A series of ooos and aaahs

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As usual I’m awake at 4am but Ian is still snoring loudly. We still have low cloud but it’s looking a bit brighter than yesterday. I fall back asleep.

By the time I next wake it’s 8am. We had planned an earlier start but never mind. Last night Ian was concerned we might not get the van out as people were parked nose to tail, now it’s not a problem as everybody has left!

There’s a huge queue of vehicles on the road too…the bi weekly vehicle ferry to Denmark is leaving this morning.

We drive to the end of town to do a short walk up to Tvisongur, an art installation half way up the steep hillside. A sign tells us it’s only 700m but it’s a pretty steep 700m!

Up at the top we find a concrete igloo with seven domes. Fortunately the lady at the gallery has explained that we need to stick our heads through the holes and whisper to each other. We’re not very good at whispering but we give it a go. The whisper echos around the chamber. We then try various other different sounds from low to high pitched ooos and aaahs. I’m glad the lady explained before we went or I might have found this a little disappointing. Actually it’s rather fun.

We descend the hill and make our way back through the mountain pass to Egilsstadir. We need to completely fill the diesel tank and do some shopping as we are heading north through some fairly remote places. Though something tells me there will be fuel and food if we need it.

It’s only 10.05 so the big supermarket isn’t open but we see another smaller one close by. We stock up on essentials and Ian fills the tank.

Now we are off to explore Studlagil Canyon…if we can! I say this because the trek involves driving down an ‘F’ Road. These are Icelands mountain roads, usually only open to 4x4s and only in the summer months. They are packed earth or loose gravel and notoriously narrow and full of potholes! We are going to give it a try if the road is open.

We reach the turning and the road looks OK, though it soon turns from tarmac to loose gravel. Ian still seems up for the run. Fortunately we have a bright dry day which always helps.

There are two ways to see the canyon. The first is on the west side. It’s the easiest run as the road is better maintained and it’s a mere 250m walk down a metal staircase to a viewing platform at the bottom. The only problem is that it’s not the best side to see it from! The east side involves a detour down a narrower and less well maintained track then a 10km hike there and back. Guess which one we choose?

We are at car park number one. It’s possible to drive to car park two to shorten the hike to 5km but neither of us likes the look of the packed mud track so we decide to walk it.

The track to the canyon isn’t that pleasant, especially when a 4x4, travelling too fast’ falls into a pothole and completely splatters me with brown mud. Cheers mate!

The second half is walking only, so a little better, though I’m really doubtful this is only 5km!

At last we have arrived at the canyon and it’s absolutely stunning. Worthy of many oohs and aaahs. Tall hexagonal basalt columns line the sides with a bright blue torrent of water running in between. This canyon was only recently discovered when a controversial dam was built. The result was that the water levels were lowered revealing the stone columns which no one previously knew existed.

This was definitely worth the effort but now we must retrace our steps.

Finally back at the van, we grab a bite to eat. Most people in cars did drive the precarious second track but not so many of the vans attempted it.

It would be possible to continue on the F road on the west side to reach our campsite but we elect to go back to the main ring road. We’ve had enough thrills for one day!

Our drive to camp takes us through a desolate mountain plateau. The scenery is very interesting.

Our camp tonight is in the tiny village of Modrudalur, the highest in Iceland at 495m. It has a very pretty church and a quirky campsite. Ian goes off to explore the camp kitchen. He describes it as quaint and thinks I should take a look! It’s a turfed roof affair half submerged in soil. There’s a distinct earthy smell and the wind is blowing through it at a rate of knots. No problem getting a table here! We decide to cook in the van. This seems to attract a goat who is intent on trying to eat the inside lining of our van…I have to shoo it off with the cleaning brush and close the door. We also seem to have swarms of flies here too! Both very annoying as it’s actually really warm in the van tonight and we would have liked a bit if fresh air.

Ian moves the camper to the top field…less sheltered but no goats or flies. He also manages to bag a spot right beside a secondary loo block. There’s only us and another van up there so that suits us fine. It’s really very warm today so a bit of wind is quite welcome.

A few general points about the campsite…its 8km down a dirt track road, the kitchen is freezing, the gas on the cooker doesn’t work, they provide a washer and dryer but neither are plumbed in, there are three mixed sex showers but only one works and it costs an extra £5 to use it, the water fluctuates between boiling hot or freezing cold with no middle ground, it’s generally swarming with flies. It’s the only campsite for miles around so I guess they van get away with it but we won’t be staying a second night! Oh and did I mention no phone coverage or wifi! Blog will have to wait till tomorrow for upload!

It’s 9pm but still feels like 6pm. We take a walk over to the tiny church and note that the campsite is now very full. There are quite a few cars with tents on the roof…I’m very glad we are not in one of those as we are quite exposed and the wind is whipping up.

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