The Old School House was a very comfortable AirBnb loction, however it is set up with one apartment on the ground floor ( us) and one apartment on the top floor ( a family of heavy footed hippos!) We were woken at 7am by the hippos as they were getting ready to depart so it seemed like a good idea to get up and get organised. We still had a lazy start with a relaxed breakfast and didn’t set out to explore Seydisfjordur until 9.30. It didn’t take long because Seydisfjordur is a tiny town! The highlight is the “Rainbow street” which runs from the main hotel in the town down to the church ( I’m not sure if there is any meaning to be drawn from that?) The town has a strong artistic bent and I was impressed by the street sculpture of twisted beams from an old factory that was destroyed by an avalanche in 1996, but luckily no lives were lost.
The “Old School House” – our home for the night
We set off up the long windy road back up the head of the fjord. This morning the fog had cleared so we had a view down to the town. This is not a great photo ( taken from the car) but it gives you an idea..
Part way up the hill we stopped at a little waterfall called Gufufoss. This one features in the move of ‘The Life of Walter Mitty”
We then had a long 2 and a half hour drive across the empty highlands that seperate east Iceland from North Iceland. The first stretch was green with many waterfalls but the latter part is described in the guidebooks as a lunar landscape.
Finally we hit the turnoff that would take us up to Dettifoss, which is reputed to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe! We could see the spray from a kilometre away and decided to confine ourselves to the view from the top lookout rather than getting drenched at the lower lookout.
We then set off upstream to see Selfoss, another lovely waterfall , however it was raining by this stage and we were freeeezing, it was only 6 degrees and the stiff wind made it seem much colder.
From here it wasn’t a long drive to see the bubbling mud pools and steaming fumaroles by Mt. Nàmafjall in a large geothermal area. For Neil and I it was a strong reminder of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming but it was an all new experience for Simon and Jatta.
Our next series of sights were all clustered around Lake Myvatn, The lake was created by a large basaltic lava eruption 2300 years ago, and the surrounding landscape is dominated by volcanic landforms. However, our tummies were rumblin so our first stop was Gamli Bistro where we tucked into a substantial and tasty lunch. It was only a short drive to the Dimmuborgir Lava Formations – these are a large area of twisted black towers that were formed when lava spurted up through the lake and formed stone stalagmites. It was interesting to see them but we werent impressed by the swarms of midges that cover the area in the summer months!
The nest stop were the Pseudo craters that dot a large area in the western end of the lake. These were formed when steam created bubble under the lava which then pooped and formed the crater shapes. Today they are grassy hills with a deep hole in the middle and to me they looked like the classic fairy dell of fairy tales. We enjoyed a walk around them and up to the rims, but it was still bitterly cold so we were glad to get back in the car and set of for our last waterfall of the trip, Godafoss.
Godafoss is pretty, horseshoe shaped waterfall and easy to access from the ring road. I was happy to see it but I think I’m reaching a stage where I’m getting a little blase about waterfalls!
Finally we set off for the last 30 minute drive to Akureyri. After our big late lung we’d decided to just pick up the wherewithall for an easy dinner of nibbles to enjoy in our pretty cottage overlooking the fjord. In the town we saw the church. Dominating the town from high on a hill, Akureyri’s landmark church was designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, the architect responsible for Reykjavík’s Hallgrímskirkja.
We finally arrived at the apartment on the hill at around 7pm and settled in for a quiet evening enjoying the view over the fjord.
The views from your accom are rather wonderful. It seems that the weather is fairly cold and that you aren’t loving it too much. Hope it warms up for you. The scenery shots are amazing.