I did buy quite a lot for myself on this trip compared to usually!

I bought this pair of ceramic cups/little containers from Kisruberjatred, a cute little shop near the hostel I stayed at when I arrived in Reykjavik.

Then I bought a little bird in Hólmavík… I saw oyster catchers a lot, always on the road running to the side… The man who carved/painted the bird, Hafþór Ragnar Þórhallsson, told me it’s because they have their nests on the side of the road in the gravel! What a place!

Another souvenir was the traditional Icelandic wool sweater… I got it in Vík… It was made there in a factory that has a shop attached to it, and it’s 100% Iceland wool. It’s itchy a bit, but with a long-sleeved shirt underneath it’s PERFECT! So warm!

The last souvenir was this cook book… As I didn’t really go out to restos much, I thought I could try some recipes back home, as many of the ingredients in the book we have here too.

The trip didn’t quite go as planned… And I kind of expected it… Out of all the times I’ve traveled out of Blanc-Sablon, I think only once/twice it went without a glitch!

Yesterday I left my bro’s apart at 13h30. I’d reserved a mini-van taxi in advance and he was there right on time! He was very helpful and gave me a hand loading my stuff: the humongous cage, my 2 suitcases, Happy’s suitcase (with her food, bowls, blanket, toys…).

At 14h I was at the airport. But the people at the Air Lab counter told me the flight was delayed… Until 18h! So… I checked-in my luggage and they held on to the cage… And the waiting game began for Happy and I. I sat on a nearby bench… Happy laid on the floor. She still attracts comments of how beautiful she is, even not being a Mira dog. And as I was walking to go outside some people even said “oh, look, a Mira dog!” She didn’t like being outside because of all the noises, so we mostly waited inside.

At 17h20 I brought her to security/oversized items where she went in the cage… Well it’s rather where I pushed her in the cage. But as she gets really close to it she realizes she has no choices and steps in it on her own. I bought two Tim Hortons donuts (who were dry, yuck!), went through security and waited… Then the departure time changed on the screen from 18h to 18h30…

At 18h20 we boarded. The pilots were talking with the Quebec City agent… I overheard just a few words… “Sept-Îles” and “je vais leur dire” (I’ll tell them). I guessed what it was… We were only going to Sept-Îles. The other passenger on board decided to get off and take another flight on Sunday. So I was the only one on the plane to Sept-Îles.

We arrived at about 20h… I got Happy/my luggage… One of the directors from the Health Centre back home was at the airport waiting for his flight to Montreal. He offered that I get the Health Centre’s car while I was in town! Yay! (Because a lot of meetings are in Sept-Îles/Baie-Comeau they have bought a car that they leave at the airport for employees use.) Usually I take cabs… But it’s much easier to have your own transport.

The lady at the counter told me we’d leave at noon tomorrow. I left the cage and one of my suitcases with them and was on my way! I went to my “home” in Sept-Îles, Hôtel les Mouettes. I usually choose this one because they have lower level rooms with a door direct to the outside so it’s easier with a dog. But it’s really ugly deco and noisy from the main boulevard outside… For supper I ordered from Mikes, watched some tele, and went to bed.

Up at 6h15, and now waiting to leave. The weather forecast for Blanc-Sablon currently says: “Cloudy with sunny periods. Fog patches dissipating this morning. Wind east 30 km/h. High 16. UV index 6 or high.” So let’s hope that it cooperates, the fogs really lifts and my plane can land this afternoon.

1. Last night it was dark! I haven’t really seen dark during my trip…

2. The water here tastes yucky compared to in Iceland… When it wasn’t hot water heated geothermally (bit sulfur smell), the cold water was delicious!

The trip back went fine… In the morning, I checked out late of my room at 11h30. I put my luggage in storage and went for a walk around town… Then the Flybus came to pick me up at 13h30… At 15h we were at the airport.

Check in for the flight, security, tax-free papers drop-off, eat, wait, wait, wait, fly back. The flight was a bit long/boring because I’d already seen all of the movies in the choices they had… So I rewatched Garden State and The Last King of Scotland. In Toronto, walk long, customs, pick up luggage, drop it off further, security check again, walk, wait, buy Tim Hortons donuts (mmm), wait, wait, fly to Montreal, watch “C’est pas moi j’le jure” but can’t finish it because the plane lands, fireworks in the distance as we land, walk, walk, wait, wait, wait looooong for the luggage, tired, sit on baggage trolley, finally get luggage, taxi ride downtown, check in at hostel, make bed, shower, sleep.

