Hvammstangi

Our personal Icelandic saga continued in better weather at Dimmuborgir Lava Field, where we wandered around looking at fascinating contorted rock formations and some crappy stuff about the Yule Lads, possibly ancient Iceland’s answer to the Bay City Rollers.

We then called at Lake Myvatin, where we walked to a couple of viewpoints and admired the twisting foreshore of the lake and its many islands. A shallow lake, it was created 2,300 years ago by - funnily enough for Iceland - a volcanic eruption.

Next up was Godafoss, yet another spectacular waterfall, this one handsome in a nice setting and on a dry day.

Then, a drive up around the peninsula to Siglufjordur, easily the farthest north we had travelled in Iceland and beautiful scenery all the way.

We also did a couple of tunnels. The Veggjald Tunnel before we reached Akureyi, seven kilometres long, was modern and had a lane each way, and a toll to go with it. Interestingly, its construction was delayed by the ingress of geothermal hot water, and this heat causes the temperature in the tunnel to reach 26 degrees at times.

The other two were single lane, meaning you had to judge the speed and distance of the oncoming headlights before deciding whether on not to aim for the next passing refuge or keep waiting. Five kilometres of this nerve wracking activity were more than enough.

Finally, we walked a little way along a muddy farm path to Grafarkirkja, turf roofed and the oldest church in Iceland.Read more