We didn't need to be out of the apartment in Akureyri until mid-day, but by 10am we were packed up and on our way. After a short stop at Bonus for some shopping, and then Olis for a fuel fill up, we were on the road.
Of course another short stop at Godafoss was a must, it was rather dull out there but that didn't take away the enjoyment of the 'Waterfall of the Gods'. The rest of the trip all the way to Egilsstadir involved a few short stops for photos, and lots of rain, wind and cloud. It's not the most attractive part of the country, but it is very grey and rugged so has it's own beauty.
As we arrived in the town we stopped off at a cafe that Donna had found on Tripadvisor (of course), we enjoyed a piece of cake each and a hot drink, and just enjoyed the ambience of the cafe in a book store.
Now just 10 minutes or so to our cottage, and wow what a cottage! On the banks of a glacial lake, your own little beach and the whole area ablaze with autumn colours.
We had a few things planned for our time near Egilsstadir, all dependent on the weather of course. But as so far we had been quite fortunate that there hadn't been much rain, we were confident of being able to get out and about.
We had decided against going to Studlagil Canyon because we had read that after late August, the hydro power plant further upstream started releasing the glacial water so the river flowing through the canyon was grey. However, on our way across from Akureyri we had seen part of the river flowing blue so we decided to give it a go.
It took us around an hour and 15 minutes to get there, we then had a 40 minute hike to the canyon, and we were so pleased we had gone. The once submerged canyon is flanked by basalt columns with blue water flowing down at the bottom of the gorge. Really worth a visit particularly if you are into geology.
Before heading back to our cottage we drove through Egilsstadir and took the gravel mountain road down into Mjolfjordur fjord. We had seen it on a recent YouTube vlog, a winding rough road down into a fjord where only 11 people live. We only went to the head of the fjord as we wanted to see the old American landing boat that had been left there part in the water, now rusting and abandoned.
Our second full day started with a walk down and around the small beach in front of us, just taking in the calmness of the milky glacial lake and the foggy air. The plan was to head to Hengifoss waterfall, we did have reservations though due to how foggy it was. However we decided to go for it as the drive there through the golden forest would be worth it alone.
We drove around 30 minutes to the car-park at the bottom of a 1.5 mile walk straight uphill. It was still foggy but worth just taking the hike. And to be honest we couldn't have been luckier as it was foggy on the way up, and the skies turned blue as we reached the main waterfall. We spent about 30 minutes there taking on the majesty of a 400ft high waterfall with bands of red stone running through the strata. How lucky had we been?
Just a short stop at Netto for some bits and then back to the cottage and into the hot tub.
It was now the last full day in the East, we did have a hike on our list of things to do in this part of the country, but decided instead to visit the museum at Striduklaustur and whilst there take in their traditional buffet lunch. A couple of bowls of soup each, a selection of main courses including Reindeer, followed by a few of their homemade desserts. Including the museum visit we ended up being there for two and a half hours.
It was now almost mid-afternoon, and although initially we had decided against going to Seydisfjordur as there were some risks of more mudslides, we decided to venture over the mountain pass as the risk seemed to have abated. The views going over were stunning, and it was quite humbling seeing the area that had been destroyed when the mud came down the mountain. Thankfully much of it has now been cleared and rebuilt, but unfortunately there are still a few of the residents who aren't yet back in their houses.
We headed back over the mountain pass, a couple of stops going over and were in the hot tub by 6pm for our last time at this cottage.
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