Day 5: Hvammstangi to Akureyri
Today’s itinerary took us around a couple of peninsulas in the north, through a couple of small fishing towns and marked our furthest point north (66°11’8″) on the trip as we approached but didn’t quite reach the Artic Circle. Our destination was just outside Akureyri, Iceland’s capital of the north.
Today was a mostly overcast day with several periods of rain and the ever present Iceland wind. The poor visibility really hindered the view and made today’s drive more boring than I had hoped. There were a couple moments of excitement when we encountered unexpected tunnels. When going through one tunnel and concentrating on the car in front of me, I was startled when two red lights flashed in quick succession. I looked at my speed and saw I was going about 80 kph (normal paved highways are 90 kph). I hadn’t noticed a speed limit when entering the tunnel but in later tunnels, I learned the speed limit was 70 kph. I suspected I would get a speeding ticket and wondered both how much it would be having read that Iceland speeding tickets were often in the hundreds of dollars, and when the ticket would catch up to me. To my surprise I received an email just two days later notifying me that I had been caught speeding. I was relieved that the fine was only about $56, if I paid early. It’s amazing to me that the Iceland police were able to track the car to the rental company and get my contact info from the company and send me an email within 48 hours! Lesson learned.
The other excitement also involved a tunnel. We learned that some tunnels in Iceland are single lane tunnels. It was pretty scary not knowing if we were going to meet an on coming vehicle or if I had missed a sign warning me not to enter, but we soon figured out as we traveled through the tunnel that there were periodic turnouts on the left side of the tunnel and that cars heading the other direction were supposed to yield to us. Luckily the other drivers seemed to know what to do and we made it out of the tunnel unscathed!
A few photos from today’s grey and rainy drive. Hvitserkur rock is stop 1 and Grafarkirkja (Iceland’soldest church) is stop 2 on the above map.
We stopped at a grocery store in Akureyri to get food that we could cook for dinner in the small house we would be staying at for two nights. We we both looking forward to not having to pack up the next morning and to be able to eat in. We were also hoping to see the northern lights again, but no such luck as we had a pretty solid cloud cover most nights (and days) from here on out.
Day 6: Rest day
Today we relaxed by taking a short walk up the hill behind the house in the morning and then spending the afternoon at the Forest Lagoon, a very nice outdoor thermal pool.
Day 7: Akureyri to Lake Myvatn
It was back on the road today, though we didn’t have as far to go and were hopeful that we would be on paved roads. The morning was overcast and a bit drizzly so our stop at Goðafoss waterfall was short. For the same reason, we just passed through Husavik, which is a popular whale watching destination. We were pleasantly surprised by Ásbyrgi Canyon, a horseshoe-shaped glacial canyon in the corner of Vantnajokull National Park. The whether was a bit better when we got to the canyon and there were several nice walking trails at the bottom of the canyon at the end of the road which were protected from the wind.
After walking through Asbyrgi canyon we made our way south to Dettifoss which is said to be the second most powerful waterfall in Europe. It involved a bit of a walk over sometimes uneven lava to get to it and it was quite windy. It is a popular tourist spot and the parking lot was at capacity. Perhaps I was getting waterfall fatigue at this point, but I thought Dettifoss was overrated.
From Dettifoss we made our way toward lake Myvatn, out destination for the day. Shortly before getting to the lake area, we came across Hverir Geothermal Area. We enjoyed walking around this area, though it too, was a pretty popular tourist stop.
We stayed in a cabin near the shore of lake Myvatn, which is another area where northern lights can often be seen. The presence of a full moon added to some of the views.
