Pottering around in the north of the country…
Horses! The Icelandic horses were everyhere, often running along in the distinctive fifth gait
Around the corner from Husavik, where we decided not to go whale watching because it was expensive and they weren’t even using the best boats at the moment – and it was mainly about the sailing, not the whales
Geothermally active areas around Krafla. Don’t believe the Lonely Planet when it says the Stora-Viti crater “reveals a stunning secret when you reach its rim”. There’s just a bit of water in there, and it’s not even a very exciting colour if it’s overcast.
Playing on solidified lava around Krafla. Some of it was still steaming and sulfurous, the earth’s crust is thin here, and Krafla is still active.
More of the Krafla area
Driving around Lake Myvatn. There were a lot of ‘tourist attractions’ here, and we weren’t fussed by most of them. The Hverfell crater (a classic tephra ring) is lurking darkly by the lake, and does look quite cool. The lake itself is home to Marimo Balls – balls of algae that only grow in one other place in the world, Lake Akan in Japan, where we’ve also been (entirely coincidental, we’re not algae ball fiends). The solidified lava you can see flowing down to the lake came from an eruption of Krafla in 1729 – it very impressively only just spared the wooden church in town, which is still standing.
Hverir, another geothermal area near Lake Myvatn
Tame arctic fox at Möðrudalur.
Arctic fox and dog, firm friends (bringing back memories of my own pet fox… the dogs treat them as cheeky puppies, which no doubt they are)