We woke to find ourselves docked in Akureyri, in total contrast to Monday’s steep sided Fjord, the landscape seemed quite flat.
Although we quickly realised that we couldn’t see the full view, we weren’t sure if we were in the rain, the cloud or a thick mist, probably all three. But nevertheless we donned our most waterproof clothes and braved the days excusion. Our first stop was at the Lake Myvatn visitor center for a bit of a geology lesson about this surreal landscape of thermal springs and mini volcanoes.
We discovered that the “mini volcanoes” were actually a very rare phenomenon only found here in Iceland called pseudocraters.
They are not true volcanic craters made by erupting lava, but are effectively the burst bubbles made when hot lava flows over wetlands and the steam created between lava and water, bursts up through the lava like a bubble in a boiling pan of soup.
For Game of thrones fans, Lake Mytavn is where Jon Snow and Ygritte got hot and steamy, amongst the hot steam in series 3. However despite the landscape being perfect for a bit of fantasy escapism, most of us escaped back to the tour bus pretty quickly to escape the cold wind and rain. Most of my photos were taken from the moving bus.
It was a great shame we couldn’t explore further because it really did feel like we were on another planet, so much so that it is where many of the space expeditions vehicles are tested over the incredible terrain.
Our tour continued inland weaving through the lava fields and thermal vents until we reached the mighty Waterfall Dettifoss
It was only a short walk from the parking area to the viewing area but in the 5 minutes it took we got thoroughly soaked and chilled through, but it didn’t dampen our spirits, Thank goodness we’d brought a hip flask, Posing for photos was a fruitless cause.
Again we didn’t linger but leapt back on the coach to visit our second waterfall of the day. This time the mighty Goðafoss. At first we could only hear the roar as we walked upstream, but we knew we were in for a treat.
The legend tells of the local chieftain Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, who decided that all Icelanders should adopt the Christian faith. To prove his commitment, he threw all of his statues of Pagan gods into the waterfall, it became known as Goðafoss, which translates to the “waterfall of the gods” No one talks about having found those Pagan relics, but I can’t imagine anyone brave or daft enough to dive under the water to search for them
Again as with the previous days hike, the infrastructure that enabled people like us to enjoy the area was brilliant.
And we returned to our ship soaked but happy
( and again apologies for posting so many photos,