Myvatn lake was created as a result of a massive basaltic eruption, and as a result is now home to incredible geological features as well as a wealth of flora and fauna. The latter is largely due to the shallow depth of the lake and the the abundance of what Myvatn translates to – midges.
Our hotel was sited in an elevated position overlooking the lake and we weren’t too bothered by these tiny nuisances until a couple of days later where we encountered them lakeside in black masses 🤔
We based ourselves here in order to explore the Diamond Circle, a popular route in the north eastern part of Iceland.
There was no time for a sleep in on our first morning as we had a 45 minute drive almost due north to Húsavík for our whale watching tour starting at 9 am.
Húsavík is a pretty town overlooking Skjálfandi Bay and is actually the oldest settlement in Iceland. It is widely known as the ‘whale capital’ of Europe as up to 23 species of whale, including the Blue Whale, as well as large colonies of puffins can be found in or around the bay.
We were booked on one of the classic wooden boats which is now electric powered ensuring a quieter experience for both the passengers and the whales.
It was an absolutely stunning day, blue skies and calm seas which our guide assured us was a rarity! We were still required to suit up in the provided clothing though and I thought I might die of heat stroke but it did get cooler out on the water.
To be honest if we hadn’t seen any whales it would have been a great day out, the scenery was beautiful.
The captain of our boat was in constant communication with other boats in the area and so had the heads up on where the action was taking place.
We were heading toward another boat when suddenly a huge whale breached – a little too soon for those of those of us who were just readying our cameras. I captured the splash but we were still a way off, if you look closely you can just see the other boat that was directly behind the whale!
We did see lots of whale action after that but no more breaching unfortunately.
We had a little look around town (and I wished we had time for the cliff top geothermal spa) but we had priorities for the afternoon that firstly included getting Russell’s glasses repaired and we thought the large town of Akureyri might be the place for that.
We found the opticians easily and they fixed them on the spot, I posted Debbie’s postcard that had been in my bag for a week and soon we were back on the road toward Goðafoss.
Goðafoss is another large waterfall, right beside Highway 1 and falls from a height of 12 metres over a width of 30 metres. Legend says that when Christianity was adopted as Iceland’s official religion in around 999, the ‘lawspeaker’ returned to his home and threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall…
With its close proximity to the road this waterfall attracts tour buses by the dozen but luckily has a large viewing area with room for everyone to get a good shot (with a little patience LOL)
It was now getting close to dinner time and we found a great little pizza shack called Daddi’s on the way home which fit the bill perfectly.
Quite delicious and a fraction of the price of the restaurant mains (lamb was the equivalent of $AUD98.)
Tomorrow, another waterfall and what the hell is an “F” road??
