Huffin and puffin on the haunted highway

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This morning was earmarked as a rest day but as the weather is looking better for the side trip planned for tomorrow we decide to reverse the days.

Although overcast today, it is not hammering with rain and there does not appear to be such a heavy black cloud over the mountain as we experienced yesterday!

Our trip involves making our way back towards Egilsstadir, in fact almost all the way there, before taking a right hand turn down another ‘there and back only’ road for a mere 98km each way. Ian remarks that the van is now half full of fuel so we’d better fill the tank in Egilsstadir on our way back. Should we do it now? No, it will be fine for today.

The road to Bakkagerdi looks fine - metalled and just a tad narrower than the main road…until we reach the roadworks that is! We’ve only been on the road for around 10km when the nice tarmac suddenly turns to stones followed by black rubble.

Hmmm, I reckon the road is going to be like this all the way now grumbles Ian. Don’t be silly says I, it’s just some roadworks (I can see the bulldozer in the distance).

After thirty odd kilometres of roadworks Ian is huffing big time. He doesn’t like the look of this and by the way we are in danger of running out of fuel! What? We started with half a tank? Yes but apparently the low gear coupled with automatic transmission is gobbling up the diesel big time.

What to do? We are almost half way there and the roadworks have finally come to an end. We decide we will run it to quarter tank and turn back if we are still not there. No chance if there are any hills mutters Eeyore Ian.

Thankfully the road is now very flat, skirting round the side of the sea and well sealed though I can see a steep hill (mini mountain?) beyond. Best not to mention that I think!

Are we still above a quarter tank, I ask. Yes! Ouch, quick check, yes my head is still attached to my shoulders. Apparently it’s digital so there’s no needle to watch, when it’s gone, it’s gone. OK, OK, OK. I’m not quite sure why it’s my fault but apparently it is. I think I now know why this road is nicknamed ‘The Haunted Highway’…I have a feeling someone is in grave danger of being strangled!

At last, we have arrived at the tiny hamlet of Borgarfjordur Eystri and the fuel gauge is still reading three eighths. We pull up at a notice board which lists the places of interest in pictorial form. It seems like most of them are hotels or cafes. The main point of interest is the puffin watching platforms…another 5km down the road!

Fortunately, whilst I was checking out the info board Ian has spotted a self service fuel station. Phew! And ya boo sucks to you google maps…wrong again…it may be a tiny hamlet but they do have fuel!

OK, panic over and huffing ceased, we set off to explore the village. First is an iconic red tin shack covered in turf. I am horrified to see a tourist poking their camera into the window…the guide book says it’s a private residence! Turns out the book is out of date too…it’s now a museum but, as usual it doesn’t open till 1pm.

The village is also supposed to be full of hidden wooden carvings of animals and elves. They are so well hidden that we only find one!

So now we are off to see the puffins, with a much lighter heart that we won’t be walking back 100km in search of fuel :-)

Another steep little hairpin bend hillside brings us up and down to a small harbour and a well made path leading to a bird hide. The puffins are everywhere…approximately 7,700 breeding couples according to Ian. And all very tame too, we can get up very close even without the help of the hide.

Time for lunch…I do love it that we can just nip into the back of the van for a sandwich and a brew whenever we feel like it!

And now for the return trip to the campsite. It appears to take much less time than coming…but that’s only because we now have plenty of fuel!

Half way up through the unmade road we find a van blocking our way. It’s one of the workmen. He wants to tell us that they have just laid some new tarmac so we should not drive on the ‘black bits’. Errrrr, what does that mean…it’s all black! Ian surmises that he means we shouldn’t drive on the bits not yet rolled - three rollers are busy compressing one side in any case so no chance of driving on their side in any case! We just hope that our tyres will not be filled with tar by the time we get through all this!

Finally we reach sealed road again. Now we just need to complete the hairy ride over the mountain and through all the switch backs. It doesn’t seem nearly as scarey today with the cloud being much higher. We can actually see the mountain lake and waterfalls!

Half way along the mountain pass there is a bizarre art installation. We vaguely noticed it yesterday but Ian thought it was a set of recycling bins! It is called ‘Saeki petta seinna’ which directly translates as ‘I’ll pick this up later’…although it is marked on the map as ‘heavier mountain’. Apparently it refers to the gloom of living in dark mountains for most of the year. Anyway, I think it has been vandalised as the guide book photo has computer monitors on top of the coloured blocks…but these are no longer in situ!

Ian is taking it carefully but a madman in a huge motorhome decides to overtake us on the twisting road. We stop a short while at a parking bay to take some photos of the valley far below so we are surprised to find ourselves in a bit of a traffic jam…with the offending motorhome at the front now driving at around 25km an hour…I reckon that guy had taken a chance too many and was now crapping himself! Anyway, he’s now going so slow that even Ian decides to overtake…but only now that we are on a straight bit of road!

We arrive at camp and pleased to find our same spot from last night is still available. It’s quite close to the loo block! The camp is pretty full today as the big vehicle ferry sails back to Denmark tomorrow morning.

We go to the camp kitchen to make our tea and a couple of German guys make room for us at their table. They are enjoying a joke with a guy on the next table who tells them he comes from Sheffield. That’s a beautiful place says one of them…we passed it on the ferry…they thought he said Shetland.

We decide to return to our van a bit earlier tonight to make room for others who may want to use the kitchen. Though it’s a nice size with three sets of hot plates, a microwave, kettle and two sinks so technically there is room for all, just that the table space is a bit limited with so many folk here tonight.

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