Day 33

I woke up in my tent to a bright and dry morning. The wind was making its presence known, which was expecting this today.

By the time I got out of my tent the second time, the clouds were grey and it felt like it might rain soon, so I quickly packed everything up. So much for my relaxed start to the day!

Back on the ring road, (1) and just kept heading north.

Found this place along the ring road.

The next, very clear thing to see was the glaciers, a magnificent sight of nature.

Then I discovered another place with icebergs floating in the water. So, had to take a closer look. Especially as this place did not charge to park, unlike the Glacial Lagoon, and as it turns out, these are almost next do to each other. I guess the icebergs here go into the lagoon.

I wasn’t going to stop at Glacial Lagoon, but as I crossed the bridge it looked remarkably different to last week, so I thought I would check it out.

As I walked down, I could see a collection of icebergs where the lagoon joins the river that flows out to sea. The icebergs took up the whole width causing a jam, yet fast flowing water was still coming through.

I asked a ranger if this normally happens, and she replied yes. It normally takes a week for the big icebergs to go through to the sea, and then more to break off and replace them. Sometimes, with strong winds, they can be blown back and forth in the lagoon area.

She also said that they built a dam to stop the big ones going through to soon and damaging the bridge.

All very fascinating, but that is a lot of ice disappearing every week.

I then stopped to see the Viking Village. This was actually built as a film set for a movie that was never shot.

It was OK, but nothing spectacular, and is a bit dilapidated now.

I made a mess of fuel and food stops today and it was not until I nearly got to the campsite that I realised it was going to be tight, so had to double back quite a way as it was best go do this today and be ready for tomorrow, rather than have the problem in the morning. I also hadn’t eaten, so went to find food after I got fuel.

Tonight’s campsite is a little different, in that I will be staying in one of their tents. I must admit, when I booked a spot, I didn’t realise there was an option to use your own tent, however when I got there, clearly some people were. Anyway, I was half expecting rain in the morning, so it would save me the bother of packing up a wet tent and it sitting in my luggage for several days.

To be honest, I preferred my own tent and this one was a bit tired looking. It also had a blacked-out interior, which I get with 24 hours of daylight, but it means you can’t sit inside the tent and read without a torch.

Oh well, I’ll just listen to my music and fall asleep!