View of Akureyri from possibly the world’s most scenicly located gas station

To make it all the way around Iceland in the course of our week here, we have to keep on the move almost every day.  We’ve been hampered a bit by our seeming inability to get up at a reasonable hour of the morning.  My assumption going in was that Bob and I would be up bright and early, ready to go for a stroll and maybe work on our blog before the kids arose.  But our sleep schedules haven’t quite arranged themselves, and we’ve been sleeping late too.  Competition for bathrooms (we’ve been staying in guesthouses with a shared bath) has also slowed down our morning progress.  So once again it was close to 11:00 before we managed to hit the road from Siglufjordur.

Strolling above the fjiord in Akureyri

After a quick stop for coffee and pastries at what was billed as “Iceland’s most popular bakery”, we were again on our way. Our progress down the winding roads was sped up a bit by two very long tunnels, burrowing deep through the mountains that line the fjords.

Our first stop was the cut little city of Akureyri — Iceland’s second largest city (though that’s not saying much).  We took a stroll through the charming streets and up the steps to the art deco church.  At this point we were high above the fjord, with the sweeping views that are the norm here.  After a stroll through the botanic garden and some delicious grilled sandwiches in the town square, we were ready to move on.

Godafoss Falls

Next stop: Godafoss Falls, yet another impressive waterfall right along the main Ring Road.  Iceland has done an excellent job with these roadside attractions — there are lots of paths leading to different viewpoints above and below the falls, and the option to descend down to a black sand beach near the base.  There’s a footbridge over the river to allow views of the horseshoe-shaped falls from both sides.  (We had to wait to cross it to allow the large group of horses to be marshalled across.)  Zoe would have stayed here all day if she had the option, and watching the powerful falls was mesmerizing.

Our route has now taken us away from the coast, to our next destination at Lake Myvatn.  After a quick stop to check in at our guest house near the lake, we headed a bit further along the road to the nearby geothermal and volcanic area.  (Even when we get a late start, we can get a lot of sightseeing in since it barely gets dark here.  In fact, I haven’t seen darkness at all — even when I was awake at 2:15am last night.)

The Namafjall Geothermal Area is the Icelandic Yellowstone — steaming craters, boiling mud pits, dazzling colors, and choking sulphurous air.  It’s not nearly as crowded or developed as Yellowstone, though, and you can get up as close to these attractions as your nose can bear.

A little further up the road is the Krafla Geothermal Valley.  The first interesting site you come across is a functioning shower in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere.  No one seems to know who erected it, but it’s hooked up to the geothermal spring beneath it and seems to be perfect showering temperature.  Continuing along past the huge geothermal power plant located here, we came to the Leirhnjukur Volcanic Cone.  This provided an amazing hike.  The crater itself was pretty impressive, but we were able to continue past it into the lava fields that stretched out as far as we could see.  The lighting always seems to be very  dramatic here, with lowering clouds and occasional bursts of sunbeams, and we could see forever in every direction.  We spent a lot longer here than we planned, but we couldn’t drag ourselves away.

There was one more stop along the same road — Viti Crater.  This is yet another crater, this one containing a bright blue lake, that Iceland has helpfully built a hiking trail all around.  However, the day was getting late and some of the troops were growing mutinous, so we contented ourselves with

Viti Crater

walking the fifty feet from the car to the crater’s edge, having a quick look at the lake, then retreating back to our guest house.  It made for another late dinner, but fortunately we’d learned our lesson in Siglufjordur and secured provisions from the nearby grocery before heading out.  The girls produced a delicious pesto alfredo pasta from the guest house kitchen, and all was well.