So.....we were in the room getting ready to leave after breakfast when there was a knock at the door - the travel agent in the UK wanting to speak to us about our 45 minute flight from Akureyri back down to Reykjavik. We called them and they told us to call the airline in Akureyri - they wanted everyone on earlier flights as there was a really bad storm forecast (Yellow Warning) - ours was 4.15pm take-off - but they only had two seats left so we were left with Hobsob's choice - i.e. we had to drive back to Reykjavik- a 400km / 6 hour drive - so we set off!

Mary-Ann drove first, and we set off! The first leg was Myvatn to Akureyri, and it was pretty straightforward, no wind, roads almost totally clear of snow, but was a lovely route - through the mountains, snow everywhere, that black ribbon of tarmac snaking through the white, first uphill which felt quite steep, then the longer less severe descent down to Akureyri. We spoke to the travel agents in the UK again and although she said she was "very concerned" about the weather we were set to go and as we are both pretty confident drivers we decided to press on. We always had the option to stop off en route if the weather got too bad. Next leg was Akureyri to Varmahlid and things were fine here too - the scenery was stunning still, lovely dramatic views, and clear roads.

We stopped off briefly to buy and eat lunch at the garage by the hotel in Varmahlid - the others ate there but I had a sandwich while I drove. We'd made good time til then so were hopeful it would be ok and we would be clear before the storm arrived. We'd been told it would get really lively round about Borgarnes and we were on track time-wise! The sky was overcast, but for a long while there was no real wind or problems. While we were driving down a particularly open stretch however, before getting down as far as Borgarnes, the wind really started to pick up. It didn't feel dangerous, but there were times, especially when crossing paths with other vehicles, particularly the large lorries, that it did feel alarming. This was even more so when the lorries' wakes covered our windscreen in dirty surface spray! We made good time however, and got to the hotel around 5 - it was very windy and rainy when we got there and we were all glad of a lie-down and a shower before we ate. We found a Mexican place in our coupon book about half a mile from the hotel - looked good food and offered 15% discount. Food was tasty and plentiful and the coupon would have saved us 15% if we'd remembered it about 3 minutes earlier - instead of when we drove away - never mind, lol!