That was the trip back! But it’s not finished yet… If all goes well here are the travel plans for the next couple of days…

Today bus to Quebec City, taxi to bro’s, get Happy back, sleep at bro’s, taxi to airport in afternoon of Friday, fly to Blanc-Sablon, arrive Friday evening, drive home!

I hope there won’t be any problems or fog! I am looking forward to being home… Doing some laundry/having clean clothes/towels, sleeping in my own bed, having my own kitchen…

Ahhh the fun of travelling but also the joy of getting back home!

Here’s the total of driving I did in Iceland…

Day 1: 246 km (to Stykkishólmur)
Day 2: 128 km (to Isáfjördur)
Day 3: 20 km (around Isáfjördur)
Day 4: 355 km (to Reykir)
Day 5: 236 km (to Akureyri)
Day 6: 217 km (Mývatn daytrip)
Day 7: 362 km (to Husey)
Day 8: 155 km (to Stödvarfjördur)
Day 9: 342 km (to Hof)
Day 10: 0 km
Day 11: 68 km (to Hvoll)
Day 12: 145 km (to Skógar)
Day 13: 165 km (to Reykjavik)

That’s a total of 2439 kilometers. I bought 27 068 ISK worth of gas for the car, that’s about 245$CA.

This morning I got up at 8h again! This was becoming a habit it seems… I was in the car and ready for my last day of driving by 9h45. I had two options…
-Option 1, no rain/sun: Visit Gullfoss / Geysir
-Option 2, rain: Drive to Reykjavik stopping along the way to see some sights

It was rainy, so off I went to the big city!

My first stop was Seljalandfoss waterfall. You can go walk behind it! But since it was rainy, and I’d put all my rain gear away (pants/boots were finally dry!) I opted not to go behind!

Next I stopped in Hvolsvöllur to visit the Saga Centre. It depicted Njál’s saga, a story written in the 13th century. I liked the audio-guide, but would have liked more images/visuals to look at while listening to the audio-guide…

Then I went to Hveragerdi for a little break… I went to see the hills surrounding the town which had steam vents… Stopped at a local craft shop but everything was overpriced… One last bathroom stop and I was off across Hellisheidi to Reykjavik.

I arrived at around 14h. The guy from the rental car company brought me to my hotel downtown, Centerhotel Arnarhvoll. My own modern room, TV, Internet connection (though slow), WC/shower! Luxury!

In the afternoon I went to do a bit of shopping… I bought some books for souvenirs (Icelandic cuisine and Njál’s Saga) and a Summer handbag from Marimekko… It’s a Finnish company, and I wanted to buy mostly Icelandic stuff, but they had sooooooo much nice stuff! I couldn’t help myself! And I wanted to buy more!!

Then I went out for supper… At Tapas Barinn. It was delicious…! The best tapas I’ve ever had, muuuuuuch better than in Spain! For 45$ I had: Viking beer, fresh bread basket with 2 tapenades, 3 small lobster tails with garlic butter, lamb filet on a skewer with veggies/sauce and a chocolate cake with whipped cream/small fruit compote. I was soooooooo full when I left, but happy my last supper in Iceland was great! They made a mistake when they gave me my bill, they forgot the dessert. Being honest me, I had to tell them…

In my room I showered, put on my pjs, closed the blind (so it was really dark in the room), watched some tele and went to bed. Just like my routine home!

I slept relatively well, waking up at around 8h. I didn’t have much planned for the day so I took my time getting ready. I then headed up top Skógafoss for a walk! The steps up the 66 meters high waterfall were the hardest… The walk up river to the other waterfalls was quite enjoyable!

In total on my walk I saw many mommy/baby sheep and 7 waterfalls…

None were as high as Skógafoss itself, but all were very neat. Each time I’d come to a new one I’d found it even prettier than the last!

At the end of my walk, going down the Skógafoss stairs it started raining quite heavily, almost hail too! I was soaking wet when I got back at the hostel! Good thing I’d put my rain pants/coat on!

In the afternoon I didn’t do much… I lazied around in my room, packed a bit, put things to dry on the heater, had some lunch, read old Dutch magazines other travellers had left behind, took a nap… I had a nice view of Skógafoss from my room…

I think this was the day I did the least… It got a bit boring at the end of the afternoon but I needed a bit of downtime I think. It was strange as the sunburn on my eyelids was starting to peel! I ate my chicken curry leftover for supper, watched a bit of tele, showered and went to bed.

