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| Hengifoss : 118m |
Warning: high waterfall content!
Thurs 19 July
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| Akureyri |
A lazy day of laundry & admin after our late night whale watching. We only managed to visit the botanical ga rdens in Akureyri, as the main art museum was shut, and the excellent tourist office where we col lected info for the next section of “The Ring Road” - Iceland’s 1,330km Route 1, which we are circumnavigating clockwise and are roughly 30% of the way round.
Fri 20 July
Back in the Duster and a relatively short haul east to Lake Myvatin - again pausing en-route to see an interesting art gallery outside Akureyri
And the incredible Godafoss - “The Waterfall of The Gods”:
Before reaching Myvatn lake with the incredible lava formations
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| Dimmuborgir lava formations - made only 2000 years ago |
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| Bjarnarflag: active geothermal area |
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| Mud pool: BLLOOOP! |
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| BLLOPPP!! |
We spent two hours in the Myvatn Nature Baths nearby; the north’s equivalent of the Blue Lagoon, but much less crowded. Big geothermal pools of powder-blue mineral-rich water, with views across the lava fields. Very relaxing, even in the rain! And definitely the most expensive swim we’ve ever had @ £115 for four, including Ben & Annie student discounts!
Delicious take-out pizza that night in our pre-fab accommodation, and a few more hands of competitive canasta!
Sat 21 Jul
Just 30 mins east along the Route 1 is the turning off to Dettifoss waterfall. We took the F road for 30 minutes through the amazing flat and arid landscape
...until suddenly we reached the winding gorge carved out of the Vatnajokull National Park by the Jokulsa river flowing all the way from the Vatnajokull glacier 100km south.
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| The Dettifoss waterfall is purportedly the biggest by volume in Europe |
We looped off the Ring Road via the F85 out to Vopnafjorder, and then the amazing gravel Route 917 that twists its way down to the striking glacial river deltas and black beaches of the Heraossandur
Then through to Egilsstadir, and up the southern bank of Lagarfljot lake (supposedly containing a serpent beast Lagarfljotsormur, or Wyrm) to our homely AirBnB for the next 2 nights.
It was a glorious evening, so we drove 4km across the end of the lake, and hiked up the 2.5km path to another two waterfalls. First is the lovely Litlanesfoss, with beautiful basalt columns
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| Litlanesfoss |
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| Hengifoss |
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| Walk back down to Lagarfljot lake |
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