Part 4 - Selfoss, Westmann islands to Keflavík.

19.08.08 - Selfoss to Heimaey

We weren’t sure what the weather was doing this morning as for the first time we were in the shade of trees! Selfoss has really made a big effort and must be by now the leafiest town in Iceland. The sun eventually came through the trees but we still had to move the tent into a place in the sunshine to get rid of the condensation, as there had been no wind in the night to stop it forming. It was just before 10.00am that we left the campsite and we passed the tourist information office at the end of the high street shortly after it opened. I had a cunning plan unbeknown to Frank to visit Vestmannaey (the Westmann) isles as we had planned to go past the ferry port of þorlakshöfn, but I wasn’t exactly sure of the ferry times. I suggested my idea to Frank and she seemed up for it and suggested we go in and check out the ferry times. Well it all seemed to work out perfectly as there was an evening sailing at 19.30. That would gave us plenty of time to get to Hveragerði and explore the thermal area to the north of it. As we left Selfoss we had a good look at the beautifully proportioned Selfoss church, which looked stunning against the blue sky before then crossing the suspension bridge that went over the 'Lufsa' river. Route 1 wasn't too bad for traffic and there was at least a small hard shoulder we could cycle on, although at times it got rough and we had to go back on the road. A few kilometres along we stopped at a pull in near where there were about 30 or so large white crosses and we wondered why they were there.  I asked a lorry driver who was parked there. He said ‘they had been put there by the government to show drivers how many deaths there had been in the last 2 years on the road between Selfoss and Rekjavik’. What was quite poignant was a very small cross, which was attached to one of the larger ones! 

It was only 10 km to Hveragerði so it didn’t take us too long to get there and we arrived just in time for elevenses. After passing numerous greenhouses obviously making good use of the abundant geothermal heating we found a café. It seemed such a novelty to be sitting in a café in Iceland drinking coffee and eating Vínarbraud. If we were on mainland Europe this would be quite normal for us but in Iceland cafés are few and far between! While we were sitting there our mobile rang, it was Frank’s sister to ask us what the number was for the breakdown company as the little Peugeot we had lent her had broken down in the middle of nowhere in darkest Wales! It still amazes me the capabilities of mobile phones! Having sorted her out we headed off to the geothermal area in town. The guidebook was quite right it wasn’t the best in Iceland and so we headed off to the geothermal area at Rjúpnábrekkur. This was much better and as we had time we walked up into the main area in Reykjadalir. It was a lovely walk the whole valley was one giant thermal area with bubbling and steaming fumaroles of mud with a hot steaming stream running through the middle. It was so different from other geothermal areas we had been to as it was so lush with vegetation. Having gone up one side of the valley we decided it would be nice to return along the path on the other. This involved crossing the stream. No problem, as it would be nice and warm to wade through so we quickly took our boots off. Little did we know, it was nearly scalding! It was far too hot to stay in it any length of time. We must have crossed at one of the warmest parts as further down we came across a party of Czech tourists who were bathing in it! As time was pushing on we decide we had better get going, as we still needed to do the 20km to get to þorlakshöfn. As we had kind of missed out on lunch and our usual brew I raced on ahead to get a brew going where we had left the bikes at the car park. I kind of enjoyed the run down it reminded me of my fell running days in the Lake District. With a good brew and a snack under our belts we headed off back through Hveragerði and onto the 38. It was a fairly level road and we fortunately had a small tail wind, which helped us along. The Icelandic’s do make good use of their geothermal resources, as all along the 38 you are not that far away from a large insulated pipe, which obviously must be serving the residents of þorlakshöfn. We got there in good time for the ferry and whilst we were there met Belgium couple at the ferry terminal and we chatted to them whilst we waited to board 'Herjólfur' the ferry to Heimey.  We decided to eat on the boat, as by the time we would get into Heimay it would be too late for the shops. Frank had Góðborgari - Special Hamburger with bacon,  cheese, egg, pineapple and chips (1400kr) and I had the Lambahnetusteik - Fillet of lamb with peppersauce (1990 kr). As mine was a main course it came with cream of cauliflower soup and garlic bread which we shared as a starter. For ferry food it was extremely good.

