The road back...

We woke up in Klaustar (the short version of the town's name) to a chilly RV with overcast skies outside. I fired up the heaters and in no time the RV was toasty, but we weren't sure about the water situation so we skipped the showers. Before shoving off, we explored the camp area and the waterfall, or foss, across the road. 

So many Rovers...

Stjornarfoss was only a coupled hundred yards across the road from the camp area. 

Iceland travel pictures pro tip: the helpful place name signs like Stjornarfoss above make really good memory joggers for when you get back home. Take a picture of them in the foreground and it'll help you remember where you were when you can't find it on the map!

While killing time in the airport before our flight home, I picked up several books, two of which bear mentioning here. The first is "Island on Fire", by Alexandra White and Jeff Kanipe, which is a non-fiction account of the 1783 eruption of Laki and its effects that lasted for years in Iceland and northern Europe. The account of the eruption mainly focuses on the journal of Jon Steingrimsson a priest in Klaustar who conducted a mass during the eruption that coincided with a stop in the lava flow towards town. It is well known history in Iceland, but I wish we had know about it because we were camping in ground zero of the eruption and its effects on the local area. Additionally, as I type this on September 30th, there is a jokullhlaup or glacier flood that is affecting the same area.

The second book is a novel, "Operation Napoleon" by Arnaldur Indridason. This one is about a mysterious 1945 plane crash on Vatnajokull and the 1999 secret mission by the US military to recover the plane. Also a good book since it covers a lot of the same ground we tread upon while we were there.

We encountered many bikers on the second day of the road trip and this day as well. None looked as miserable as this guy who was pedaling in to a rainy, 30-40 mph headwind. 

Once we got back on the road, we skipped breakfast and endured a building storm. The winds had increased and rain was more steady.

We made our way back to Vik and decided to stop for a few minutes to check out some areas we didn't have time for the previous day.

Super Jeep van and a Camel Trophy inspired Disco.

More Unimogs.

Filling up this time was more of a disaster. Several people in front of us had issues with the PIN card and as you could see were also stubborn enough to force the hose to fit on the opposite side of their car, rather than drive around to the correct side.

We decided to take a short detour to the western side of Vik to see if the puffins were home. Boy, were they!

Puffins are a short winged black and white bird with an orange beak. They nest in the cliffs outside of Vik because the dive off the cliff helps them fly out to the waves to find food. The closer we got, the more it became apparent how many of them there were! Thousands and thousands!

One of the puffins in mid dive.

A cool Army Surplus shelter set up on the beach parking lot that sold woolen and felt wares.

Saying goodbye to Vik.

Climbing up the hill out of Vik, I made a split second decision to turn on the road down to Reynisfjall to the black sands beach that looked out on to Reynisdrangar.

Reynisdrangar.

Cool basalt cliffs with the hexagonal columns of basalt.

There was a neat little cafe called the Black Sands Beach Restaurant. The traditional meat (lamb) soup was fantastic as well as the ciabatta like bread. And don't forget the chocolate cake!

Super Duty represented in Iceland!

Skogafoss. We were getting short on time so we didn't get to hike up to it. This is the southern terminus of a hike that we did later in the trip.

One of Iceland's few jails. 

Did I mention the road signs and how they state the wind speeds? One of them had it in red letters as 21 meters per second. That's about 47 mph! We later heard there were gusts even higher, equivalent to 80 mph. I believe it because the drive from Selfoss back to Grindavik was some of the most challenging driving I have ever done.
At first it wasn't too bad because it was a tail or quartering wind, but every so often the road would turn and we would take it broad side to the RV. I think a car would have been okay, but not our box on wheels! Things really got interesting when we to drive up and over a mountain ridge less than five miles outside of Grindavik. Coming down the hill, with a drop off on both sides, I'm pretty sure I felt us go up on three wheels. There had to have been daylight under the one rear wheel.
I was going slow but that didn't help. I brought the RV to a controlled stop at a gravel pullout about halfway down the hill. That didn't help either. Even sitting still, the RV was being blown about. I didn't want to sit there waiting for us to be blown over on our side so I cautiously made our way down off the hill. It was only a little bit better but at least the threat of tumbling down the hill was gone.

We made our way in to town and stopped on a side street to pack up and tidy up the RV before turning it back over to Johanna. Once it was cleaned up, we stopped in and got the instructions on what to do about fuel, water and sewage. Oh, yeah, the sewage. I was secretly hoping that it would have magically disappeared, but oh, no, not so lucky. Remember the gale force winds? Yep, still blowing. It was helpful that there was another RVer there to explain a few things to me and to also block the wind somewhat, but every time I walked back to the RV, I was showered by his gray water that was supposed to be dumping in to the grate. With the 49 mph wind it was going sideways all over me! Joyous.

