And of course things didn't go to plan!
We'd booked 17 days in Iceland, comprising six different locations, starting on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and ending in the countryside near to Hvergerdi. However, that was to be cut short to 14 days with an extra £600 of costs due to a misunderstanding around the type of rapid antigen test that you need to fly. Lesson learnt.
So our trip began on Sunday with an early flight into Keflavik, and to be honest it went well with little fuss....thankfully. We landed around 8:30am and after some delay picking up the car we headed over to the Fagradalsfjall area where after 6 months of lava flowing, unfortunately the volcano had a week ago become dormant. It was great though just to see the set lava down in one of the valleys that it had flowed into. Very windy, in fact the wind took off my lens hood, never to be seen again. But that didn't take anything away from the visit, it was awesome.
Around 1pm we set off on our long drive north to Akureyri. We stopped at Borgarnes for pizza and some shopping at Bonus, and eventually arrived at our accommodation at 8:30pm. The last hour or so was dark, foggy and wet, not great driving but worth it just to get to the north of Iceland.
We hadn't slept for over 36hrs so we were glad to hit the sheets, that said, I was expecting us to stay asleep late into the Monday, but we didn't. Just a little tidying around and then off out for the day.
The main visit was to Aldeyjarfoss waterfall, an hour and a half drive with the last hour or so on a gravel road. On route we passed through the new 7.5km long tunnel across the fjord from Akureyri, the toll being almost £10 for a single trip!
Arrival at the waterfall was around 1pm, and we stopped there for over 2hrs taking in the sights and sounds of the basalt column flanked waterfall. An astonishing stop and well worth bouncing along the gravel road.
The drive back was very much stop start as I kept getting out of the car to take photos....as you do when there are some great autumn colours around. As we were passing Godafoss on the way back we decided to stop off there for 30 minutes or so, it was though raining so we just did a short walk up to the main falls and then were back in the car for the drive back.
We arrived back at the apartment, after a detour to bonus, at around 7pm. Time to chill for a few hours.
Tuesday was going to be grey with some sleet and rain, but not to be deterred we headed out for the day. Our first port of call was to be Krafla, the volcanic crater with a bright blue lake in the bottom.
It took us around an hour and a half to get there, and out first surprise was how white over it was up there. We had stopped at the geothermal power plant in the valley before heading up high, and unfortunately even though the crater was impressive, the grey skies meant that we didn't get the raw blue colour of the water. Still good to visit somewhere new.
As we dropped back down into the valley we stopped in a gravel lay-by, where there is a shower fed by geothermal water that just runs all the time. And I just mean a shower, a pipe coming out of the floor with a shower head, and a puddle below in the gravel. I stripped off, popped on my shorts and spent about 10 minutes enjoying the warm water in surroundings of around -1c.
About 15 minutes away we stopped off at Hverir geothermal area with it's bubbling mud pots, steam vents and very strong sulphur smell. We'd been there in the past but never when the weather is sunny and bringing out the colours in the landscape.
Next stop was to be the Hofdi Stones on the south-east bank of Myvatn Lake, but even though we had a lovely walk around a small nature reserve, we just couldn't find any way of getting to see the lava stacks close to the edge of the lake. So, about turn and back up to route 1 to set off back.
We did park up at Godafoss again, but even through it wasn't raining like it was yesterday, you could see in the sky that it wouldn't be long until it was going to come down. We instead decided to leave the visit until the next time we pass as we would be doing so again a few times in the next couple of days.
Now just the drive back to Akureyri, and burgers for tea.
Our last full day was to be the longest day out so far, and expected to be wall to wall sunshine....well according to all of the weather apps! We left around 9:30am and headed west again, along route 1 passing Godafoss, then past Myvatn and on to Dettifoss waterfall, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. It took us around 2hrs to get there.
Just up from Dettifoss we first visited the less powerful but equally impressive Selfoss, before heading back along the canyon to Dettifoss itself. All so different to the last time we were here, with Jake, and covered in snow. It's quite a deceptive waterfall, it's not the size it's the flow that is most impressive.
After setting off, we took a slight detour to a place I had found when surfing the internet and what a find it was. Hafragilsfoss waterfall is impressive, but Jokulsargljufur canyon is like nothing I have seen before, absolutely amazing and more than worth the short drive along a gravel road.
Next stop was another impressive place, one which wows you most when you see pictures from above, by drone or plane as you then get to see the vastness of the deep horseshoe canyon. That said, when you drive deep inside it, especially this time of year when everywhere is draped in deep yellow and red, it is one beautiful place. Steep cliff sides of the canyon surrounding the colourful carpet below.
We had about a 2hr drive back to Akureyri, but we took a different route back so drove around the Tjornes peninsula, through Husavik and back to route 1. We made a bit of a detour to Godafoss but it was by now starting to get dark so all the colours were mooted. After our short stop, we headed back to the 'city', again - another £10 toll to cut through the new tunnel. Now for our last night in Akureyri.
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