It was a wonderfully smooth crossing with a lovely sunset and clear evening with good views of the coast, you could see Heklar really well and the Eyjapjalljökull which magically had the moon rising over it. As we got closer to the Westmann isles we got our first views of Surtsey, the volcanic island that was formed by volcanic activity in 1963. Our ferry didn't get in until 10.15 so we needed our dynamo lights on to get us to the campsite. The Belgium couple who we had met at the ferry terminal followed behind us with their head torches on as we all followed the campsite signs, when we got to a sign that showed a camp site in two directions it confused us as we thought that there was only one. We went left and the Belgium couple went right. Our site didn't look that brilliant and as it was only a short way back we decided to have a look at the other site. The Belgium couple had obviously chosen right as it seemed a much nicer site even in the dark!

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20.08.08 - Heimaey

Full marks to the Icelandic weather forecasters they had certainly got it right as it was a cracking sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. We hurriedly had our breakfast and headed off down to the harbour to go on the boat trip that went around the island. We were in good time, as Viking tour boat didn’t leave until 10.30am. It was a lovely trip and our Skipper was very knowledgeable about the islands giving us a volcanic and geology lesson. We saw hundreds of puffins and fulmars. Visited several caves and at one point there was a wonderful Basaltic rose and the largest elephant in the world as our skipper described it. Our skipper described how the sheep are kept on the islands all winter and that there are ropes left dangling to help them climb up the rocks and get to the sheep. He also showed us the matting and planting they had done on the island to stop the cinder ash from blowing in the wind. Apparently it can act like shot blasting and remove paintwork, plastics and even etch glass. In the final cave our Skipper played a piece on the saxophone to show of the wonderful acoustics. It was quite funny when we got back, the Skippers dog was waiting on the grass outside the café Kró and as soon as he saw his master he bounded over to him and was all over him as if he had been away for months! We decided to stop and have some soup and bread at the café Kró, which was indeed very tasty and welcome.

From the harbour we set out on a tour of the island. Our first port of call was the lovely stave church that had been donated by the Norwegians in 2000. Close by were the remains of some of the houses and the remains of the water tank that had been crushed under the Lava flow. From there we headed round to climb up Eldfell the new volcano crater that appeared during the 1973 eruption. We got good views of Heimaey from the top of the crater and the crater rim was still hot and steaming after 35 years! Apparently it is currently at 470ºC two metres below the surface. After walking back down to find the bikes we cycled a little further on to have a look at ‘Eldheimar’ also known as the ‘Pompei of the North’. It is a project to excavate some of the houses that were covered in ash in the 1973 eruption. Although it was early on in the project it was amazing to see what they had uncovered so far. At about a quarter to five we cycled back into town to get some milk and found the bakery, assuming that we would be continuing we sat and had a couple of cakes and then realised that if we were to get to the volcanic show at 9.00 and get in a shower and cook a meal we had better get back to the campsite. The film show was great and well worth it as it gave you a real insight into the eruption of 1973.

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21.08.08 - Heimaey to  þorlakshöfn

We decided to pack up the tent rather than leave it till later and went down to the ferry office to buy our ticket for the 16.00pm ferry. The lady kindly let us leave our panniers behind her desk in the ferry office so we could go off around the island lightweight. The weather wasn’t quite so good as yesterday as it was a little overcast. We decided to try and visit the places on the island that we hadn’t managed to see the day before and headed of to see the lava tubes at Paskahellir. These were quite amazing structures which formed as the lava raced its way to the sea.  From there we headed around by the airport and to the church. Nearby was the town cemetery, which got completely covered in cinder ash in the 1973 eruption. After an international appeal volunteers from 15 countries dug this out in the summer of 1973. After a further long around the town we eventually caught the ferry at 16.00. Again we had a good meal on the ferry, Frank had Pönnusteikt ysa aðtælenskum hætti - Pan-fried Haddock á la Thai with rice 1650kr and I had Lambasmásteik 'Oregano' - Leg of lamb ' Oregano' 1900kr.
As we pulled into þorlakshöfn it started to rain and as we cycled off the ferry it was raining fairly hard. We had waterproof jackets on but we swiftly pulled in to the terminal building and grabbed the front pannier with the rest of the waterproof gear and went into the terminal building to put on our full wet weather gear. We just got to the supermarket before it closed at 7o'clock so we had some milk and something for our breakfast the next morning. The campsite was new and fairly open to the full force of the wind but at least there was a bunt we could get some shelter from as it was raining heavily and there was a strong wind blowing.

