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It’s 7am and damp and grey. I decide to go across to the cosy kitchen and cook a full English whilst it’s relatively deserted. We have a long drive ahead so may be late to camp tonight. We are planning a quick evening meal of potato curry and rice as a consequence.
We set off in the mizzle. Our plan is to take a detour around the headland to a place called Hvitserker - it’s supposed to be a pretty drive with an unusual rock formation in the sea…followed by more scenic driving and basking seals.
We have reached the detour road. Oh dear, it’s another of those snow chain roads. And the snow chains have definitely been in use - resulting in a completely potholed road. Ian says we’ll do it anyway.
The road gets no better for the whole distance but we have reached the rocks…they look like a giant heffalump taking a drink in the sea! Impressive but not totally sure it was worth the bumpy drive to get here.
We decide to cut our losses and return the way we came rather than continue the loop as we are less than a third
of the way round and the road clearly isn’t going to get any better!
It’s a huge relief to be back on the main ring road. Plus the weather seems to be improving.
At Stadur, we leave the main road…which has become increasingly busy…haven’t seen this much traffic for a long time! We take a quiet side road which appears to be decent tarmac.
We stop for lunch by a pretty church overlooking the sea.
Now we are off again, but what’s this? The tarmac suddenly stops and w3 are back to potholed gravel again! Admittedly the pot holes are less than earlier but even so, it’s going to be slow progress if it’s like this all the way!
We make our way through glacial valleys and round twisting headlands. It reminds us of Scotland. All very pretty and we now have bright blue sky. Sometimes the road is tarmac and sometimes it turns back to bumpy gravel…it’s a bit of a tease really. Just when we are going along swimmingly the pot holes reappear!
It’s 3pm and we have reached Holmavik. I decide to visit the Museum of Witchcraft and Sorcery whilst Ian
elects for some shut eye in the van.
There are a few visitors gravely examining the exhibits…some of it is gruesome stuff but with other exhibits I’m finding it hard not to giggle. Interestingly, only one female was burnt for witchcraft here…it would seem that sorcery in Iceland us largely a male affair.
We were supposed to camp at a coastal site 25km from here. But we now realise that will be another 50km round trip of dirt road. The campsite at Holmavik does not look great so we decide to head on another 85km on the better road to a place called Reykjanes. It may not be any better but it can’t be any worse, and that will be 85km less to drive tomorrow! To be honest, our schedule is all over the place.
We arrive at Reykjanes…it’s a quiet little place on a thin strip of land overlooking the sea. We can see water steaming nearby. The campsite is run by the hotel, which looks like a Russian gulag. Fortunately the camp ground is better. We have a nice view if the sea and the facilities are not bad.
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