We surprised ourselves and got away at 8am and headed towards Sauoarkrokur to see the Icelandic horses. They are a great looking small horse, we have enjoyed seeing them all over Iceland.
On the way to the next stop we passed through the area that Hannah Kent’s novel Burial Rites is based. Where the last execution in Iceland 1830 was of Agnes Magnúsdóttir and Friðrik Sigurðsson they were beheaded for murder. It is a great book, I can recommend it to you.
We turned off the main road and travelled a further 20 mins on a dirt road to see the 15 metre basalt rock stack off the Vatnsnes Peninsula. It was worth it to us, not sure it would be if you weren’t into rocks ?
Next we went to Barnafoss waterfalls in Borgarfjorour which is in the middle of nowhere. There are two waterfalls, we enjoyed them and the walk around the edge.
We are on the west coast now, heading south to Reykjavik, we are not going to the west fiord lands, which we would love to do, but hey so many places, so little time!
There isn’t much else to see along here so I found somewhere for lunch in Blomasetrid, a 13/4 hour drive south. It is before the tunnel that will take us into Reykjavík. If we get the car back to the rental place between 3-5pm they will drop us at our hotel, so that is the plan. It was the best place, a relaxing, hippie place, with lots of couches and lounge chairs, cushions, good food. It had a great vibe was a great place to spend an hour.
We dropped the car off and arrived at our hotel around 4pm, it is the same hotel we were in when we arrived over a week ago, we have a nice room overlooking the harbour. There is a little balcony you can sit on, I am enjoying having the door open, the sun is shining and there is a lovely breeze, it is 16C.
Here are a few things we found when travelling in Iceland.
When we arrived at the airport we exchanged £200.00 for Icelandic Kroner. I had read we wouldn’t need much money as everywhere accepted credit cards. We exchanged too much. If you want some cash $50.00 is enough, but we never needed it. It is easier to pay using the credit card, everywhere takes it.
It does not get really dark here in June/July. The sun is only set for 3-4hours. We only stayed in one place that had good blackout curtains, so if you come in summer and need your room dark to sleep bring eye masks. It wasn’t a problem for us.
Food is expensive here, bring snacks with you.
When you pay for petrol at the bowser the amount on your credit card is much higher than the amount you paid. It’s because at the bowser as soon as you choose full tank, the petrol station puts a hold on the card of 25,000 ISK, ($AUD295.00)on the assumption that it might cost up to that amount to fill the tank. So make sure you have enough credit on your card. If the petrol station is open, pay inside, the correct amount goes on your credit card. Evidently it takes about 7 days for the correct amount to be charged to your credit card.
Petrol is double the price of petrol at home.
We filled up 3 times on our trip around the country. Approx cost $300.00.
You also need a 4 digit pin on your credit card here. So if you don’t have that organise it before you leave home.
If you are hiring a car, check if you are going through any tunnels where you have to pay a toll. If so you have 3 hours to pay it. If not paid, cost doubles. There is an app you can download to make it easier to pay.
It has been fun driving on the RHS, only a couple of times did we find ourselves momentarily on the wrong side. When driving it is really odd putting the seatbelt over your left shoulder, you notice lots of little oddities like that. Next stop Scotland ???????and we are back on the LHS ?
We have enjoyed our trip with a few detours around the ring road. It has however felt a bit rushed with a few long days. A 14 day trip that takes in the west fiord lands as well would be ideal if you have the time. Great country, lovely people, we learnt a lot, glad we came.
It is going to be 29C in Edinburgh tomorrow! Looking forward to exploring Scotland. Another adventure awaits ?
