This morning we are off to see two more waterfalls. We set off around 9.30am - as usual well behind everyone else on the campsite!
On the rough track back to the main road we pick up Christof an Austrian hitch hiker. We can give him a lift as far as the Dettifoss Waterfall turning.
Christof tell us that the falls can be seen from west or east sides but he would the west as its a better road and a better path to the falls. Its also better for him as its a bit further down the road.
According to Google and our somewhat out of date guidebook we should have taken the other road, but as promised, the new road has been and turns out to be a much better choice.
It is now raining heavily so we put on full waterproofs and make our way along the path 1km to the falls. Its like walking through a lunar landscape.
Dettifoss Falls claim to be the most powerful in Europe - 45m high, 100m wide with 400 cubic metres of water thundering over the edge every second. By the time we
reach the falls the rain has stopped but the waterproofs are still needed due to the upsurge of spray from the falls.
Ian has gone for a wander whilst I take some photos. Suddenly I feel a massive shove. Im right at the edge separated only by a piece of rope. Seriously I nearly had a heart attack. It turns out its a French tourist who wants to take a photo with his familyso rather than asking me to more over (which would have easily been done) he decided to give me a hard push. Im definitely not amused and leave him in no doubt as to the stupidity of this action. By this time ian is back and we decide its rind to move on to the higher viewing platform.
The view from the top is good but the wettest of all hence very few people up here and we dont hang around long.
Now we part retrace our stride and make a detour to Selfoss Falls - a smaller cataract but different in that its horseshoe shaped. It was worth the extra walk time and was not so far as both falls could be walked
Having seen the path on the other side of the falls Im very glad we took Christofs advice as the other side looked somewhat precarious!
Our next stop is Asbyrgi Canyon which lies at the opposite end of Jokulsargljufur National Park to the falls. The whole canyon from falls to Asbyrgi can be walked in two days we are told, but thats not us!
After yesterdays hike at Studygil, this canyon is a slight disappointmentthough I suspect if you did the two day hike it would be better!
We drive on to the fishing port of Husavik. Its main claim to fame is whale watching. As the road nears the cliff tops, Im sure I can see at least one of these massive creatures in the bay where the whale excursions go. But sadly theres not a single stopping place so I cant verify it!
At Husavik we see the whale watching boats being crammed full of tourists. On a better day we may have joined them but its raining again and theres an
icy wind - not surprising since we can see the arctic circle on the horizon. Three hours in an open RIB on lumpy water isnt doing it for us today!
After a quick photo stop at the church we make our way to camp - this will be at Luagar where we are promised top notch camp facilities. We are not disappointedlovely hot showers, a warm kitchen dining room plus a laundry where I am able to wash dry our clothes - where does all this from?
We make our tea in the camp kitchen. We were tempted to use the restaurant tonight but we didnt want to move our van from its prime position near the loo block! These camp sites really do fill up and its good that we were early as by 8pm its crammed!
