Lovely hotel last night in Husafell, only 2 years old and in a beautiful location. From what we see Iceland doing its best to gear up for tourists. The roads are great and facilities are modern, very expensive though!
Today we are traveling from Borgarfjördur to Blönduós to Varmahild to Akureyri.
First up, when we actually get on the correct road is a climb to the top of Grábrók Crater about 3000+ steps for magnificent views. All around is lava fields of scoria covered in moss and heather, green farmland and rugged mountains.
Coffee stop at Stadarskáli then continue along the bay of Húnaflói driving through beautiful green farm land where sheep and horses are grazing and surrounded by snow capped mountains. The farmers are busy cutting, taking, baling and wrapping their hay ready for the winter.
A little detour off the main road and we get to Kolugljúfur Canyon, well worth the detour, beautiful waterfalls in a rugged crevasse.
Back on track we have no points of interest to stop at but it's a beautiful drive. Another novel that I have read is Burial Rites by Australian author Hannah Kent. It's about Agnes Magnúsdóttir who was accused of murder and beheaded on 12th January 1830. Hers was the last public execution in Iceland and her head was put on a spike but then it disappeared shortly after. Today we have been driving through the region where her tragic story was played out in the early 1800s and past the town of Tjörn where she is buried.
Lunch today is at a scenic lookout near the Skagafjördur Fjord which stretches from the Arctic Ocean into the highlands. We bought some rolls at an earlier stop, some salt and vinegar chips and yesterday we bought some tomatoes grown organically in a geothermal hothouse! An epicureans delight!
This area is the hub for river rafting as there are several large glacial rivers originating from the highlands.
It's also steeped in history for its role in the events of the 13th century civil war and the cultural changes in the centuries since.
We visit Glaumbær which is an old Icelandic farm made up of separate turf buildings united by a central passageway.
This type of turf construction of turf and driftwood was used in Iceland up until 1910 - 1930.
From here we head to Akureyri where we will stay tonight. We need to go via the airport as our GPS has decided to take a permanent rest and being in a country where you can't recognize any road signs we need to get it replaced!
Ok that job done now to check into our hotel which is on Akureyri Old Town. We have a room with a view of the water through the trees which is lovely. It's happy hour so time for a beer and wine then a walk through the streets til we find the R5 Beer Bar which looks interesting. While ordering at the bar with the very knowledgeable barman a guy strikes up conversation. Turns out he built the bar from timber which came from a family property in Eastern Russia ( no trees in Iceland!). We have a very interesting conversation about all kinds of issues until one of his friends arrived and we move to a table. They invite us to join them but after a photo and a bit more chat we finish our drinks and move onto dinner. Another great day.

KEA Hotel Akureyi Old Town