Today was the longest day of the year in Iceland… Apparently the sun goes down at midnight and comes up at around 3h…

I slept really well in my single house! I woke up at around 6h but after going to use the bathroom I fell back asleep until 8h! The latest I slept on this whole trip. I got up and had brekky… A mommy duck and 2 babies came to visit! So I opened the kitchen window and gave them a slice of bread in little pieces… The mommy duck was hungry! She jumped on every piece, not letting any for her ducklings!

I was in the car by 10h, the check out time. My first stop was Kirkjubaejarklaustur where I went to the store. I was happy to see it was opened, even on a Sunday. I bought some bread and a chicken! I wanted chicken breast for the curry sauce/rice I bought back in Hofn but they didn’t have… The whole chicken was cheaper anyways… 9$ or so, while the chicken breast packs I’d seen until now were 15$! The chicken was frozen so I left it out in the car (but out of the sun) so it would unthaw a bit during the day.

Then I stopped along the way in a spot where there once was a farm. It was destroyed by a volcanic eruption years ago. There was a tradition where when travellers passed by, they’d put a rock on a pile to bring luck on their journey. And today there were still rock piles all around the area! People continued the tradition even without the farm. I added a small rock to a pile…

My next visit was in Vík. I stopped at the wool store. I bought a Iceland wool sweater! It’s dark grey with white detailing. It’s a bit itchy so I will have to wear it with long sleeved shirt underneath but it’s very warm! When I bought the sweater I used my Visa. The girl said the transaction was refused! What?! I didn’t understand… I’d been using the card the whole trip without any problems and was sure there was enough money on it! I paid cash…

I went to the tourist info center to use the net to check my online banking…

Everything seemed fine there… I couldn’t stay at the Internet long because they were closing 15 minutes later… Grr! So I went to the pay phone to try and call Visa. Once I figured out how to use the phone, the Visa call center was “experiencing a high volume of call” and was “sorry for the unusually long delay.” Crap! Every 5 seconds 5 kronas would go out of the money I’d put in… Soon I was out of change. I went to the gas station to get 2000 kronas worth of change! I tried to phone again… After about 500 kronas of waiting the connection was lost! “Error” showed up on the phone’s screen! CRAP! I was fed up.

I went to the church on top of the hill for a nice view and to eat lunch. Then I went back down towards the beach… Vík had a nice black sand beach! Quite special to see! The waves were amazing! I loved the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves. It reminded me of home!

Nearby were 3 very neat rock stacks, Reynisdrangur. After walking on the beach for a while I felt good again. I went to try to phone Visa again, still there was the long delay message so I hung up right away.

I drove to Skógar. I booked a single room at the hostel for 2 nights. I checked in, lugged my stuff to my room and headed out to see the waterfall. Skógafoss was 62 meters high and very dramatic!

I then went to the Folk Museum. In the main building there was a collection of old objects and old boats. Then outside there were many buildings they moved to the area… Turf farm, wood house, church… All with old furniture/stuff inside to make it “authentic…” It was nice to see more old Icelandic way of life, although it wasn’t in its original setting.

Back at the hostel I prepared supper! My chicken was a bit unthawed so I was able to cut it into pieces… 2 legs and 2 breasts… It was my first time fixing a chicken like that! Yay! I cooked it with onions/butter… Added the curry sauce… The rice was also ready! Supper time! It was good.

In my room I did some laundry… 2 shirts, 2 tank tops, 1 pant, 1 sweater, 2 pairs of socks, 2 undies. I was running out of clean clothes! The cord I’d brought along was useful for the first time to hang everything to dry in my room.

In the morning I took it easy… I got up at around 7h30… I got dressed and went down for brekky. I had 3 pieces of toast and a bowl of cereal. It felt good! Then I hung out in my room a bit, looking at/fixing my pics, figuring out things to see in the next few days with my guidebooks, etc. Then I finished packing, lugged everything to the car, checked out and was on my way! It was about 11h.

My first stop was at Skaftafell tourist center where they had quite interesting display explaining glaciers, the recent volcanic eruption, the Skeiðará bridge that was destroyed, etc. Then I went on to use the Internet… 590 emails, all junk but 3…!

