Today we flew to Akureyri, and our first stop was at the lovely Goðafoss waterfall. (Icelandic: waterfall of the gods or waterfall of the goði). From there were taken around lake Mývatn, whose name means ‘midge lake’! The horrible weather – rain and fog, so that the landscapej looked eerily like being on Dartmoor – at least meant the midges were absent, but they can be so thick in the air they’re like a solid wall. You can imagine my sorrow at missing that experience.
We had lunch at the café at the entrance of the Mývatn-Laxá Nature Conservation Area, where we had a short walk in the rain, looking at the remains of an ancient lava lake. It’s also the home of an enormous caldera/cone volcano, and the 13 ‘christmas lads’ or Icelandic Santa Clauses. (The problem with going on so many day tours is that the jokes and stories tend to be repeated. So we have heard the forest joke – “what do you do if you are lost in an Icelandic forest? You stand up.” – and the “santa clauses” stories – multiple times now.) The basalt rocks and vegetation are truly lovely, and Doug got to see a place where the two great continental plates are moving apart, which is the source of the vulcanism forming Iceland in the first place. Not much bird life, because we’ve missed the breeding season, but we’ve seen phalaropes of different types, artic terns, artic skuas, fulmars and kittiwakes, faro golden eyes, eider, and any number of greater lack back gulls. No gyr falcons and ptarmigan as yet, but we’re keeping our eyes peeled.
We caught a bus after lunch to Husavik to go whale watching. however, I’m writing this in a cafe in Husavik instead of going whale watching as the weather is so bad that it was touch and go whether the boat would even leave. The morning tour had a terrible time with high seas and a lot of seasickness, and although i’d taken a pill, no pill is that strong. So doug has gone off in the rain and i have three hours at least to kill. To be honest, i could do with the rest, though i wish i could sleep. Hopefully we can tonight.
Tomorrow we’re changing hotel in advance of a multi day tour, but in the afternoon we’re going on a short tour to Krýsuvík geothermal area & Kleifarvatn Lake, where we should see more of the continental rift. Internet will be uncertain thereafter, so expect a longer update after a few days, maybe 🙂
