Four hours in the car. One road. Absolutely no doubt of our destination. Plenty of fuel and water. Sunshine and relatively clear skies. And virtually no chance of getting lost. If these are the ingredients of a perfect driving day, then today was our day.
We set off from Vik fairly early. As we motored east, we encountered a constantly changing landscape. Ocean vistas gave way to lava fields, which looked like a giant had laid down black sacks of flour one on top of the other and covered them with green moss, springy underfoot. Lava fields gave way to high, green cliffs reminiscent of the Scottish highlands. Cliffs gave way to mesas and mountains, green and sheep covered. Mountains gave way to glaciers. Myrdalsjokull was a giant dome of ice covering, ominously, Katla, larger sister volcano of Eyafjellajokull, and about ten years overdue to erupt again. Katla is also home of a mischievous witch, who consorted with trolls and men and corrupted all of them.
But when we headed east from Myrdalsjokull, we beheld the behemoth known as Vatnajokull, Europe's largest glacier. What a giant this one is !! We marvelled at the masses of ice to our left, sweeping down into black sandy flood plains to our right sweeping out to sea. Some vistas were green and bursting with life, others were stark, black and barren as a moonscape. Indeed, we felt that we had done some interplanetary travel this day.
Despite the variety, our road ran straight and easy for much of today's route. As a result, the driving was luxurious, with few challenges. Our Suburu ate up the miles easily and comfortably, but fuel was an issue. We need to learn how to use the Icelandic language pumps correctly and avoid waiting to the next sizeable town before re-fuelling. Tomorrow's run takes us a bit further east, then more northerly, through fjord and lake country. Apparently, we might encounter a lake monster on our route.
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