There was only one tent on campsite so we had plenty of choice, as it was blowing hooley we tucked ourselves  in a corner behind a bunt. As we were pitching our tent we saw two chaps running off in flip-flops clutching a sodden tent under their arms. I don't think their tent was up to it and they had pitched in the most exposed part of the site. It was certainly a lively evening with the wind buffeting the tent until it eventually calmed down in the wee small hours.

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22.08.08 - þorlakshöfn to Grindavik

It was a lively night with the wind and the rain but eventually the rain stopped at about 2.00am and the wind calmed down. When I went to the loo in the morning the two guys who had run off with the tent the night before were sat at a picnic bench, unfortunately my French wasn't quite up to finding out where exactly they had spent the night so I just wished them a good morning. In contrast to yesterday it was a sunny morning so we were able to get the tent dry. After leaving Porlakshöfn there was a very sandy gravel road that took us to the 42, it was hard work in places as the sandy was quite deep and we had to get off a push at times. Part the way along there were some allotments, they didn't look that well tended, being mostly potatoes. I wasn’t that surprised as the soil didn’t look that good. Once we had got to the 42 we turned left and it was a long straight road with a steady climb.

The sunshine had unfortunately gone and the clag had come down so we could only just see the escarpment. When we got to Selvogur we saw signs to a café as it was quite cold and now raining we thought it would be nice to have something hot and to get warm. We found the café and spent a few moments on the veranda peeling off our waterproofs. The café owner was a rather sweet lady in her sixties who only spoke Icelandic but from the menu we worked out that she was doing soup so we ordered that. A few minutes later she came back with several packets of soup mix and intimated that she wanted us to choose. We both looked at each other, we were both rather hoping for homemade soup but never mind it would be warm. We choose the Mexican tomato soup and then she brought out her visitors book and showed us an entry from some Dutch cyclists who had drawn her a nice picture. I rather felt a little obliged to do one for her as well, so a set about it while we waited for the soup. A little later she brought out this bowl of soup that was nearly the size of a bucket. I think she was a little wrong on her calculations as the packet she showed us I sure would normally make only a litre and this must be at least a 2 litre bowl so it was a little on the weak side, but never mind it was hot and warmed us up!  Just as we were nearly finishing our soup two Germans tourers came in they ordered the soup and when she brought out the packets the Germans refused it asked for something ‘Homemade’ and ended up with waffles and cream. We suspect they probably came out of a packet as well! We chattered to the Germans as to where they were going and then said Grindavik I replied that that was where we were going also. They left before us but set off in the wrong direction as the road we were on was a dead-end, either they wanted to have a look at the church at the end of the road or they obviously didn’t realised. 

After going around the Hli∂vatn it was a straight road which seemed to go one for a long time until we got to the tarmac which as a welcome relief although we knew from the map that we would be turning of this tarmac and back on to gravel of the 427. The surface of the 427 was better than we thought it was going to be and some parts were also faster than we thought it would be as we seemed be going down hill most of the time. We got to tarmac a lot earlier than I thought we should and I thought we had only 2km to go to Grindavik. But we found it was indeed a new bit of road, which although it had a nice tarmac surface it went over a hill. Unfortunately it was a long drawn out climb up into the clag and towards the top the clag was quite thick and we had to stop and put our rear lights on. It reminded us of our climb up the Connor pass in Ireland. It certainly was a fast ride down the other side into Grindavik. We decided to go first to the supermarket and again just got to it before it closed at 19.30. By the time got back to the campsite it was heaving with cycletourers! We both saw the only good space that was left for Slyvester and both said it's going there. It was absolutely pissing down!

