There’s a particular sadness that comes with endings. Today we bid adieu to Highland Base, with the knowledge that we should have given ourself more time here – even one more day – so that we might have gotten up-close-and-personal with the Hveradalir geothermal area:
Photo Credit: Highland Base
But beneath that shallow pang is a deeper sadness in the knowledge that our trip itself is drawing to a close, and with it the nearly two-year-long sprint that has taken us from Antarctica to New Zealand, Moorea to the Atacama, Tasmania to Tokyo, and finally from Scotland to Akureyri.
Any consideration of that ending, however, immediately feels me with a profound sense of good fortune at having had the chance to undertake such a trip with our family. Yes, any such undertaking is an act of will – but it is also a unique combination of circumstances that allowed us to have the time, means and capacity to undertake such a venture.
We are so very, very lucky to have been able to take these trips together.
But “lucky” is not the word that comes to mind as I contemplate today’s drive, however – we will more be venturing onto Iceland’s dreaded F Roads, this time for a stretch of some 120 kilometres. While Google Maps suggests that the drive can be done in less than 4 hours, many travel sites recommend leaving at least five and a half hours for the journey.
Did we mention it’s been raining heavily these last few days? And that our plug-in hybrid is not rated for river crossings?
At least we’ve got packing-up down to a science. Better still, my wife has been able to move our less-used items – like parkas and sandals – into our second duffle bag, which means that there’s now two bags that we won’t have to unload when we get to the hotel in Akureyri.
And why Akureyri, you ask? Why would we possibly want to travel 120 kilometres worth of F Roads only to turn around and immediately drive another 5 hours back to Reykyavik?
Good question – and the answer is the Akureyri swimming pool:
That of which legends are made (Photo Credit: sundlaugar.is)
First, you need to understand that Icelandic swimming pools are – by and large – superior to almost any other country’s swimming pools. There are hot pools. There are cools pools. There are saunas. There are steam rooms. And they are all glorious.
Next, you should know that Akureyri possesses the Rolls Royce of Icelandic swimming pools – it has two huge water slides. Multiple swimming pools. Hot tubs with massage jets at different temperatures. You get the idea.
We visited the Akureyri swimming pool during our first trip to Iceland in 2018, and it left a deep mark on our son in particular. So when we asked the kids what they wanted to do in Iceland, a return visit to the Akureyri swimming pool was high on the list.
The adults did not run the driving distances before we agreed. But, you know what? It’s important that there’s something for everyone in our trips. So we’ll take the kids to the Akureyri swimming pool, even if it means we must crawl our Hyundai over 120 kilometres worth of potholes.
(Please – Icelandic god of roadways – don’t make us crawl our Hyundai across 120 kilometres worth of potholes.)
No major surprises on check-out – we’d already paid for our private hike and eBiking, so we only need to pay up for the lunches and dinners we enjoyed while we were here. The eBike refund should come through in the next week or so. Easy-peezy.
We’re off and away – and admittedly, we do not get off to a great start:
There is a lot of water on the roadway, and the constant rain has not improved the pothole situation.
It’s not a river crossing if the water isn’t running, is it?
Thankfully, we soon join the F35 and the road gradually starts to improve:
So does the scenery:
And the amenities:
Picnic, anyone?
The clouds begin to lift, and we get a gorgeous rainbow:
Roughly an hour in, we make a stop at Hveravellir – not to be confused with Hveradalir.
Hveravellir is a geothermal hotspot in the western Highlands, and offers some scenic hiking as well as another opportunity to soak in the hot baths, were we so inclined. We’ll be content with a hot drink and a leg stretch, though.
It’s a brief detour off the main road, but easy enough to find:
There’s a 500 ISK (roughly USD$3.50) charge per person for parking and use of the bathrooms, paths and geothermal pools. We’re hoping we might be able to find a pastry, but their offering lean more towards full meals and large desserts – so we pick up some chocolate bars instead.
We’d initially planned to take the 3.5 km (40 minute) “green” route:
But opt for the boardwalk instead as it offers the best view of the burbling, smoking hot springs:
The rocky hillsides – frosted with green and criss-crossed with sulphuric springs – are also easy on the eyes:
The actual ‘baths’ portion of the hot springs is modest:
But most visitors are there just for a quick hike – and to enjoy the burbling, unreal scenery:
We’re here for perhaps 45 minutes, and then back on the road:
Thankfully, this section of the F35 is dramatically better than the portion inbound from Reykjavik – just the occasional pothole to keep one on their toes:
As well as the occasional wayward sheep
But mostly we’re able to keep a pace of close to 70 km / hour, which means that we stay mostly on track with Google Maps’ seemingly ambitious estimates.
And enjoying some equally ambitious scenery
Another hour-and-change passes, and we emerge onto what appears to be blacktop – but huge sections of it are crumbing.
Frankly, it’s more dangerous to drive than the gravel roads. But eventually we pull onto Highway 1 – the ring road – and once more savour the buttery smooth blacktop.
We make a brief stop at Varmahlíð to pick up gas, and lunch – once more defaulting to greasy road food. But as greasy road food goes, it’s pretty good – and they have milkshakes.
Our Hyundai could use a wash at this stage:
But it’s not getting a reprieve just yet – we still have another 100 km to Akureyri, then a further 430 km back to Keflavik in two days time. Glad we have unlimited mileage on our rental.
We make it to Akureyri sometime around 3:30 pm, roughly five-and-a-half hours after we set out – but that included two stops, so we’ll count ourselves lucky.
We’re staying at the Berjaya Akureyri – a three star hotel with pretensions of adequacy:
I’m being a bit harsh here, as it’s always difficult stepping down from a luxury stay to something less comfortable. We do appreciate the ease of parking and check-in, and the manner in which they both arranged connecting rooms and twin beds for the kids.
However, the beating sun has rendered the rooms absolutely scorching. We crack the windows and hope it will cool off by the time we’re headed to bed. (We are spitting distance to the Arctic Circle after all, so I do understand why they don’t have air conditioning.)
There also isn’t a lot of hotel choice in Akureyri – most of the nicer hotels are located out of town, and can easily run north of CAD$1,000 per night per room. As it stands, these rooms are still running us north of CAD$500 per room per night. (Oof.)
Off to town for a wander, and a bit of shopping:
Just in time for the Regent Seven Seas Voyager to be pulling out of port
The Akureyrarkirkja
Our daughter has a jacket from North 66 that lasted her the past three years, and it’s finally time to upgrade. We find a lovely coat in an Adult XS that’s a bit large for her now, but which she should soon grow into.
We then return to the Akureyri botanical gardens, another of our haunts from our 2018 trip:
There’s a lovely cafe here:
And plenty of spaces to sit and gather:
Plus some beautiful paths and fountains:
We then head to another of the kids’ former haunts – a nearby playground – for a spell:
Passing some street art as we go – knitted garbage can covers:
They were so preoccupied with whether they ‘could’, they never stopped to consider whether they ‘should’… just kidding, these are great
Then back to the hotel and off to the Hotel Berjaya’s Aurora Restaurant for dinner:
My wife has the seafood pasta:
While I get the Arctic char:
But rather than pay CAD$30 per dessert, we elect to head out to Ísgerðin for ice cream.
There’s quite the range of flavours:
The kids each opt for Oreo with cookie dough on top:
We return to the lobby for a post-dinner drink after – at a mere 2500 ISK per cocktail, it has some of the least-expensive drinks we’ve encountered. My wife has a Aperol spritz while I enjoy a pint of Tuborg:
But our big day at the Akureyri swimming pool beckons – so it’s time for bed, in the hopes that the weather won’t once more dampen our ambitions.