Idealic in Iceland

Just spent the morning lazing about in 41 degree spa with the warm sun on my face and cool Alantic breaze... just heaven... but i'm getting ahead of myself and i guess you might want to know how i managed to get to such a spa...

Iceland Arrival Thursday 22 June
I'm suffering I´m sea sick... it was fine as long as i stayed horizontal. This is not so easy to do when you get your 5.30am wake up call to prepare to depart ferry and you have to pack your sleeping bag and your on the top bunk and the ferry is rocking and your very hot and you want to throw-up and there are 5 others in the cabin with you....uggggg get me some fresh air in a hurry! All this and i had taken medication....

So i'm on deck... i don't want to move very much but i do manage to get some photos of the fjord of Seydisfjordur where the ferry arrives... When its time to unload the bikes we are first of from our deck which is good... I'm very shell-shocked... not sure what i'm doing where i'm heading, how much money i need, where i get money, and yes i should eat... but if the ground would just stop moving i would be fine.

So with a bit of help and encouragement for the 4 other bike rides, we all get some money, food and coffee and then tackle the big hill climb out of town to Egilsstadir. This hill is about 650metres.. not so high, but its cold, windy and one of the hardest climbs i've done on the trip... its also around 10kms up... i guess the sea sickness didn't help... But what a view... it was just grand... the mountain has ice on it and so do the peaks around.. yep i'm in Iceland... The right side of my face when a bit numb once i was on top of the mountain and the ride down the otherside was bitterly cold. I arrived at Egilsstadir more confused than i was. But the hot chocolate, food and wonderful help from the locals at the info office was just fantastic... Again the 5 of us on bikes all meet up and decided to all camp together.. it was great to have the company.

Riding my 1st week
Time to say goodbye to my fellow cyclists as we are all heading in different paths. I decide to ride north west 1st towards an area called Myvatn via the ring road. My 1st day out its cold and bit of rain, but nice to ride in. I don't get started until around 10 am as i have to got the bank and bakery (yum) 1st.. The ring road is sealed all the way which is tops. But it is not flat. The ground is still moving a bit too much but i have a top day and manage to ride 55km. I camp the night at camping spot that was closed. It was a nice quiet spot and i'm so glad i stopped early for the day and didn't ride on to the next camp spot a further 20kms... It rained and riding 20kms, mostly up hill in the rain on a dirt road is not fun.

So more about the dirt road. As i said the ring road is sealed, but for over 100kms there is no where to camp and i'm told by the locals a bit borring. The old ring road, route 902 or 901 depending on your map has two camping spots. A farm stay and a camp spot at Modrudalar. I made for Modrudalar... and what a wonderful spot. It was a long day of riding on dirt but only 44kms. The landscape was a bit like i would imagine Mars or the Moon to look like, but i loved it. Lonely Planet suggests that there is nothing to see along this section, but they are wrong... the open treeless plain, the hills, the ice still on the ground, the flowing rivers through rock and the colour of the dirt... makes the rough, rock, and uphill pushing my bike for 1 km on loose slippery stones on a hairpin zig-zag road worth the toil... just glad it was sunny and i only had to do this twice....

You can see Modrudalar from about 10kms out... your on top of the last big hill climb and your roll, slide, and slip down a dirt 10% road cut into the edge of the mountain. then you ride a long a flat lonly plain with distant ice cap mountains... all the time on your left if the grand peak of Herdubreid, 1682 metres, baiting you to visit with its snow capped top. The 1st thing you see as you arrive in the village is the small wooden church framed by the the distant red hills, then the turfhouses, sheep and lucky for me the barbed wire lying across the road! Had a great camp here and even manged to wash some cloths and dry them in the sun!

The next day was a simple ride of only 40kms mostly on the sealed ring road to Grimsstadir. This is the only camping spot you can use if you want to see Dettifoss, Europes most powerful waterfall. So the next day I decided to not only ride to Dettifoss on the rough dirt road but to continue onto the National Park at Asbyrgi, some 56kms on dirt. I left early at 7am as i was going to be a long day... I arrived at the falls at around 10am ish at the same time the two German cyclists from the ferry. We walked around the falls together and shared morning tea. They were returning and riding on the Myvatn, whilst i headed north to the coast. Amazing how the landscape can change around here... the ride up to the falls was grey, bit dusty and moon like, but once i headed north, the terrain changed it became more volcanic looking, redder in colour and green... yep there were flowers.. a few at 1st but they dotted the hills in green and pink and looked loverly. I arrived in Asbyrgi around 3pm and was able to catch the bus that takes you into the park on its western side... This was wonderful. The park is hard to discribe, but the 1st think you notice the the Birch trees... note this TREEs... They are not very tall, but they are here and well worth seeing... This area is still a very active volcanic zone. In the everning, or at least that whats my clock told me, as the sun doesn't go away around here, i did a long walk through the park and trees, whilst many are planted it is a loverly place to see...

Sleeping this far north is a tad difficult. I have to sleep with eye cover. Its light enough to read and play golf (yes Horizon boys you can play midnight golf up here, but the ground fees are tad on the high side). I don't mind the late nights, but the sun comes back at around 2,30am and so do the birds who want to sing right next to my tent... Great living with nature!

My next day was just a wonderful ride. something i could do every sunday morning with my cycling mates!... you leave Asbyrgi on a sealed road and ride through rolling farming lands and bay with black sand. Then you have small hill climb that takes you along the edge of the cliffs where the Puffins are nesting. The view back over the bay is on high snow capped mountains. Then your round the point, still on the edge of the cliffs and before long your can see the snow covered mountains that on the otherside of the fjord.. This is just so motivating and you ride the next 20kms into the Town of Husavik with the green farming hills, flowing streams and sheep on your left and on your right the Fjord and distant snow capped mountains. Then your arrival into husavik is a small fishing village, sunshine and lots to see and do.

Last night I went whale watching. What a treat. i didn't need to see a whale, the bay a millpond, the sun was out, giving warmth, the boat was wooden and it motors out into the bay you can just sit and watch the mountains.. But the whales came... just a treat... Didn't get back to the village until 10pm but no drama as there is no night...

So this moring after 6 days of riding i went to the local pool for a swim. All the pools have a spa or hotpots and one can just relax in the warm water..... This arvo i'll have a coffee by the harbour and just watch the view.

Tomorrow i ride to Myvatn!