It was time for a little hike… I went to see the Svartifoss waterfall, about 1.5km walking. I was a bit sore from the day before’s long ascent but it felt good to move again. The waterfall was pretty but I thought there would be more water flowing than there was!

I then proceeded to go to the hostel in Hvoll. It was about 14h when I got there.

I checked in and got my room… A small room in the old house of the hostel, not the nice new part! Crap I thought! It smelled a bit musty… So I opened the window and a pack of my Ivory laundry detergent which has a nice strong smell… It was ok.

I went for a little walk along the river…

But the arctic tern birds were flying over my head and making noise as if they were going to attack me! So I turned back.

I was alone in the old house! I asked for a single room, not a single house! But I made myself comfortable. I set my computer/iPod (for music) in the kitchen (where there was the most natural light with a biiiiig window), wrote postcards, read, planned the next couple of days (I hoped it wouldn’t rain too much as the weather report indicated), cooked supper, etc. A few days ago I had bought a steak that I didn’t eat because at the Guesthouse I was at in Hof didn’t have a kitchen… Well was I happy when I saw this Hvoll hostel had BBQs outside! YAY! BBQ steak, even better! So it was all worth the wait. Supper was really yummy… BBQ steak with lot of sauce (which I bought with my steak, remembering the steak I ate in Isáfjordúr which had no spices/sauces, nothing), potatoes (normal and sweet) and snap peas.

In the evening I played some more on my laptop, the house dog came to visit me (sitting outside near the window where I could see him), took a shower and watched TV on the one channel the tele could get… It was playing American Wedding, with a very green image and a high-pitch buzz sound. After the flick I went to sleep… At about 22h.

I got up at 2h30 on my own because I had a really crappy night of sleep… I woke up every 30-60 minutes thinking about the hike, hoping I was ready, wondering how it was going to be… I had a quick brekky, the guesthouse lady put out the breakfast buffet out early for us. Then it was on to the meeting point for the hike, Sandfell. Our guide arrived. On the ascent of Hvannadalshnúkur would be the Belgian couple, 3 German dudes, me and the guide.

We started walking up at about 3h30… It was ok in the beginning, we were going quite slow and the terrain was ok. It was rocks/moss/gravel. The first stop was at about 350 meters to fill up our water bottles.

Then it was up more abrupt gravel paths. We stopped a bit along the way for water/food breaks. I was so glad to have my hiking stick (bought it when I arrived in Iceland). At 1100 meters we put on the rope/line with harness. It was time to go up on the snow/ice of the glacier. The guide was kind and explained how everything worked.

He’d go first, I was behind, then the Belgian couple and last the Germans. He explained that if he fell in a crevasse we should do nothing but sit down, take our backpacks off and wait. He had explained how he’d get out, with a special knotted rope on his main rope… I just hoped nothing like that would happen!

Then we went up on the snow… It was still hard snow, from the cold night and the air was a bit chilly even though the sun was shining. It was a long ascent… We finally reached the half-top! Then it was time to walk across a plateau to reach the last bit of the mountain.

It’s here that we put on the crampons and used the ice axe… It was going up quite abruptly. We crossed 3-4 crevasses, one being very big!!

It was a tad scary, just thinking I could fall in… But as long as I stepped at the right place it was fine… And the guide had made steps using his ice axe/crampons…

Reaching the top was great!!! It was about 11h20…

All of my efforts were worth it. But the clouds had moved in by then… We got to see a bit of the view before being surrounded by white cloud fog.

Going down was easier on the cardio, but trickier (not falling) and hard on the toes! We crossed the plateau with snow falling quite heavily, couldn’t see anything much except the old tracks, the line and our group. We crossed path with the delegation of female hikers; they were a bit behind schedule… And I was sad for them that they would walk all that way to see nothing when they’d reach the top! Going down the slope of the snow/ice/glacier was crappy! By now the snow was really soft and I was sinking in further than the ankles. Some snow got under my gaiters too! Yuck. I was glad when we reached the bottom, took the rope/line off and walked on rocks again!

To go down on the rocks the pace was a bit fast for me. I like to go down a bit slower on abrupt gravel paths not to slide. So I eventually ended up at the back of the group walking at my own speed… The group would sometimes be a bit in front of me, but I was enjoying my walk so I didn’t mind. What’s the point of going faster and risking twisting my ankle or something?

