Day 2 - August 6, 2015

I need to start writing quickly before I forget all the wonderful details.  If anyone has questions about what I have written, let me know.

Yesterday (August 22) I finished writing all my "found it" logs for the many caches we visited.  Writing the answers for the earthcache questions refreshed new learnings from the trip and was a great reminder of everything that we did.

Thursday morning we were up bright and early.  I know we ate something for breakfast because I was keeping my promise to my daughters that I would eat frequently and well on this trip.  I tend to lose weight when traveling, and my goal was to not let that happen this time.

We headed over to the pick-up location for the volcano tour.  There was a bakery next door, so I went in and bought some wonderful baked goods to eat then and on the hike to the volcano.

We had about a 30 minute drive to the start point for the volcano adventure, and then had to walk 3 kilometers to the mouth of the volcano.  There was an orientation lecture before we started the walk, then during the walk we crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on a little bridge which will probably get longer as the years go by, and upon arrival at the mouth of the volcano, we had an equipment orientation.

We were placed in the third/last group to descend, so had plenty of wait time before it was our turn.  They had a young artic fox there that they had rescued when its mother was killed, and I was able to hold it a bit.  It would take my hand in its mouth and bite, but only lightly.  I'm wondering how they will train it to be independent of humans by the time winter sets in and it will have to fend for itself.  They said that it was beginning to chase after small creatures like mice, so hopefully it will survive.  It will turn white about the time the snows settle in.

We geared up with harnesses and helmets and were called to the platform from which we were to descend.

Gear on

 

Window washing style platform at end of walkway

 

As we began our descent, we went through a spot near the top that was so narrow that they had rubber wheels on the sides of the platform (like those used to wash outside windows on skyscrapers) to avoid damage to the volcano mouth.

 

 

The colors were incredible.  Photos are nice, but don't really show the magnificent beauty of what we were seeing.  I'll post a few and you can find far better ones on-line that weren't taken with a cell phone.  Just type "inside the volcano" into any search engine to see professional photos.  We were given about 45 minutes to roam around and check things out.  You land on what almost seems to be a small cone inside the large one.  There are a few marked pathways to go down to various parts.

 

 

Do I look happy?

 

A cave about 25 meters up - 4 meters deep

 

To the north from the rim

 

360° plus about 120°

 

Apparatus seen from upper rim of volcano

 

The walk back

 



We were given lamb stew once we were back on top, and we had to eat quickly because we were the last group.  Tough for a person who has trouble eating hot things, and it didn't seem to be cooling down very quickly.

 

Back in town in our rental car, we did some research and found a store to ask about getting a camera charger because Liz had left hers at home and nothing either of us had would work.  They sent us to a second store who did some research for us and then gave us directions to yet a third place!  We were getting to known the town quite well by then.  The third place had what she needed, and while we waited for all the paperwork, they offered us free cappuccinos.  Liz declined, but I accepted.  In fact, I should have had her get hers and then offer to be the designated "drinker" for both of us.  Finding this store was good because it would have been difficult to share my camera - handing it back and forth constantly - who gets it when, etc.

 

That dealt with, we happily headed first north, and then east.  Soon after starting, we went through a very long tunnel which cut many kilometers off our journey.  It's not very old, with just one lane each direction.  It has already reached close to full capacity, so they will soon have to dig a new one next to it to have traffic only going one direction in each tunnel.

 

It is the only place in Iceland where you have to pay any type of fee or toll along the road, and the tunnel has now been fully paid for, so money now will be directed to building the second one.

going toward the light...

 

The Nuvi was telling us that we wouldn't get to our next guesthouse until well after 8 pm.  As a result we decided to skip an earthcache we had thought about doing.  (fortunately we visited an almost identical location later in the trip)  Liz said, "Why don't you drive - you go faster than I do."  Not sure that's a good reputation to have.

 

Next the Nuvi kept telling us to take roads to the north once we started east to where we wanted to be.  It took a few of those misdirections before it dawned on me that I must have entered the wrong thing into the Nuvi when we started.  I re-entered the location for our guesthouse, and all of a sudden we were going to be there shortly after 6 pm.  Relief was great.  Since we now had extra time on our hands, we knew we would be able to spend time enjoying Akureyri that evening.

 

At the guesthouse, there were already many people waiting.  The owner had been called, and we all simply had to wait until she showed up.  She showed us to our rooms, and we soon headed out to visit the town, the gardens and the waterfront.  Yes, there were caches at each of those locations.

 

Lilacs and peonies were also in bloom - in August

 

downtown

 

a typical wooden sculpture

 

Once the caches were found, we stopped at a Subway (groan, I'm in Iceland) for me to buy something for my dinner.  The line was very long and very slow, but the wait was worth it because I had a wonderful salad with meat and vegetables to eat back at the guesthouse.  Once back there, the priority was a shower, then food.

 

Have we really only been here 2 days?  or rather - 36 hours?