We were all packed up and ready to go by 8.30am this morning. Was 8C, the air had a bit of a chill to it. We headed half an hour away to Godafoss – waterfall of the Gods. It is divided into two horseshoe falls. Was pretty and close to the car park so didn’t involve any long walks.
Then it was off to Akureyri, another half hour away. It is the second largest town in Iceland after Reykjavik. We visited the church up on the hill, but couldn’t go inside as it was being renovated. Then we went to the visitors centre to get a map & directions. We enjoyed a walk around the botanic garden, then had a walk around the old part of town, the buildings here date back to the 1830’s. Next we drove to Jolahusio (Christmas house) and looked at the Icelandic Christmas decorations. We enjoyed the difference with ours.
Afterwards we went back into town and got some lunch before heading out to Siglufjordur. On the way we went through a 4km tunnel that only had room for 1 car, there were a few layovers. Bit hectic!! ?.
We headed the long way, down the peninsula of the trolls, but it quickly turned into a dirt road. We didn’t fancy an hour + on dirt so we turned back and went the quicker way. That meant driving through another tunnel ?. Actually there were two tunnels one 7km and the other 4km these were wider fortunately, but the lighting is not good in the tunnels ?
In Siglufjordur, we wandered around the fishing harbour, then did a tour of the Herring Museum. The industry began here in 1903 -1964 the end of the heyday when the herring stocks disappeared and didn’t come back for decades. They still fish for herring today from June to August but there are only a few companies now and the process is more streamlined.
The Herring Museum looked a bit like Churchill’s war rooms. It is as though the doors were shut one day and opened as a museum the next day. Was very interesting and gave an insight into the herring industry and the importance of it to the economy in the first half of the 1900’s.
We had a bit over an hour to drive to reach our accommodation and only one 840m tunnel, you guessed it, only enough room for one car. ?We have one more tunnel to drive through tomorrow close to Reykjavik.
Our accomodation is again in the middle of nowhere with lovely views of a river, the sea and mountains. All of the accomodation we have stayed at have a restaurant. We are tired after our long days so have eaten in. What they say about the food in Iceland is true, it is expensive, but at least it has always been very well prepared and tasty. If you come to Iceland, you will save some money if you bring snacks with you.