That was over with a modicum of fecal contamination, but I survived.

Ashley commenting on the spacious shower stall/bathroom/sink

Another Rover!

Once we fueled the RV and turned it over to Johanna, Marianna arrived to take us to Reykjavik. The wind was still steady but we made it through because we were in a much lower profile car. We navigated in to the down town and found our way to the top of the street that the apartment was on.

Saying our thanks and goodbyes, we left Marianna and made our way down the Rainbow Road to the apartment. Successfully entering three codes through three locked doors, we finally met up with Team Rumley.

We unpacked and sat down to enjoy their stories from their North Land excursions in Aukereyri as well as a day trip to Greenland. As it was getting on towards dinner we ventured out to Islandi Barrin or the Icelandic Bar. Dinner was a great Icelandic Beer as well as an amazing broccoli cheddar soup.

An actual slide in an outdoor store that was across the street from our apartment.

We tried to stay awake, but the travels got the best and we turned in before the rest of the Team arrived at 1 AM.

Next: Team BRMRG et al assembles!

Hofn is pronounced Hup, while inhaling and hiccuping!?

Dawn broke and the winds had subsided a little bit, but it was still pretty chilly out. We warmed up the heater and got cleaned up for the day. When I got out to unhook the electric there was quite a puddle at the rear of the RV. It looked like gray water so I think we didn't get something right as far as the right switch or lever turned. We may or may not have marked our spot!

Sunny T in shades down, black out mode.

Looking back at the shower, behind the door on the right. Ashley's bed on the left.

My bed pulled down from over top of the driving area.

Looking out the driver's door at the electrical box.

A windshield view west towards the town of Vik. That ridge in the background is Reynisfjall.

Before leaving the campground, we had to attend to the fresh water supply as we had thought we used most of it taking showers yesterday and this morning. While at the yellow hose, a Britisher remarked at Ashley's "accent". They struct up a conversation and as it turned out, it was Wayne and Steve, two Land Rover guys who were touring Iceland with a group in their Defender 110s. Knowing my penchant for Rovers, Ashley hailed me, introductions were made and we walked over to their camp to inspect their "RVs".

It seems that Wayne, "my dad wanted an American name", and his wife Helen are British expats living in France who run Land Treks 4x4 tours. http://www.landtreks.com/index.htm

They were leading a 14 day, five truck, tour of Iceland. They had come over on the ferry, "barf boat" as Wayne called it, from Denmark and were working their way back to there. Wayne used to do camper modifications for Rovers so I thoroughly inspected his set up. Very nice!

Wayne's 110.

Nice foot lockers.

The roof top tent seamlessly blends in to the roof line.

After my Rover fix, we stopped at the Icelandair hotel in Vik for a breakfast buffet. It was good, but otherwise unremarkable, so no food pictures. 

Cool filament lighting in the hotel lobby.

Interesting hydrant with Storz connections in the parking lot. I wonder how much flow it gets?

On the way out of town we drove over to Icewear, where I picked up a sweater and hat that would prove useful on the chillier days. Just east of Vik we pulled in to a informational stop at the edge of Myrdalssandur, the gravel, alluvial plain of the river(s) that drain from Myrdasjokull. The sign was very interesting to me as it described the glacial floods, or jokullhallups, that periodically burst forth and flood the low lands. Previously, it had wiped out bridges, and the sign detailed various works of civil engineering done to mitigate the next jokullhallup. 

Sunny T with Myrdalssandur behind her. 

 We stopped for fuel and encountered several Super Jeep Defenders and HiLuxes. Pro Tip: make sure you remember your PIN for your credit card. It makes fueling up sooooo much easier. Thankfully, Ashley remembered hers.

Our goal for the day was Jokulsarlon, or the glacier lagoon, but before that we had to cross several sandurs and lava fields.

This was the remnants of a bridge beam after a jokullhallup.

I believe that to be Skaftafell and Vatnajokull in the background. Vatnajokull is the largest glacial ice sheet in Europe.

We first stopped at Fjallsarlon, the smallest of the three glacial lagoons in the area. 

Nice FJ70 Series (?) campers.

That is Fjallsjokull.

And Fjallsarlon.

Mmmm, glacier ice.

Fjallsarlon was cloudier.

Jokulsarlon was more blue and the icebergs were fighting the incoming tide creating a whirlpool effect.

