Iceland farewell

I´m sad to say

i´m on my way,

my heart is down,

my head is turning around,

i had to leave little Seydisfjordur in Iceland

My last few days in Iceland were great... I had a great day riding to the fishing town of Hofn, where i battled a side wind and gentle rolling hills... on this day i chatted to other riders heading the other direction and having have a much harder ride than me..or at least this day they were...

Once in Hofe i planned to catch the bus to Egilsstadir the next day. It was only a two-three day ride but i was conerned that it was now Monday and i needed to be in Seydisfjordur Wednesday night, as i wanted to go to the Blue Church concert they hold the night before the ferry departs.. So i took the easy way out and took the bus. I also didn´t want to leave catching a bus until the last day incase they coun´t take the bike.

This was a great drive... the road is not sealed for large sections and it hugs the cliff face, but is on average flat... I thought i would have had to climb a 12% hill if i had riden, but a tonnel had been built some 3kms long through the mountain... so as it was i would have had to catch the bus through this part anyway... 3kms through an unventilated and unlit tunnel is not my idea of fun... having done it once now... As with all Icelandic busses they stop to let you take photos at the best spots... its such a great custom and one we should adopt in Oz...

Once in Egilsstadir i enjoyed a great arvo of sunshine.. the 1st in several weeks. The next day was not so good and i sat in a cafe reading until my bus over the mountain pass to Seydisfjordur at 5pm.. I´m glad i took the bus here... this the same mountain pass i road over when i 1st arrived in Iceland and i decided i didn´t need to do it twice. As it was it would have been very dangerious on the bike...the whiteout conditions on the mountian top were the worse i have ever sean... which may be no measure of worsenessess(?)... but car lights on the bike would not have made me feel safe...the bus was only doing around 30kms/hour so even the driver was concerned...

Once in Seydisfjordur the fishing village is so quant u can loose yourself for a whole day without any trouble... and if your luck the mountains peaks will be cloud free and you can just watch them. So for most of the day i wandered about the town looking a wooden buildings, art shops, drinking coffee (ouch the cost...), getting my tickets, finding a book in English (yes only one in the whole village) and getting some food to take on the ferry and reading about the Shettland islands

The concert is held in the local Blue Church. Each week there is a different touring group... For my last night in Iceland it was French singing and whilst i don´t know what was being sung, i did recognise most of the tunes... It was very special and a nice way to say farewell to an island i loved... After the concert i headed to one of the local cafe´s... did well here as i picked the one the tour goup where going too the atmosphere was really exciting even though i had no idea what anyone, other than the girl on the bar was saying. This is because the girl on the bar was a Kiwi and everone else was from somewhere else... I chatted to a german couple an they gave me a sports booster bar to keep me cycling alone... so very nice...

Seydisfjordur gets very busy with the arrival and pending departure of the ferry. It was also a bit of a reunion... several of the folk that were on the ferry with my arrive were also departing... hugs abound, exchanging of email addresses and great chear was everywhere, as we all chatted about our adventures... it was also a cold but sunny day so everyone´s mood was high... Boarding was fast and hassle free...or at least it appeared that way... but wait until i get to Lerwick