Day 6: The Forbidden East

Ha! Well, not necessarily forbidden, just the 'unplanned' east. I ended up driving quite late last night trying to find a place to camp, passing a few kamikaze cyclists along the way, but I refused to camp when the outside temperature was less than 4°C! I finally gave in at 10:45pm and parked in a nice little campground on the outskirts of Egilsstadir. 

And now south, to the glacier lagoon, the highlight of the east coast. It'd require a day of driving but I'd have been doing that anyway, and over already trodden ground if I'd returned west. I like driving in new places - you get to witness all these wonderful sights flowing past as you're sitting in relatively luxurious comfort. Not a bad way to travel. 

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. I came upon it after a turn and almost had to slam on the breaks! I've been seeing the mother ice cap, Vatnajökull (largest in world outside the poles) and its other glacial tongues for a while but Jok's pretty cool cause the 'bergs that've calved off get pulled out to sea as the lagoon is tidal and connected to the ocean. Unfortunately the ocean's warming is contributing to the glacier's demise and they expect within 50 years it will all be gone.

The 1st parking lot I pulled into was for the zodiac boat tours and they happened to have one spot left for the immediate tour. She almost wouldn't let me go back to my car for my hat and gloves (2 hats, gloves, & down jax, to be precise) and told me to suit up quick (in a further polar expedition-type bodysuit) and pay later - the bus was leaving! Just around the bend we boarded the boats and ....

I also went across the highway to the beach afterwards to see the small bergy bits that'd washed ashore. I've seen photos online of these that are just amazing at sunset (alas, I won't be having that) or in sunshine (cloudy here for the past week apparently. I think Vatnajökull might set its own weather pattern as it was glorious sunshine both above and below the lagoon...)

An early night tonight - I found a nice little rest stop at 7:30pm so made some pesto pasta for dinner and enjoyed some red wine and sunshine before turn down.