Kirkjubaerklaustur

Told you it was unpronounceable.

We woke at Hella to a clear day, a fast running river and a couple of fishermen, before hitting the road again.

First stop today was Seljalandsfoss, sixty metres tall and with a path that allows people - at least those who brought their rain gear - to walk behind the water.

Not only was the main waterfall a torrent, there were even jets of water coming out of the ground, so sodden was the earth and so intense the pressure. The amount of water that must rain on Iceland each year is incredible.

For a change, we then visited a museum - the Skogar Museum in fact. There were a number of sections. The Technological Museum was of interest only to those who already have a collection of vintage mobile telephones. The Outdoor Museum had a collection of turf houses and demonstrated the upstairs downstairs hierarchy of Icelandic life - upstairs (and incredibly cramped) for the humans, downstairs for the animals.

Moving on, on what were becoming incredibly busy days, we reached Reynisfjara black sand beach.

It was an attractive setting, with cliffs and pinnacles and hundreds of tourists ignoring the signs warning of the dangerous beach conditions.

However, one person’s black sand is another person’s dirt, and it’s unlikely Bondi will have much competition from its darker cousins.

Then a trip to Vik, a small town where we raided the Vinbudin - the state-run liquor monopoly - and stocked up on wine, beer, bread and cheese.

The day closed with a fun wine, beer, bread and cheese session on the verandah of our hotel. Spending time in a unique and wonderful country, with snow covered mountains in the distance and good friends up close - what could be better?Read more