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23.08.08 - Grindavik to Keflavik

We woke to the sound of heavy rain on the tent, so it was going to be a wet pack up. We really didn’t mind the rain of the last few days, as we had been very lucky with the good weather we had had earlier in the tour. We decided to go to the ‘Bláa jóni∂’ or Blue Lagoon on the way back to Keflavik. On taking the turning just out of Grindavik we found us on a climb up over a small hill. At the top we met two German tourers, they were just starting out and had come from Keflavik. I said it wasn't a good day with the wind and the rain, ‘Oh it's Icelandic weather it's what we expect!’ I didn't like to tell him how good the weather had been in the last few weeks. From there we headed down to the Blue Lagoon for a swim, well we couldn't cycle past it with trying it could we. It was fun and very posh, but to be honest we actually enjoyed the lagoon at Myvatn better. When we came out we thought the weather was improving but it was full waterproof drill within a few minutes of leaving. As we cycled along the 43 there was a very strong and gusty side wind and it was a struggle to keep on the bikes, at least the gusts were blowing you off the road as opposed to blowing you into the traffic! When we got to the junction of the 41 there were some

roadworks and the road was coned off to a very narrow lane only wide enough for one car.  As Frank went through some idiot in a motor home decided got through as well. He obviously hadn't a clue about the width of his vehicle. We are not sure whether he actually caught Frank’s panniers or it was the fact that he blocked the then sudden gust which caused Frank’s to start to wobble but she thought she was going over so she braked hard. As the motor home had only just missed knocking me off by being only a couple of inches from my handlebars I was yelling at him and hadn’t noticed Frank braking and piled into the back of Frank. By some miracle we both managed to keep the bikes upright as to our left only a few inches away there was a 50 ft drop on to rocks where they were excavating to put in an underpass! I yelled abuse at the motor home that was disappearing in the distance, but he was probably totally unaware of the near carnage he had nearly caused! We were both quite shaken by the experience and we had to put the thought of what could have happened to the back of our minds. We were both that shaky we had to walk the bikes across the junction and walked them up the 41 for a while before we felt better. It was hard work cycling in to the wind, but it was less tiring on the nerves as you weren't so worried about being blown over and also there was a fairly good wide hard shoulder you could ride in. We were really grateful to get to the turn off onto the 46 although potentially it was side on again to the wind it was much more sheltered and it didn’t take us long to get into Keflavik.

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24.08.08 - Keflavik

Just after we had had breakfast Barbara from Doncaster arrived she had spent two nights on the Rekyanes peninsular rather than stay too many nights at Keflavik. We sat for quite a while in the campsite kitchen area chatting to Barbara about her trip. She introduced us to Andy and Sarah from Manchester, who she had met at Eglissta∂ir. We had planned to have a look around the Rekyanes peninsular ourselves that day but the weather wasn't very good and it was quite nice to just sit and chat to like minded people about their cycletouring adventures!

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25.08.08 - Keflavik to Home

As our flight wasn't until 3 O'clock we had plenty of time to sort ourselves out and get the bikes packed. Thankfully it was a dry and sunny morning and we managed to pack up tent dry. We chatted with Andy and Sarah and had some lunch with them and then caught the taxi with them to the airport. We totalled up the last of our Icelandic money and we just had enough to buy a cup of coffee and a filled roll. The flight was fairly uneventful. However when we got to Stansted we rang the taxi driver's mobile only to get an answer phone. This seemed strange and after 10 minutes when l hadn't had a reply l rang the taxi company they knew nothing of our booking and said our driver was on holiday in Spain! The said that they would send another taxi but it would be at least an hour! So instead of getting home at 9 O'clock it was 10.45pm by the time we walked in the door at home, oh well that's life. It didn’t matter we had had a great tour.

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