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Our
Beautiful World
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ICELAND 2004
Day 10 and 11
 Next morning up to Vatnsnes peninsula to look for the seals. 'Hello there, anyone at home?'  May be we misunderstood. Perhaps we should look after them on the road instead?   We got them! After having looked around for a while, there were both 3, 5 and more coming up.  It was still windy and cold, so none of them climbed up on the small reefs. But we will be back again some day....  The horses were easier to catch. They were all over.    Another thing that is special to Iceland, at least compared to the rest of Scandinavia, is the roofs on their buildings. They come in all colours. Above three main colours, blue, red and green, on the farms spread around on the island. The red one is probably 'Geitaskarð, a few kilometers south-east of Blönduós, way up north.  Half an hour later we were heading toward this mountain-chain. The picture is taken somewhere near Bólstaðarhlið. (See the map below.)   Just before we came to Varmahlið, we had a marvelous sight northwards toward the Arctic Ocean, and you can see here how the rivers from the glaciers has left behind enormous quantities of sand and volcanic masses. Way out to the left you can also spot the tiny island Drangey.  On the other side of Varmahlið we drove along this beautiful mountain-ridge, and shortly after we started climbing over the mountains on our way to Akureri.  We ran into really bad weather, so no more pictures to show till we arrived at Akureyri, the second largest city in Iceland, and the main city in the north.  The tourist-info claimed that there should be a camp-site right in the middle of Akureyri. There have been one, but there certainly wasn't much left. So we had to go some kilometers south of Akureyri to see if we could find the other one. Hamrar camp-site. A few signs here and there gave us a hint, but I must say we were lucky to finally end up there. Day 11   It did rain all day, but having clothes for every possibility in our car, we went around in the beautiful wood surrounding the camp-site, admiring the beautiful flowers, listening to the birds singing.  The camp-site was part of Kjarnaskógur wood, which is a part of a forested, recreational area planned to sorround the town of Akureyri. Walking paths lie throughout Kjarnaskógur, and there are playground equipment, resting spots and barbecue facilities. Still there is a lot of work to do, but of what we saw of it, there is no doubt that this will be an area that both the inhabitants of Akureyri and its visitors will appreciate in the years to come.   We missed the Akureyri Botanical Garden, which is know far and wide for its beautiful walking paths and luxuriant flora. The garden was founded in 1911, and as a botanical garden (opened in 1957) it contains nearly every plant found in Iceland as well as about 4,000 (!) foreign plants. (Pictures here from Iceland 2002 Kring Trip Itinerary found at http://click here)  One problem having to tour Iceland in 14 days is that you have to fight the clock more or less. So we had to leave Akureyri (above) and head for the next adventure.  But even if you like driving around, and having daylight 24 hours a day, you also have to get some sleep, so in Vaglaskógur just half an hour from Akureyri, we had to stop over. The Vaglaskógur is one of Iceland's largest and most beautiful woods, with birches as tall as 12 m or more. To day, it covers about 300 hectares, and is a good place for camping.   In between the birches, we also found this young pine, with needles longer than what we are familiar with at home. The paths in the wood were nice, and we had a nice walk-about before going to sleep. Continue to day 12 Return to the menu |
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