After buying a new goretex shell, and having a night back in town, and a nice dinner, it was time to head out again. Destination Hveravellir. I had on my plans an idea of visiting all the places in iceland that start with "Reyk*" meaning smokey, but the day before I'd driven past one that was just a farm, it probably had some hot water somewhere, but not enough to swim in. This morning I drove down the road to another two of them, and found the hot water, but again, not really a swimming hole. The farm houses were just ordinary farm houses too, so I pretty much decided taht this was in general a waste of time. On to hveravellir.
Burning up the road past Gullfoss I was impressed at the quality of the road. I'd remembered the bitumen starting at Gullfoss, but I drove for a good few km before I hit the dirt.
And hitting the dirt it was. This was not fun driving. It was late season to be sure, and the road does get rebuilt every spring, so it was wearing out, but this was rough driving. Rain, fog, and heavily corrugated dirt. On top of this, the new wiper blades I'd bought really didn't seem to be working. It seems there's something stuck to my windscreen. 15-20km/hr, for a good 45km. Not fun. Later in the afternoon, the sky cleared up a bit, which was nice, but the road quality certainly didn't improve.
The fog did lend a feeling of desolation and wilderness though. Occasionally things would swirl in and out of the fog, and later, after the fog lifted, the clouds and patches of light made for some beautifully lit hills.
Arriving at Hveravellir eventually, I set up camp on one of the few smoothish bits of ground. Hveravellir really doesn't actually have a lot going for it. It's a petrol station for people exploring the highlands, and it has a small shop, cabins, and a hot spring. You can do some long walks from the area, but there's not a lot for short walks. Oh, and it was overrun with germans. Bring on winter, when we get the country back.
I did a short walk up around the hot springs and back down the other side, and then had a swim, had some dinner, and went to bed.
