THE RING ROAD CIRCLES THE "PALM" OF ICELAND - this should be easy for you Michiganders to visualize - for some 1300 kilometers. It is considerably longer if you travel up the “fingers” like we have. We shan’t be coming this way again any time soon and we want to see as much as we can. Wednesday’s drive from Stykkisholmur to Akureyri under sunny skies was particularly scenic if not exciting; lots of sheep and the wonderful Icelandic horses.
A portent of things to come?
With only 17,000 people Akureyri is Iceland’s second largest city and is considered the northern capital. Skjaldarvik Guesthouse, where we based for three nights, sits on the beautiful Eyjafjordur and is a new experience for us. We have stayed at all manner of hotels, lodges, hostels, cabins and even a few kibbutzim. But this is the first time we have stayed in a former nursing home. The rooms are large, if spartan, with comfy beds and great views of the fjord. Bathrooms, also huge, are shared but we never had to wait. The communal lounge is warm and welcoming, tea and coffee are available all day and breakfast is included. It is actually in the country but close enough to town to run in for groceries or a pizza.
Pink-footed goose
We based here to visit Lake Myvatn, 100 km farther along Highway One. It is a wonderful sanctuary for ducks, geese and other species located among the cracked and bulging remains of former volcanic eruptions. It may seem like a long way to travel to see some ducks but the convenience of town and the ambiance of Skjaldarvik Guesthouse made it all worthwhile. And Connie finally found her pink-footed goose!
Darwin Awards candidate
One stop along the way was at Godafoss, God's Waterfall, where legend has it the ruler of Iceland dumped the pagan idols when he decreed Iceland to be Christian. On the day we visited another tourist seemed determined to put the Theory of Evolution to the test and try for the 2014 Darwin Award.
