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Published: August 18th 2018
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Caution - stone fish
in someone's front yard at Isafjordur This edition brings us out of the Westfjords and into North Iceland. We will cover the trip from Pingeyri to Isafjordur, then down Isafjardardjup, across to Drangsnes. We will cover our first drive through a one way tunnel that has traffic both ways at the same time, our time in Isafjordur, the search for a sim and the camp at Drangsnes.
Out of Pingeyri (it should be pointed out that the actual spelling of this town's name starts with an Icelandic 'thorn' - it looks like a p with a top as well as a tail; is pronounced as you would the Th in Thor; and, it seems, should be transliterated with th but then it isn't recognised by some English language apps) it is back into the mountains again for a trip of about 60km until we arrive at the first serious tunnel we have encountered. We have been through a lot of tunnels in Europe and we know that they vary. This is not one of the well lit, 2 lane ones. This one is 6km long with dim yellow lights and one lane but, interestingly, with traffic travelling 2 ways. It is immediately evident if you haven't
switched on your lights (mandatory for all drivers in the country day and night). I noticed the sign outside that made it clear that those going my way had right of way but I wasn't, at that stage, aware that those coming the other way would also be in the tunnel.
Here is the arrangement as we understand it, but if you are driving please check for yourself. If you have right of way you proceed at the speed limit. These tunnels tend to have those camera speed signs to tell you what speed you are doing. On one side of the tunnel there are bays marked with a large blue M. These are for on-coming vehicles to pull into while you are passing. The pull off bays seem to be every 100 or perhaps 200 metres. If you are a large truck, though, and too large to easily pull into a bay, you simply stop close to a pull off bay and allow the vehicle with right of way to pull into it while you go past. The same system works on some roads.
On the occasions we encountered these types of tunnels they worked pretty well.
Isafjordur harbour
With low cloud again I did have a moment or two of concern when the first set of lights were coming directly at us and I wasn't completely aware of the protocol. It would also add interest if those going in either direction decided to break the speed limit. I would be amazed if the system could work in Australia. There would always be some clown speeding up to get to the next bay.
Isafjordur is one of the major towns in the Westfjords. It is a large town for Iceland but, other than that is not particularly different. Our strong memory of the town is that is was cold, windy and wet. It does have an old quarter where houses are being restored to maintain the character of the houses originally built in the mid to late 1800's. We have no idea what the rules are or what assistance or advice home owners are being given but the results look good and are interesting. Worth a walk through.
On the morning we were there a cruise ship was in. Visitors were heading to the Maritime Museum and hitting the gift shops. Cruise ship arrivals in small towns can be overwhelming. We
stayed out of their way.
We did continue our search here for a sim to use in one of the phones. The Lebara sim purchased in the Netherlands worked for one phone but it was only for data. It transferred over to Iceland Simmin and was no problem. The other phone also had a Lebara sim bought in the Netherlands. It had calls, sms and a lot of data. First, it didn't automatically transfer over to an Iceland provider and then asserted that all data had been used. 10GB in 2 weeks? It was too hard to argue with the machines so we decided to buy an Iceland sim and take it up with Lebara back in the Netherlands. In Isafjordur and on down the road in likely places we had no luck. Some didn't have a clue what we were talking about, others simply couldn't help. Eventually, at a large road house - the only one we have come across so far - on the entry from the Westfjords to the Ring Road at Stadarskarli, the bloke serving coffee came up with one immediately.
There are 5 smaller fjords between Isafjordur and the end of the main
Bridge ahead
Icelandic bridges will be mentioned in a later post fjord. The road followed the coast almost all of the way. Very scenic but you do get a little blase even with such pleasant views.
We had decided that we would leave the last of the large peninsulas in the Westfjords alone. This one has the Drangajokull glacier in the middle and very limited road access to some of the coast. If we ever come back here in a boat when we are much older we may get a look at some of it.
Instead, we drove across to Drangsnes on the coast of Steingrimsfjordur. This is another small town but this one has has set up a pool and a number of tubs at the top of the cliffs to allow people to access the geothermal water that arrives, all apparently free. Although, you must shower first and there are some signs that were a little surprising making it quite clear what needs to be washed.
A bit of a wind had come up during the afternoon and was blowing enough to be uncomfortable. We were a little late making it to the Drangsnes camping area and had missed some good spots in the lee of
One-lane tunnel
You can just make out the M indicating the give-way bay, plus the sign that displays your speed a large bank. In a sign, perhaps, of our growing confidence or, more likely, knowledge of what you can get away with, we set up in the lee of the amenities block. First ones to park there but not the last. Nice comfortable night and a good camp. The wind died down overnight. Still just 2 toilets and 2 showers for upwards of 100 campers but everyone coped. The showers and toilets were off a large room where some of the tent campers were eating. I'm not sure who was more uncomfortable with that arrangement.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Amazing Tunnels
Iceland has the most amazing tunnels. The wind whips and makes you feel alive. We loved our time in Iceland. Eager for more.