We finally got to the car park! It was 16h30… So all in all it took us about 13h to go up and down the 2110 meters mountain. Quite good I thought! I thanked the guide and it was time to go! The Belgian couple drove me back to the guesthouse. I almost could fall asleep in the car! Finally “home!” I took a shower but the water was too warm… It made me feel a bit dizzy. I put on my pjs and took a nap. I slept from 17h15 to 20h. I woke up and found out I sunburned my eyes. I did wear my sunglasses for a while… But I didn’t put any sunscreen around the eyes/eyelid, etc… Oh oh! It was really red… The rest of my face was fine.

I got up, slowly packed a bit, hand washed my Smartwool socks which were pretty wet/smelly and had some snack (didn’t feel hungry for a real dinner). I had quite a bit of laundry to do again… Maybe after-tomorrow in Skogar where I’d be for 2 days… I was quite happy when the reception lady told me the check-out time was 12h..! And I was looking forward to having a real good brekky! My plan for the next day was going to hike in Skaftafell to see a waterfall, but I decided I’d see how I felt the next morning… My shoulders hurt a bit from carrying my backpack all that way and my legs/knees too… And my back a bit too… I hoped I wouldn’t be too stiff in the morning!

It was a long day, very demanding physically and mentally, but it was all worth it! Don’t think I’ll go ascent another mountain too soon, but I can now proudly say I’ve been to the top of Iceland’s highest mountain! Hvannadalshnúkur! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I left at 8h30… I drove to Hofn mostly in one go… It’s the major city in the area. I did stop here and there to take a few pics but because it was foggy/clouded I couldn’t see much of the fjords…

In Hofn I got gas and groceries. Then I went on to Jökulsárlón… It’s a glacier lake… Since the glacier melted it created this lake with icebergs floating on it. It was quite nice to see the colours of the pieces of ice.

Also cute was little seals swimming around, as if they were giving a show to the tourists!

Leaving Jökulsárlón I saw two hitchhikers. I offered them a lift some 40 kms further, where my accommodation was for the night… So they got on board. I stopped in Hof, at a guesthouse. The crappy thing was they had no kitchen, so the steak I bought for supper I wouldn’t be able to eat until 2 days later! But the lady kindly put my bag of fridge stuff in a fridge for me, so it didn’t go to waste.

In my room I prepared everything for the big hike the next day… Going up Hvannadalshnúkur (2110 meters)! My clothes, my bag, my lunch… I also did a bit of hand laundry as I was running out of socks and soon of undies too!

At 17h15 I went to the nearest restaurant, at Hotel Skaftafell. They didn’t open until 18h30 so I waited in the lobby. The food was ok, I had a lasagne Bolognese with a nice garden salad and some good garlic bread with cheese on top! Mmm!

Then I went to the Skaftafell camping to get my gear. The staff apparently had tried to reach me… At the time of the booking I wrote I was staying at the Hofn youth hostel… But that plan quickly changed when I saw how far it was and booked the Hof guesthouse instead. But they didn’t know. Anyways… I got my gear (crampons, ice axe and harness) and went to get an early night of sleep.

But when I was getting ready for bed the guesthouse lady came to say I had a phone call… It was the staff saying because a big group of women (100 apparently) were also setting out at 5h for the hike, our guide decided we should leave at 3h!!! That meant I only had about 4.5 hours of sleep, from 22h to 2h30… So I tried to sleep.

I arranged to get to the tour’s starting point with a Belgian couple staying at the guesthouse who’s also booked… They’d also wake me in the morning, because I didn’t bring an alarm clock.

I left the hostel in Husey and drove to Egilsstadir, the first big town since Akureyri. I filled up the car, took money out of the ATM and wanted to go buy some groceries… But the supermarket wasn’t opened. It really felt like a ghost town… Bank closed, supermarket closed, clothing shop closed… Only a bit later did I realize why! It’s Iceland’s national holiday!! So I went to the fuel station’s depanneur and bought some bread there… I still had most of the other basic stuff in my grocery supply bag. There was fog/rain over the fjords…

Then I drove to Stodvarfjordur. I booked accommodation in a little church they transformed into a tiny hostel… It’s really neat setting. It took me a while to find the entry road to the church! Once I did I parked Moe and was happy this day of driving was relatively short… Though there was one mountain pass on gravel road… But I put the car on Low gear and went down safely at 20 km/h… In Stodvarfjordur there’s not much… But I did visit the one museum they have, Petra’s rock collection. Wow, this lady collected rocks from around East Iceland for years and her house/garden are full of nice rocks!

