9-Sept-2012 (Sunday)

Before breaking camp we had to get up to Svartifoss and Hundefoss and some other fosses (waterfalls). The most spectacular of those is Swartifoss, it is surrounded by basalt columns, see picture. This was an about 2 hour walk.
We are on our way to Höfn and on the way we stopped at the glacier lake Jökulsárlóg. Here the glacier Breiðamerkurjökull breaks off into the lake, a wunderfull sight with all the lumps of ice floating in the water. We had a longer stop in order to take a boat ride on the lake. Before we took off we were clothed into a full survival suit, in case we fall into the water. The boat of only 4 passengers took us over to the ice edge, but maintaining a safety distance in case of a break off which would capsize our little inflatable. And we did see a junk of ice falling in.

For Höfn we decided to rather stay in the hostel. The guy from the boat ride had told us about bad weather coming in, with stormy winds and rain, and he even phoned ahead to secure us accomodation. As it turned out this was a good decision.

10-Sept-2012 (Monday)

Today was decision day, do we push on or do we go back the way we came. Three factors caused us to decide on the return trip:
i) we have only done a third of the distance and used half the time available. To complete the round tour we would have to do it in a hurry.
ii) snow is predicted for the northern parts of the island.
iii) talking to some fellow travelers, there appears to be a problem with accommodation at Myvatn.
And because the weather was so miserable, high wind and cold, we decided to spend the day and the night in Höfn. Jörg still insisted that we do a walk down to the harbour. It was difficult to walk and push against the wind, one had to be careful not to loose balance. We walked up to some monument out toward the sea, no idea what it was all about. On the way back a local took pity on us and offered a lift back to the harbour, only I accepted and waited for Jörg in the wind shadow of a building. The driver turned out to be a local policeman, off duty.
Because it was so unpleasant outside Jörg invited me for lunch at one of the local restaurants. I think it was one of the more cheaper ones in town, we still paid about R150 for a hamburger and chips.
After lunch we thought we do the museums and found the stone museum and the boat museum both closed. So we gave up and went back to the hostel for a cup of cheaper coffee and some relaxing.

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