Mum’s Gone to Iceland – Day Six – Godafoss/Lake Myvatn

A day travelling seems quite a treat today after the excitement of snowmobiling and white-water rafting. Looking forward to a leisurely drive from Varmahlid to the Northern town of Akureyri and onto Lake Myvatn for a four night stay which I’m hoping will be a chance to relax a bit! Day starts grey and miserable and a few miles after we start there is a strange judder from the left side of the car: a puncture in the front left tyre and it’s completely flat! All those miles on that gravel track in the interior of the country and we get a puncture on a nice bit of paved road! Thankfully it’s on a long flat stretch but as we get out to inspect the damage, the rain comes on a bit heavier. No use looking at me, I have no idea what to do but Action Man is a bit of a star, I have to admit. Within a few minutes he’s found the warning triangle and placed it 10 yards away, using one of our cases to stop it from blowing over. He knows where to put the jack, is able to get the wheel off and the new wheel on and I just stand there getting wet and offering moral support of the “oh you’re doing so well” variety.

Of course now we need to get the tyre repaired or replaced so our jaunt to the pretty town of Akureyri is blighted to some degree by our new mission to find the rental company offices and then to be directed to Iceland’s version of Kwikfit. We leave the tyre with them and are told to return in two hours. Do the usual parking in the centre of town, made slightly easier by the fact that there is only one spot left so hubby has less choice, and race off to find a loo! Don’t do this lovely town justice at all as it soon becomes clear the car park requires a special ticket to be bought from a newsagent. We can’t find one but we can find a police car in the vicinity so we leg it back to the car and drive back to the industrial sector of the town to get our wheel. Forty quid later we’re on our way again!

As the above photo shows, we make a stop at a fantastic waterfall, Godafoss. Now this is my sort of sightseeing! Pull off the main road, park at the side of the road, get out to look at natural wonder, take piccies, visit on-site cafe for hot chocolate, get back into the car and drive off! Job’s a good ‘un!

Squeals of delight from me when we reach our fourth hotel, Hotel Reynihlid, and find it’s the first one to have a kettle and complimentary tea and coffee in the room. All the hotels so far have been very good but the rooms have lacked this one service so I swoop onto this like a woman possessed. A swift cuppa later and we’re heading for Northern Iceland’s version of the Blue Lagoon….the Myvatn Nature Baths. Again the compulsory group shower with the hirsute masses (there was more bush on show than at a White House garden party!) but a heavenly dip in the pool awaits, deliciously warm despite the rain drizzling from above. This feels soooooo goooooood……..