A difficult day today. We awoke in Lake Myvatn to gale force winds. The Iceland weather site had issued a weather warning of 60-70 mph winds, but at times it was gusting more. From our room in the guesthouse, we had to descend some steps, and cross a courtyard to reach the building where the breakfast was set. Stepping out of the room, I could barely stand, and Howard and I struggled across the yard, hanging onto each other for support. The lovely host came over to us and explained that the high winds were forecast most of the day, and that warnings had been issued not to go walking at any height. That immediately scuppered any plans of walking around the volcano cadera, but we had already realised that this would be impossible. Remarkably, one of the other guests was fretting that she wouldn’t be able to go Whale Watching today. I told her that she would be mad to even consider it, and reluctantly she agreed.
After a lovely home made breakfast, with ingredients from the farm, including their own milk, butter and eggs, home-made preserves, Angelica tea and lava bread, we sat and considered our options. We had already booked a room in Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest city, and were keen to move on. However, when we went to leave, the wind buffeted and rocked the van so much, that we chickened out, and went off for another coffee. It wasn’t until lunchtime that we felt the wind had eased enough to drive, but even then, our host offered a room if the drive seemed too hazardous.
We eventually reached Akureyri, after a very slow and careful drive. At one point we stopped for a break by a spectacular waterfall, but the wind was so strong I didn’t have the strength to open the van door. The spray from the waterfall was being blown all across the car park, so I didn’t even attempt to get my camera out.
Tonight, in the last half hour, the rain has stopped, and the wind dropped completely. In Iceland, it seems you can experience all four seasons in a day. Camping for the last few days has been out of the question – in these conditions we are unable to raise the roof on Oscar. The unsettled weather is set to continue, so we will likely hold fast in Akureyri for a day or two.
No photos worth posting today – just rain and wet lenses!
Oscar Goes To Europe 