes the food, I pour the drinks.  I make the coffee, I crack the beers, I take the cork out and I over pour the whiskies.

Anyway, we set off again on the search for those seals.  We drove a few hundred metres down the road before pulling over and being directed through someone's plot of land down to the ocean where I counted at least 150 of them lazing about in the morning sun while a few played around in the surf and one or two came for a closer look but never got close enough that we were able to make out their inquisitive little mugs.

We left the seals behind and dropped into Vidimyrikirkja and Glaumbaer to check out a traditional turf church built in 1834 and a few turf houses.

It was then bath time for the first of a handful of incredible hot springs.  This one's called Grettislaug and was used by an outlaw Viking to revive himself after crossing the icy six kilometre straight from the nearby island of Drangey that he'd been exiled to.  It required quite a significant detour but it was more than worth the effort.

After that we headed back along the Ring Road passing through Oxnadalur (a 35 kilometre very deep and narrow valley) and Eyjafjordur (the collective name of the fjord and 60 kilometre valley).

We stopped in Akureyri (have fun pronouncing that one) for a coffee, to check out its spectacular church and to pick up some sushi for dinner.  Sushi is a national obsession (along with hot dogs of course).

We continued on to the spectacular Godafoss, during which we got our first taste of driving through snow.  It would not be the last.

Godafoss, the "waterfall of the idols (gods)".  Icelandic Sagas tell that back in the year 1000, when the Icelandic Parliament decided that the nation would adopt Christianity, the law-speaker threw all of his pagan idols into the river.

We'd intended on staying here that night but ten other cars there and no camping or camper van signs prevented that so we headed towards Myvatn - a beautiful shallow lake in a region of volcanic activity and geothermal heat - and found a spot near the lake to stop for the night.

The camping chairs stayed in the car thanks to the pouring rain, gale force winds and freezing temps.

Still, it was another great day.

Click here for day 3.

Takk, Iceland... Day 3

We headed off on our third morning to check out some pseudo craters around Myvatn after a quick walk around the section of the lake that we stayed at the previous night.

However what I didn't tell you in the day before's post was that not only did our breakfast consist of oats and coffee each morning, we also had a Koko Mjolk for the road.  The Nordics really love their chocolate milks.

We were a few minutes down the track before I realised that I'd left the milks on a patch of ice that I'd found.  We quickly checked out the craters with our newest pal before heading back to get the milks and moving on to Dimmuborgir.

Dimmuborgir is a valley filled with interesting lava formations.  As I said on the first day, craters and lava formations don't really do it for us.

The next stop more than made up for the first couple.  Namafjall - a collection of bubbling mud pools, steam vents, hot boiling springs and fumaroles.  In some areas you could feel the heat of the ground coming up though the soles of your shoes.

We then headed up into the mountains, dealing with more snow and ice that was encroaching out onto our side of the road to hopefully walk up to Krafla - a cone-shaped volcano.  Unfortunately the full blown snow that awaited us and shoes far from being suited to walking through snow and ice prevented us from getting to the volcano.  We did get to view the spectacular, frozen Viti crater.  OK, maybe some craters are interesting.

After that it was bath time again, this time at the Myvatn Nature Baths - naturally heated outdoor lagoons that hit the spot.  Old balls and saggy boobs made for interesting changing room experiences but I think that's meant to be part of the fun.

We stopped in for an Icelandic lamb feed and the freshest of fresh milk at Cowshed Cafe where cows named Sigurros and Bjork chew away at their lunch whilst you chew away at yours.

After that we were back on the road to Husavik, the whale watching capital of Iceland.  It did not disappoint.

We didn't get many photos and more just soaked it all in.  We saw a humpback playing in the distance and then two more feeding near the boat which was pretty special.  Note our uber cool waterproof warm suits.  There were another six layers under those suits and we were still frozen solid.

The absolute bonus of the whale watching was our first puffin sightings.  Seeing those clumsy little clowns using every ounce of effort they have to try and take off was a huge moment.  At that point in time we were thinking 'f*ck the whales, let's chase the puffins'.

After a rewarding few hours at sea we were back on dry-ish land and searching for somewhere to spend the night.  After turning down a random track we stumbled upon this little beauty of a spot.  We slept well in the knowledge that the bay below us was filled with whales and rich with puffins.