[edit: I forgot to mention that the evening before setting out from Akureyri, Craig learned that the Phallus Museum has moved to Reykjavik... with no cocks envy, it seemed pointless to divert to Husavik and we instead rode straight to Myvatn]
Today is the one year anniversary of my elbow surgery to put me back together after a careless bike crash last summer. Not a bad way to spend a birthday! Thanks again to my bicycle enthusiast surgeon, Dr. Gladu, for getting me all fixed up.
My new Australian buddy Craig and I pushed off from the bustling "city" of Akureyri, heading for Lake Myvatn volcanic area. Calm air greeted us as we climbed out of the fjord and into the highlands... the bay was glassy with stillness.
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| leaving Akureyri behind |
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| topping out the ascent out of the fjord |
We made good time along the way, rolling up and down into the highlands and gradually gaining altitude as we trended into the interior. It was a real pleasure to have a riding companion, and a blessing that it was someone as charismatic and interesting as Craig. He's a worldy guy- next week he'll head to Greenland ("Figured if I was so close, I may as well go!") and rack up his 100th country visited as he turns just 44. We chatted the whole ride and had a helpful breeze at our backs for a majority of the day. Finally!!
About halfway we passed Godifoss ("Waterfall of the Gods") and had a beautiful place to eat lunch on the cliffs overlooking the falls while busloads of shore-excursioners from the cruise ship docked at Akureyri got their 3min photo-ops.
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| Godifoss |
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| Craig and me at Godifoss |
After mingling with the pretty ladies (one of whom Craig deemed Miss Iceland 2012) staffing the coffeeshop nearby, we got back on the road and meandered towards Myvatn. Once there we took the southern/eastern route around the lake, through the relatively fresh (2800yrs old) Dimmuborgir lava fields along the easter shore.
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| Dimmuborgir Lava Fields and Lake Myvatn |
My earliest arrival to camp so far on this trip- just 6:30pm! There are several campgrounds in the area but we opted for the one right on the lakeshore (and conveniently across the street from the grocery market.) We were later joined by Karolyn, a German girl who Craig had befriended at the Akureyri campground. She's traveling solo as well for a 3 week tour around the island using the once-daily inter-village bus system (this is a common mode of travel here; you can buy an all access pass and get completely around at your leisure.)
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| international tent compound: Australia, USA, Germany |
The trip looks amazing so far!
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