Day 18

Thursday 18th July

 

I crawl out of my pit at 10:00; it’s dull and overcast again. My leg seems a little better; I’m not limping anymore. 

Richard and Martin leave heading towards Akureyri, I give them a wave. This is the last time I see them. 

After breakfast I do some more washing and listen to the radio. Bored with this I then buy a lot of postcards and spend some time talking to the girl in the shop who try’s to persuade me to go on a coach trip while I’m resting my leg 

I write some postcards then stroll up to the local pool for a swim and soak in the outdoor hot tub, hoping that this will ease my leg. 

Afterwards as the weather improves I go for a walk around Myvatn, I follow a long fissure with several ladders leading down to hot springs at the bottom. I don’t go down. The track leads between twisted blocks of lava with the crater Hverfell on the horizon. This is a tephra ring, an almost perfect cone shape with a crater at the apex made up of ejecta from an eruption. 

Someone else is following the same route as me. RonHill Tracksters, an ME Ultrafleece jacket, sandals and a CCS camera case. Exactly what I’m wearing! It’s a good thing we aren’t at a party! 

I wander back to the campsite and cook pasta with bacon, egg and mushrooms then give the bike a check and oil the chain. 

A final walk to the top of the hill next to the campsite and then its bedtime.

Iceland 2002    Day 17    Day 19