Day 4: Tröllaskagi Peninsula

                      I tip my hat to the view too!

I've been car camping the last few nights - it's freed me up enormously in planning my itinerary (who really knows how long it takes to drive from A to B, and how long the sights in between will take to see?). The first night I spent in a campground, the second on a quiet peninsula beside a church, but last night was the best yet: a quiet roadside rest stop with picnic tables, a forested glen with walking trails, and a little toilet complex with facilities on one side and a protected sink and countertop for washing dishes on the other. I shared the spot with a young man from Germany who was biking around the whole island, sleeping in his tent. He didn't really seem too happy with the whole affair - the cool temperatures and ever-present wind were very challenging, but renting a car was too expensive for him.

                    Home for the night, 11pm

                       Al fresco lunch

So I slept somewhere just before Blonduos, near the NNW coast. I thought that'd put me in great position for an easy drive today but it was all so glorious it was still 6pm before I arrived to check in at my evening's guesthouse, and 8:50pm before I returned for dinner!

This northwest part of Iceland is so different from most of the Snaeff. Hardly any hint of the volcanic nature of Iceland, instead the landscape has become largely pastoral. Late afternoon yesterday I was thinking it reminded me of the highlands of Scotland - barren mountains, green farms and rivers. Totally denuded of trees but in places there seems to be some small attempts at tree farming. Then today, when I turned left to circumnavigate the Tröllaskagi, it was all about horse farms. And perfectly picturesque red-roofed homes and barns set against green snow-capped hills. And the blue ocean. I swear I took 3 dozen photos just of the ocean.

         And how is this for the best public pool ever? Hofsós 

At the tippy-top of the peninsula was my favorite town of the day: Sïglufjördur. The sun was shining, cafés were spilling with people, the roofs were colorful, the harbor picturesque, and they had a super cool herring museum. Does life get any better?

                 Hot date from the Herring Museum

The barista at my cafe showed me a picture of snowman he built on June 2nd - just 3 weeks ago! May was the coldest in 35 years, and even last week was yucky weather. How lucky I am...

After Sïglu, I tackled the slightly scary series of tunnels going south. The big ones, ie 5 miles +, were 2-lanes, but the smaller couple were single-lane only. With 2 lanes of traffic. Which means that the subservient direction had to pull over quickly into the many pull-outs as soon as they judged the oncoming headlights rushing towards them were close enough that they had to avoid a collision. Meanwhile, the dominant lane had to keep a steady speed, a steady grip on the wheel, and a prayer on the lips that the other fools knew what they were doing. I like being dominant.

Further south I barreled thru a couple of smelly fishing towns before arriving in Akureyri, my destination. Tonight I have the luxury and convenience of a guesthouse. I knew this is where I wanted to be tonight, so I went ahead and made a reservation. My hostess recommended a nearby wooded park where I could stretch my legs after sitting behind the wheel all day. I'm just starting to walk again for exercise after being laid up all winter with a ruined ankle, so I took advantage of the permanent daylight to put a few clicks (kilometers to my American friends) on my peds. 2 hrs later my ankle and tummy were saying "enuf!". The perma-sun plays tricks on you...