Not sure how well my plan to avoid the rain worked out when yesterday it lashed to the point where I couldn’t have gotten wetter had I jumped into the sea. After a visit to Viðey I walked around, visited some museums until utterly miserable I squelched back to the campsite.

Viðey Island

Get the ferry from the port east of the town centre. For me this was a short walk from the campsite. It’s 1200kr return and you can also go to the Old Harbour as I did on the return journey. Apparently it’s about the same size as Monaco. There’s a lot of birds here for any enthusiasts but apparently the puffins are elusive. I was asked by several people if I’d seen them. I didn’t even know they were here. The island has been settled since the 10th century and there are some buildings from the last few centuries and a restaurant which was the Treasurer’s residence built in the 18th century, where you can retreat to when you’ve been saturated to the skin after walking through high wet grass in the rain.

Camping in Reykjavik

Reykjavik campsite is by far the largest (and by extension the noisiest) I’ve been to. It’s a bit more expensive (and doesn’t take the Iceland camping card which I think now was a bit of a red herring as I haven’t been able to use it so far) and about 3k to the east of the centre but has free (slow) wifi, charging plugs everywhere and decent shower and laundry facilities. I spent most of the evening in the common area as though the tent is holding up fine it was pretty muddy around it and I didn’t want to be dragging it in and out. I ended up chatting to two lovely French girls about travel, love and life. It’s really cool to meet interesting people with the same philosophy as you but who also open your mind to other possibilities and as one had a similar (and pretty crap) experience as I did over the last year it’s made me question what I do and what I want in life. That day was one of those that when you’re travelling you think “this is shit”. Why am I here? But still, without the rain I wouldn’t have gotten (what I think anyway is) a really gorgeous moody shot of Viðey. I would have met the French girls. I wouldn’t have applied for a job in the campsite. And some days it’s ok to say no I’m not having a good time. You can’t be super ecstatic every minute of every day. Unless you’re a nutter. In which case please stay away from me. I’m Irish, I take great pleasure in being miserable sometimes. And if you were at home you would have ups and downs too. Take a break. Do your laundry! Sit and read and decompress. Tomorrow is a new day.

And that tomorrow turned out to be a heat wave. I walked around town on the hunt for a new filter holder as the glue job just isn’t working and getting progressively grumpier as I was wearing my only dry clothes which were also the hottest. Also the trousers are hanging off me which is a pleasant byproduct of walking so much but it also means I’m buying clothes at Icelandic prices which makes me want to cry.

Heading east to Seyðisfjörður

After packing up I was off to the airport (flying worked out almost the same price as the bus and a lot faster) and caught the Egilsstaðir to Seyðisfjörður bus over the mountains which where covered in fog and still had a lot of snow. The popular tv series Trapped was set here and it was always quite remote until the mountain pass was improved. Enclosed in a small bay by high peaks with trickling waterfalls streaming down this town is so beautiful I’m in love, even on this grey day. The houses are typically Danish in style, it being a Danish trading post and it’s just gorgeous. The campsite office has set opening times and I’m waiting now for it to open. Otherwise it runs on an honesty please-put-the-envelope-under-the-door system. Showers are 100kr a minute so I headed over to the swimming pool which is just 550kr. Once I have my washing done I will have accomplished everything I wanted to today and that’s a victory worth celebrating with a hot meal in the very notiony but delicious Kaffi Lara with a porter that smells of chocolate.