May 24 – Akureyri, Iceland, Lake Mývatn and Goðafoss Waterfall

We are off on a bus tour that takes us through some gorgeous scenery on our way to Lake Myvatn.  However, our first stop was the Goðafoss falls (Falls of the Gods).  The falls are pretty impressive and we all enjoyed the walk out and also the hike down to the water below the falls.

One neat highlight was that at an overlook at the top of the falls Mary watched a young man propose marriage to his girlfriend.  Was pretty exciting for all.  Apparently some of the family was there and they filmed the entire thing.

The drive passed pretty mountains and hills...

went by several rivers and rapids...

and farmlands...

and facilities with unknown purpose but that were using the geothermal power that is so prevalent in Iceland.

We drove along Lake Mývatn (translation – Home of the Midges), the second largest lake in Iceland.  

There were no real stops there but we did stop at the Dimmuborgum, the Dark Castles, home of the 13 Christmas Santa Clauses, who are tricksters in Iceland.  The area was full of interesting and unusual volcanic rock formations.  The paths were a quite a maze so it was a good thing that we had a guide.

The fuzzy plant is the Woolly Willow. 

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More photos of Dimmuborgum
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A bit more driving took us to the Lake Mývatn Nature Baths, another geothermal pool with views over the lake.  Paul didn’t go in but most of the rest of those on the tour did.  The water was wonderful and the milky blue that we saw in the Blue Lagoon.  One interesting thing we discovered was that this one had a lot of “sand” in it.  It all looked quite white but if you pulled the sand up it was quite black…the water was so milky that you couldn’t really see the black sand at the bottom.

We had a lunch of soup at the restaurant there at the baths and then piled back on the buses for a trip back to the boat. 

We had a short stop at the false craters, a series of craters that weren’t volcanic eruptions but were formed when the hot magma bubbled up like the hot steam that pops up in a bowl of cooking oatmeal.

We had a photo stop on the fjord with views of Akureyri on the opposite side.  There were massive of blooming lupine on the hillside beside the overlook.

Once we were back in town they bus took the long way around to drive through some neighborhoods and to another overlook. 

We also went by the church.

Once back in at the ship Jessica and Tara decided to go into town to do a bit of exploring.

This evening we had dinner with an interesting couple, Alan and Joan, from Lincoln, Britain.  During dinner there was a big celebration for the newly engaged couple.