I was much better organized this morning and was on the road at 8:00am. Which was necessary really because I had a lot of territory to cover if I was to make Akureyri (about half way across the north coast) tonight.
To summarise, the day’s route went from Grundarfjordur via Stykkisholmur, Buoardalur, Staoarskali, Laugarbakki, Blonduos, Varmahio, Saudarkrokur, Hofsos, Siglufjordur, Olafsfjordur and Dalvik to Akureyri – which I believe is Iceland’s second largest city. Now some of those place names have umlauts and stuff, and some are little more than road houses, but near enough is good enough, you get the picture!
All up this was about 500 kms, with some of it on gravel. With a couple of rest stops and too many photo stops to mention (or even remember) as I tried to capture some of the picturesque scenery, the total travel time was a bit over 11 hours and 130 photos. Near the end I passed through four tunnels, the 1st (a few hundred metres long) and 4th (3.4 kms) were single lane with passing bays for north bound traffic to pull into and allow south bound traffic (which was me) an unhindered passage. The 2nd and 3rd tunnels where dual lane and 3.9 and 7.1 kms long respectively, with only a few hundred yards between them.
And what did I see during this 11 hour odyssey I hear you ask? Old moss covered lava flows, fishing and ferry ports, broad steep sided glacial valleys, volcanic mountains, gurgling mountain streams, broad river deltas, glacial moraines, lakes, rainbows, tunnels, old bridges, low cloud (early and late) with lots of sunshine in between, white walled farms buildings aplenty with bright red or green or (occasionally) blue roofs, and farmers cutting, raking or bailing whatever-that-green-crop-is-they-grow-for-winter-feed. Did I mention that the scenery was picturesque?
I also saw a couple of open air pools with those curly tubular water slides. Now I don’t know what day Iceland have their summer but I can’t imagine there would be too many days here where I would be wanting to jump out of an outdoor poor dripping wet, and walk (or sprint!) up an exposed metal stairway to jump into a water slide. Even if the water is heated. OK, so we are still in August now (technically summer) and it was sunny today, but that blustery north wind was nippy enough to remind you where it was coming from. (It starts with “Arc” people!)
While browsing the tourist brochures at one of my stops today I was also interested to note the inclusions in the White Water Rafting adventure tours. Among them where 5mm neoprene wetsuits (i.e. what Sam had to wear to go surfing in Cornwall, in April), waterproof jackets and a free hot tub afterwards. Do these suggest something about the temperature of the water? Did I mention that the company running these was called “Arctic Adventures”? I think I know someone who wouldn’t be signing on for this one, no matter how much they paid her!
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| Seen near Akureyri |
When I arrived in Akureyri I found that the dorm I had booked a bed in was actually full, so I had to take a single room for the price of a dorm bed. Such hardship! After a quick dinner there was still time to have a quick drive around the city in the fading light. It certainly looks like a nice place with some beautiful old buildings.
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