A quick check of the bill the morning after revealed the 140 quid that the meal had
cost. Bad, but not as bad as Fludir would have been.
We headed out to explore the peninsula - apparently a meeting place for Aliens (rich
ones, presumably) and full of craters and exciting volcano-related stuff. The guides
said that there was something of a mysterious atmosphere about the peninsula
(mysteries like, where do the restauranteurs hide their giant piles of gold?).
We went to Holahola which was less like Tahiti than it sounded and eventually happened
upon actual towns such as Olafsvik on the northern part of the peninsula which is
a great spot for whale watching. We spent at least 15 minutes looking for whales but
didn't see any. Whales are supposed to be very intelligent so I doubted they would
spend much time hanging around a bay where they would either be a) paraded in front
of idiot tourists such as ourselves or b) be served up as lunch to same idiot tourists
or the locals. Sensible creatures.
The quickest way back to Budir was a 15 km drive over the mountains. The mountain
pass sounded like fun and I realised that actually, we could drive back to Olafsvik
for cheap dinner that evening rather than starve in Budir. So off we went to freshen
up at the hotel.
If the Swiss were building a mountain pass, they'd probably hire a bunch of engineers
and build giant tunnels, bridges and so on and turn the whole thing into a leisurely
affair that you could drive across a la James Bond with a glass of Bollinger in one
hand and a lady in the other. The Icelanders though seemingly just drove a steam roller
across the mountain to make it 'flat enough' to get across.
As we were heading up, the weather began to hit (it changes really fast
- like the Wheel of Fortune gameshow rather than the more historic version) and
although this didn't pose much of a problem getting to Budir, the pass became, well,
impassable shortly afterwards. One of the reasons I know that there are no shops within
a 40km radius of the hotel is because I drove East and West (only available directions)
to that extent to find food supplies. After no luck, I resigned myself to the remaining
chilli cheese dip for dinner (we were out of Doritos). Why are jars of salsa
dips so huge?
But instead, I asked for a sandwich from the hotel. I told them that whilst the food
was sensational, I simply couldn't afford to eat there twice. It was OK, they understood
they said. In fact, it gets mentioned quite a lot. So they resolved to make something
simple for us, we could eat in the bar and watch the weather close in around the mountains.
Great news. Two cheese and ham toasties (and a bit of booze) later and we were feeling
sated and drunk.
30 quid. For 2 rounds of cheese and ham on toast. Add 20 quid for the wine.
The final leg of the journey was back to Reykjavik with a stop at the Blue Lagoon
geothermal spa next to the power station (down the coast past Keflavik). This was
a bit of a treat. Again, because of the off season it was fairly empty, apart from
some local guys and gals who seemed to use the place to go on the pull.
One of my abiding memories of Iceland (unfortunately, I didn't have the camera as
I was in the pool) is that of standing outdoors in naturally heated mineral water,
with a view of a giant industrial powerplant just ahead as an empty plastic pint glass
with the Viking lager logo on it floated past me. That's pretty much Iceland.
After that we handed back the SUV and stuck around in Reykjavik for the next day or
so. Still no puffin, and after a solid search on foot and through the books, couldn't
find a reasonable restaurant that might serve it. We did find a Whaleburger on the
menu of one place. I baulk at eating whale, so that was a non-starter though Lady
H didn't seem too bothered saying: "I'd eat cat if it was on the menu. Just the once,
you know".
Reykjavik by night is much more fun than by day and there isn't really a lot to do.
We went to the fleamarket which was authentic - it sold junk - and I had a hot dog
from the stand reputed to be the best hot dog stand in the world. It was OK, but it
was just a hot dog.
The bars are great though offering a variety of ambience and styles to get drunk in.
So we did that until the flight back home. My favourite part of Iceland from the whole
trip was this statue, found in the middle of a bunch of restaurants in Reykjavik.
Quite right mate, quite right. And no puffin.
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