Godafoss Waterfall
Ring Road Day 3
Great start to the day – slept in again, checked out late, stopped at the grocery store, waited for a cow to cross the road, and drove 20 minutes in the wrong direction…put us a little behind time. However, that didn’t stop us from seeing a lot of exciting things during the day. We drove past a spectacular waterfall called Godafoss. In Iceland there are no ropes or anything preventing you from climbing right up on the rocks to the edge of the falls, so that was exciting! Stepping stones across a little creek in my boot was interesting!
We then entered the Myvatn Lake area, which was full of AMAZING sights. First we stopped and saw some pseudo-craters on the side of the lake. I couldn’t stop thinking about what a crazy golf course the area would make! We then saw an area with many cool lava formations.
We walked up to the rim of the massive Hverfell crater (a bit rough in the boot, but worth it). Within it was a giant gaping hole that was very cool, and there was a great view of the surroundings. Unfortunately I forgot my camera for this one, so I will have to get pics from Mom/Corree & Daren.
We then drove over to the Krafla volcano area. At Namarfjall were very cool (actually very HOT) bubbling mud cauldrons, lunar-like red landscape and mountains surrounding, as well as steam vents. It was spectacular. Nearer to the Krafla volcano (an active volcano which is ready to blow!) was a geothermal power plant with long tubes leading to different futuristic-looking domes. It reminded me of something out of James Bond.
We were able to drive right up to the Viti crater, which had a beautiful blue lake in the middle. On the way back down, we encountered plenty of wild sheep crossing the road, and a toilet/shower in the middle of nowhere. The shower was actually functioning! (It drew water from the thermal water below the ground.) We are not sure if the toilet was functioning, but it was definitely used! Oh, Icelandic humour.
Viti Crater
That night we stayed in this little campground/cabin place which had tiny portables with rooms with bunk beds. The rooms were pretty tight and beds creaky, but very comfy! We had to share the communal kitchen with a group of 10 old Dutch people who claimed one entire side was theirs, and wouldn’t let anyone else inside. They also claimed about 4 tables for themselves, and one for their drinks/coolers, while a giant group of ~20 Italians had to squish around 2 tables, and a few Germans had to sit in the hallway. The Dutch buggers were the most inconsiderate people I have encountered on my travels. Everyone else was very nice though.
Ring Road Day 4
Today we went to Husavik for some WHALE WATCHING!!! We went out in a reconstructed old fishing boat. We got to wear giant snow-suit like things with long coats, and good thing, because it would have been quite cold! The sea had huge swells and the boat rocked back and forth a lot. I was thinking how great it was that I got whale watching and a roller coaster like ride in one! The boat was very slow, but eventually we made it out to where a couple other boats were sitting, and low and behold – we saw several spouts from the blow hole of a BLUE WHALE (they were about 1 m high spouts of water) !!! (PS that is the largest animal on this earth.) And a little while later, it actually breached quite near our boat, so we could see about 10 metres of its back!! It was amazing. Unfortunately, after doing that couple times, it decided it didn’t like us anymore and started diving down and swimming away from us. We followed its spouts for the next few hours, but we never got close to it again. Still very cool though. We also saw some puffins floating in the water and flying near the boat. They were cute!
Whale watching didn’t leave us a ton of time, so we pretty much drove straight to our next destination, Reydarfjordur. However, we saw some very interesting and variable sights on the way. We passed a very desolate, expansive grey/brown/black/red landscape with almost no vegetation, which was surrounded by towering, barren mountains of the same colours. In one pullout, people had built many cairns/inukshuks from the rocks. We then drove through a valley between mountains with scattered green moss/grass and trickling waterfalls, hiding under a sometimes thick layer of mist. While the fog obstructed our view in parts, it made the whole area seem surreal and mystical. We then made it to the town on the edge of the fjord where our hostel was, to be greeted by some sort of large and unattractive plant. We are hoping for more natural, beautiful views of other eastern fjords tomorrow though.
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