Day 14th Hvammstangi - Skjól

The plan for today was to move further south and find a relatively central place to spend the night. The choice fell on the camping site Skjól. It is located on road 35 between Geysir and Gullfoss. The distance covered was about 270 kilometers. The weather was changeable, dry 11 degrees Celsius, cloudy. The dismantling of the tent and loading went quickly. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

At 10:30 am Suzi and I set out on our way south. If you want to cover kilometers in Iceland, you can't avoid the Ring Road. It was wonderful driving.

Although a maximum speed of 90 km/h is allowed, you can't go much faster or the bumps in the road will throw you off the saddle.

On the way, I stopped at a marked scenic viewpoint. It was located at the foot of a small mountain that caught my eye from a distance.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a volcanic crater covered in moss. From the parking lot, a wooden staircase led up to Grábrók. So I parked Suzi, put on my hiking boots (this time I packed them in a way that I can actually reach them). The stairs and walkways built here are very pleasant to walk on and prevent trampling on everything left and right of the path.

Otherwise, the sign could have been better placed at the parking lot.

We continued towards Reykjavik. Just before Arkanes, the Ring Road runs through a toll tunnel that is six kilometers long and passes under the Havalfjördöur.

About 1.70 euros, can't complain. The detour would have been more expensive.

Meanwhile, I turned onto road number 36, on which you can reach the Þingvellir National Park. The place Þingvellir is of historical importance to Iceland. If you want to know more, I refer you to Wikipedia. What is exciting here, however, are the cracks and rifts in the Earth's crust that have formed and continue to form due to the drifting apart of the American and Eurasian plates.

We continued through the national park. A beautiful stretch, but again, 20 kilometers before my overnight destination, it was treated to water from above. When I arrived at the place, I was able to take advantage of a short rain break to set up my tent. When I arrived at the restaurant of the campsite to register, a young waitress walked past me with a steaming pizza. It was clear that tonight there would be pizza.

Curiously, this place also has showers, but it seems that Icelanders only shower in the evening. Opening hours: 9:00 am - 11:00 pm.

I have now set up everything and am sitting in the restaurant. I just received a message from Jule. In a WhatsApp chat, we checked each other's locations and realized that we are both having fun. By the way, Jule also writes her own blog about her trip. Take a look, her post about the Faroe Islands went online today.

https://Jule-Graefe.de/spielzeitpause-auf-den-Faeroeer-Inseln/

I just devoured a delicious pizza, am writing these lines, and slurping... no, not whisky tonight, but already the second beer... Skál!