TUESDAY, AUG. 24 REYKJAVIK - VIK

Our road trip began in earnest today. We bid a fond farewell to our Reykjavik host, Olafur, and successfully navigated a quick departure from the capital. Under bright sunshine and fresh sea breezes, we refuelled the car and headed south-east on the great Ring Road, the national road of Iceland.

We continued to marvel at the land. Towering green cliffs undulated in the distance. Then, far off to the east, clouds gathered. We drew nearer to the site of the recent volcano at Eyafjellajokull. I wondered if the grey clouds were rain or ash. As we pressed eastwards, the rain fell darkly, and it would not relent throughout the day. But tell-tale signs of the eruption were present. Fields alternated between green scrub-grass and grey ash. Then, the land turned black, literally. We drove over bridges that covered wide, raging torrents of melt-water. The Ring Road had suffered severe wounds in the eruption, and it was under repair and reconstruction as crews struggled to contain and undo what nature had done. It was plain to us that, while Iceland had survived the ordeal, the scars were still visible.

We arrived at Vik in the early afternoon and basically cooled our heels at our guest house. This was our first "sleeping bag" accommodation, designed to save a little money. We remembered to bring our sleeping bags, but not towels or pillows, so a short visit to a local hardware store bought us our first Iceland souvenirs: two small blue towels which, when rolled up around our clothes gave us pillows !

Vik features a wide expanse of beach nestled below dramatic, cloud shrouded cliffs. The most unusual aspect of the beach was the sand: it was jet black. It is obviously the product of volcanic activity, but it was so unusual for us to stand on a beautiful wide beach that was as black as night.

We drove around a promontory to get a better view of formations of sea stacks and were befriended by a border collie we named "Shep". Shep was eager to show us his beach, and, for value added, he scared up a sea lion off the shore which Shep proceeded to chase ( on dry land, of course ) and scold with loud barks. Shep saved the day, for the sea lion disappeared with a flip of its tail, and slipped below the waves. Good doggie !!