The area where we camped last night was called Kjarnaskógur and the campsite was called Hamnar which I have learned means cliff.  

After a quick breakfast we headed to Akureyri to look around the town.  We went to the tourist center to get information about the next few days.  Elaine bought post cards and I tried on felt slippers.  Then we walked around town.  Because it is Iceland National Independence day we were lucky enough to hear these two women practicing as they set up their sound system. Their names are Lára Sóley who is playing the fiddle and Þórihildur Örvarsdottir.  Their voices were so lovely

 

Icelandic National Day (Icelandic: Þjóðhátíðardagurinn, the day of the nation’s celebration) is an annual holiday in Iceland which commemorates the foundation of The Republic of Iceland on 17 June 1944 and its independence from Danish rule.

We walked around town a bit and saw these fun troll sculptures.

I had my first Icelandic ice-cream cone.

It was fun to be in town for a bit and to watch people.   We would have stayed for the holiday celebrations, but we had to be on our way.

Here is a scene on our way.

On our way to Húsavik we took a side road to see Goðafoss. It is considered one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland. It is located in the Bárðardalur district of North-Central Iceland at the beginning of the Sprengisandur highland road.

I also took this short video of the falls. even through I spelled the name wrong in the video.

Then I really liked Húsavík.  It is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,182 inhabitants.

The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907.

The door handles on the church were cool.

We walked through the town to see the wonderful houses above the harbour. Húsavík is a great town.

Several of the houses have names on them but they don’t have to do with the person who owned them.

Before we left Húsavík we shared a plate of fish and chips.  It was delicious.

Loved the rainbow on the way to Mývatn.

 

 

We stopped to see a couple of sheep on the side of the road.

The midges were everywhere.  Even though they do not bite, it freaked me out.  Time for a hotel room.  I just could not imagine being in the campground.  So we drove to the Hótel Reynihlíð and I ran in to see if they have a room.  He said he had one room but it only had a queen size bed.  I was laughing since we have been sleeping in the van.  He said he would only charge of for one person (220 eu) because of only having the one bed.  The place was great.

We unpacked, did some clothes washing, and headed for the Mývatn Nature Baths at about 10:00 pm.  The cost was 43 isk to get in but they gave us the senior rate of 27 isk.  What an incredibly beautiful place.  The setting is so natural.  The bottom of the pools was sand.  I didn’t take any photos because I was afraid about steaming up my camera.  Two young women from Malaysia took photos of Elaine’s and me with their GoPro and said they would send them to me.  The whole experience was so relaxing.

On the way out of the Nature Baths we saw a group of young women doing the Hokey Pokey.  They were part of the “Walk the Walk” which is a charity event for breast cancer.

 

I stayed up until 3:00 am doing the post from the 16th and then tried the dry sauna that was close to our room. You could pour water on the coals and I loved it. I was too tired to try the Infra Red Sauna.  Absolutely great decision to stay in the hotel for one night.