Then I went for a little walk around town… But that was quick, it’s very tiny. There was a little flea market that I visited, but didn’t buy anything… Too overpriced for what it was!

At the Church there was a Belgian couple that were cycling all around the country, going counter-clock wise, so they were at the beginning of their journey. It was neat to chat with them and find out how it is to cycle like that because I’ve seen quite a few until now on the roads!

I left Akureyri quite early, at 8h15. I had 100 kms to drive before getting to new sights, so I wanted to get a head start! My first stop was the area called Hverir. It’s a geothermal field… Bubbles of mud, vents with fuming hot steam, sulphur smell! Really strange yet interesting spot!

Then I went on to the Krafla volcano area. I first stopped at Víti, a crater formed in 1724 apparently… When you park you don’t see much, but as you approach you see the pretty green/blue water!

After I went on to explore the Leirhjúkur crater, which was quite amazing… The steaming vents from the earth, the lava flow from previous explosions… It was all very surreal landscape! And as I was visiting I was telling the volcano to wait a bit more before exploding again…

Then it was on to the VERY bad gravel road to Dettifoss. I’ve done some gravel here in Iceland, but this road tops them all! I couldn’t go much faster than 18 km/h!!! It was 32 kilometers away. And double that for return too. So you do the math how long it took me! It was so frustrating to see other 4×4 zoom by, and even other cars go faster! I don’t know why, but my little car “Moe” (named after licence plate which is MO 190) couldn’t go fast! I flagged a couple of 4×4’s hoping to get a ride but they were all full… So Moe and I just went.

Anyways… The long bumpy drive kind of killed the fun of seeing the amazing Dettifoss. It’s 44 meters high and the water really flows at high speed down! It creates this fog of water above it, really neat. According to my Lonely Planet it’s the highest volume waterfall in Europe! I quickly went back to the car because I was getting eaten alive by the black flies (like back home)! Grrr!

Then I drove all the way to the hostel in Husey… 107 km on paved road and 30 km on a tiny gravel road. I was at the hostel at 19h15. The hostel in Husey was an old farm house they fixed up… They had many bedrooms upstairs and downstairs a weird layout with kitchen/living/bathrooms/more bedrooms… But it was a homey feel, despite all of the Germans there (they get loud)! I had my own room as I’d booked a 2 bed room for single use… But they gave me a 5 bed room for single use!

It was one of my most tiring driving days, mostly due to the detour at Dettifoss… And to feel good I’ve got to remember the nice things I saw during the day… My favourite was exploring the Krafla Leirhjúkur crater.

I’m leaving Akureyri and it’s wireless… Don’t know when I’ll have access to Internet again, so yep… See you later!

I went to Mývatn on a daytrip from Akureyri. I left at about 9h15. My first stop was at Godafoss, a pretty waterfall right off Road 1. There was a walking path on the left side, which was almost free of tourists, all of them were on the right side where cars go…

After I drove on to Mývatn, a lake. It’s a shallow lake in an area with lots of volcanic activity. I stopped at Dimmuborgir first. It’s a lava field created about 2000 years ago. There I walked around the red path for a while (too easy) and followed the blue path back (supposedly a hard path, but it was just nice, allowing us to walk through the lava structures).

After I stopped at the Mývatn Nature Baths, kind of like the Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik. Except it was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy less crowded and actually nicer scenery to look at while bathing in the blue water. I liked that they had big comfy rocks in the middle of the water to sit on! I didn’t stay too long, 45 minutes total.

Near the Baths steam was coming out of the ground!

Then I continued the drive around the lake and back to Akureyri. From far it’s a pretty town, but from close it’s crappy!

I was at the hostel at around 15h. I took a nap, I think I’m getting a bit sick… My nose feels itchy/runny and I have a headache. It’s often like this when I travel, I catch a cold! It seems the different viruses from home I encounter affect me…

I was hoping to meet up with some Icelanders from Couchsurfing but only one replied to my email, and she’s got plans already… Oh well.

Tomorrow will be a big day… 336 kilometers but some on passes (going up really high – down really low) and I don’t go fast in these… 60 km/h going up, about 60 km/h down… Since the brake thing it’s made me very cautious going down hills… Most of the other cars pass me going down 80 km/h! Ah well. There will also be gravel road, to visit the Dettifoss waterfall and towards the youth hostel in Husey. I’ll try to leave early enough… It’s nicer to drive in the morning when the roads are still relatively car-free!