Jokulsarlon was about five minutes from Fjallsarlon and was right on the Ring Road. We spent time here checking out the lagoon, watching the iceberg whirlpool compete with the incoming tide and watching the animal life before walking along Iceland's shortest river, the Jokulsa, that connects the lagoon to the sea about 200 yards long. Across the river was the only suspension style bridge we saw the whole trip.
Some of the icebergs made it out to the sea and we found parts of them littering the black sand beach like diamonds.

Seals!

Right after I took this picture that iceberg collapsed or overturned in to the sea.

Product placement.

While we were on the beach we finally figured out how to Facetime and connected with Mom back home. We showed her where we were and shared brief stories of the trip so far.

Before leaving we stopped by the lagoon once more and the ice had all cleared from the river and piled on the northern side of the lagoon. 

After getting back on the road we continued east on Rt. 1 for about another hour through a robust farming area with large cattle operations to reach the town of Hofn. I know it looks like Hoffen, put it is pronounced something like Hup if you said it while inhaling and hiccuping. I don't know, we just called it Hup.

Hup is a neat harbor town with several nice looking seafood restaurants, but I was beat from the day so far so we parked at the harbor so I could take a snooze for a little bit before continuing on.

One guidebook raved about a diner like place with a "log cabin interior" that had a great langostine or lobster baguette. I figured it had to be like a lobster roll so I couldn't go wrong. And I was right, it was delicious!

The small, but busy fishing harbor of Hup.

Hafnarbudin, or the lobster baguette place as we called it.

We made a quick detour driving around the harbor, but quickly made our way to Hafnarbudin, subject of the guidebook's recommendation. I don't know about the log cabin interior description, more like wood paneling on the ceiling, but the lobster baguette was fantastic!

The langostines were lightly fried and in the baguette with a remoulade, the ubiquitous red peppers and lettuce. It hit the spot. While we were there we were treating to a people watching opportunity. From the couple necking in the corner to the townie toughs, it didn't disappoint. Then a carload of Spanish girls parked the wrong way in the drive through, oh, yeah, this place also does a bang up business of drive through ice cream, food and cigarettes. Once the girl behind the counter told the Spanish girls they couldn't park there they just moved to the end of the line in the drive through to wait on their food. You had to be there to appreciate how odd this was.

NOM NOM NOM!

Suitably refreshed, we reached a decision point. I wanted to continue eastward to the next campground that took the RV's Camper Card, but it was 2 1/2 hours away. Doable considering we had much daylight left, but it would mean a 7 1/2 hour drive all the way back to Grindavik the next day. We weighed our options and chose discretion. We would drive back west to the next campground which was 2 1/2 hours away as well. We could have stayed in Hofn, but that would have meant a 5 1/2 hour return trip. With what eventually transpired, it was certainly the right call.

So, back west we went. First on our way back was ice cream! We stopped at Brunholl a family dairy farm that had a restaurant and creamery on premises. Wow, was it good! We had heard that the farms on the south coast had ice cream, but this one was the first we saw and it was a great pick me up for the drive back through sandurs and lava fields to find a place for the night.

Along the way we kept seeing this sign. We decided it meant Minimum Effort to take a good picture here. Maybe we were punchy at the time, but we thought it was hilarious. Turns out it meant a speed trap area. Oh well, our translation is much more entertaining.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but we started to notice streamers of clouds at the tops of the mountains. I've read that this indicates higher winds aloft. With what came the next day, I can confirm that.

The clouds descended more and became more dark the farther west we drove.

We stopped in one campground first, but it wasn't the right one. Too bad, because I had a spot picked out next to this beast.

We made it back to the hamlet of Kirkjubaejarklaustur where we searched for the campground described in the Camper Card handbook. After a couple of failed attempts at narrow streets we found an entrance down a gravel road. I parked next to a Unimog while Ashley went to the office. Turns out we were at the wrong campground, but the lady gave good directions to the right one.

Arriving at the correct campground, we were dismayed to find that there were no electric hookups. It wasn't a huge deal because the RV heater and lights ran on propane and batteries, but we couldn't charge up the RV's dead cellphone to call Johanna to let her know we might be back a little early. After hemming and hawing, we gave up and parked across the street from the tent campground area in a gravel lot.

Upon further inspection, the Camper Card handbook has teeny tiny icons that indicate whether or not the campground has electric. Of course, this campground didn't and that was clearly indicated by the absence of the electric icon. Ashley helpfully added a big block lettered warning of No Electric for future RVers.

We battened down the hatches and turned in early for the night.