Weve both had a decent nights sleep and Ians cold is feeling a bit better. Good job as there are no chemists open till Monday (the one in the last campsite close at noon on Friday) and weve discovered that they dont sell cough medicine in supermarkets here!
We decide to take advantage of the campsite shower before leaving. There is just one shower and one loo each for ladies and gents so there is a queue. No one is actually using the shower (I guess they dont want to pay the hefty shower fee) but they are using the room as it contains a basin. The wind is bitter so we all cram insideno sign of social distancing here! Finally I get inside, only to find that my shampoo and soap have migrated to Ians wash bag and they dont provide any. I really cant be bothered to queue all over again so a hot douche is all I get. At least I still have my toothbrush and toothpaste!
Its now 9.30am and time to leave. We top up our water container and set off a mere 10km down the road to Hofn (pronounced ‘hump with
Hofn, a sleepy little village, turns out to be an interesting place. We pass a colourful harbour and make our way up to the promontory. Here we find a statue and the start of a nature walk which gives us a lesson the planets. We start with the sun which has a large silver orb and t hen make our way to most of the other planets. At first we think that someone has pilfered the orbs from the others but Ian then works out that the orbs are still there but smallerto illustrate the differences in to the sun. They are also spaced out to give a feel for their relative distances in space. We find them all except for Neptune, Uranus and Plutothey probably exist somewhere in the coastal path but miles away from where we end our walk! Anyway, its a nice little interlude and today is dry albeit a little chilly.
We retrace our journey back to the main ring road and officially leave southern Iceland, entering into the eastern region.
Stokknes promontory. Its not exactly single track but there are some idiots driving far too fast and theres a near accident as some idiot overtakes us as we slow down for an vehicle. Fortunately for the driver, the other vehicle also stops and he just about squeezes through, speeding off into the distance and leaving clouds of dust behind him. Theres some nice views but we decide not to go the full distance to the Viking Cafe at the end for fear of a cracked windscreen.
Rejoining Route 1 again, we find ourselves driving through a long dark tunnelfirst time weve lost daylight this trip! It seems strange but we emerge the other end unscathed
Theres no more stops now till we reach Djupivogur, 100km away. Googlemaps says thats an hour and a half away but we know it will be more as the speed limits are low here. We also make a number of photo stops. The drive is very scenic, hugging the coast as it weaves in and out of watery inlets which are shadowed by steep mountains. We also have a number of single lane bridges to contend with first served)
Djupivogur provides another interesting stop, once we work out the back street system as googlemaps says no! In the first instance we end up in a dead end residential streetthough the views are quite pretty! And I dont think I have yet mentioned the abundance of purple lupins here! I first noticed them as the plane touched down at the airportthey are literally everywhere!
But back to the townwe are on the lookout for some weird art sculptures that the town is supposed to be littered with. All we can see is a tour bus, a gift shop and a cafe. We are wondering if this is another Lonely Planet myth? Eventually we find the place we think we are looking foran artists garden filled with art pieces made from old bones, driftwood and stones. Actually it was worth the hunt!
Now for more scenic drives around the coast road to our campsite for tonight.
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