Day 3

It is a five hour drive to the airport but I want to detour to a waterfall called Seljalandfoss, which has very good reviews. I won't be ticking off any of the so called Golden Circle attractions but I feel should see something other than Grimsey before heading home. Seljalandfoss has the bonus of being able to walk behind and, technically, underneath. I realise that this will give me another item on the 60B460 list. I still plan to actually get under Aber Falls one weekend at home but this will do for starters.

I am awake and out of bed .5 minutes before my alarm. I pack and ready myself for the journey and am in the car by 07:00. I am then out of the car 5 minutes later to top up the fuel tank for the journey and my first exposure to the expense of fuel on the island - almost £2 a litre. I put the thought of having to fill the tank completely before handing over the car at the airport. The potential cost of that is too much for my Scrooge-like money brain to deal with!

A 6hr plus drive on largely deserted roads has the potential to be extremely boring. Not in Iceland. The scenery is stunning the whole way and the hours fly by. I arrive at the falls without having made a single pit stop. 

Well, maybe one stop

OK, two then.

The car park is very busy but is set up perfectly for the amount of visitors. It is very clean, well marked, reasonably good value and practically right next to the falls. There is a food truck, a nice gift shop and toilets, again all very clean and tidy. Bonus on top of all that is that the sun is shining; I haven't seen too much of that over the last couple of days.

Falls and car park visible from a way off

I take a few standard photos of the falls which, although not a great height, are a wonderful sight. I make my way along the path behind the falls and notice that everyone is either wearing ponchos or Gore-Tex!! I am suddenly feeling exposed in a jersey, gilet and lightweight trousers. I'm not turning back though so I decide to go head down and tough it out; I'll dry quickly enough in the sun on the other side. Stood behind the falls, taking photos and videos, I wonder what all the fuss is about. Sure there is a bit of spray but no one is getting deluged. No one is ducking under the falls either. This is actively discouraged plus the water is icy cold! As I stroll to the exit path, I realise why ponchos / waterproofs are a good idea as there is a mini water fall right over the path. Again I am not losing face by turning back so I go head down and straight through. I turns out not to be that bad and I emerge mildly damp, as opposed to downright sodden.

Selected images of Seljalandfoss...

...and a video

Behind the Waterfall

I spend another 20 minute or so strolling the surrounding footpaths, airing myself in the pleasant sunshine. It is then time to get the car back to the rental place and find my lodgings for the night. This is a place where you could spend a pleasant half a day with a family picnic and exploring the surrounding area but I have neither a family, picnic or time, so it is back in the old Sandero and the final driving leg of my trip. My belly reminds me that I have not eaten since breakfast so I decide to pop into Bjork's, which I had seen on the way to the falls. I very much doubt it's her place or, if it is, whether she'll be behind the counter, but it's a good photo opportunity. In line with the frugal nature of the trip, I decide against paying £15 for a bowl of soup!! 

She wasn't home

There is no selection of sandwiches in the attached shop so I decide to go for plan B and good old KFC, which I also spotted on the way out. Unsurprisingly, 11 herbs and spices are also way more than in the UK. But I know what I'm getting plus you now get unlimited refills of Sprite so that is good. More surprisingly is the fact that the new style fries have not yet made it this far north so it's plain ones for this meal. They're still better than McFries though. With my belly now happy and my legs stretched I get back on the road.

Old style fries, but my belly is grateful

Last stop before handing over the car is to fill up. I have seen a few filling stations by the name of AO, declaring that they sell very cheap (comparatively) fuel. There is one such establishment close to the airport so I drive past the slightly closer station and fill up at AO. It is only when I have a full tank that I realise AO are actually about ISK20 a litre more than the place I passed!! OK, it's only 12p but I feel somewhat cheated!! What's done is done but that doesn't stop me chuntering all the way to the Sixt depot!

The handover of the car is quick and painless. I simply register the car registration on a QR code and dump the keys in a box. The car is filthy after the off road visit to Kolugljúfur on Thursday but I am confident that there has been no damage. I will find out in a few days of they have found anything under the muck when I get my deposit back (or not!)

I have enquired about taxis and have had estimates ranging from ISK4000 (approx 24) right up to £107 (including genius discount) from Booking.com. Bear in mind, this is a 5km journey estimated at 7 minutes on Google Maps. Again I am in Scrooge mode so decide to walk!! I have done a map recce and made mental notes on some of that route as I have driven past it and am more than happy to stroll for about an hour. The sun is still out and the air is still so it's one foot in front of the other and off I go, again making mental notes of landmarks and street names for the return journey in the morning.

I arrive at where Google says the guest house is but there is no sign of it. Rather worryingly, the property where I think it should be seems to be surrounded by East European types messing with cars. This surely can't be it?? I'm not a judgemental person by nature but I am starting to be a little concerned whether I'll make it through the night. An enquiry at the mini mart on the street corner doesn't yield any more information so I ultimately call the proprietor's number. The guy describes the appearance of the property to me and I find I'm stood right in front of it!! I thank him for the information and make my way in. There is no real welcoming portal and only a very small sign on the door when I get closer. I politely knock and enter and an Oriental lady appears from another room. "You Danny?" she asks excitedly, "That's me" replies I. She shows me up to my room and, to be fair, the internal set up is clean and bright throughout and my room is very comfortable. There is TV, fridge, microwave alongside the bed and storage. There is a shared bathroom but, again, that is very clean and, as there only appears to be 4 rooms, I'm confident that it won't be overused. I also remind myself that this has cost almost £100 less than the place I originally booked. That will mostly cover the cost of the fuel so I'm fairly happy.

I feel I should go out and find somewhere to eat but I'm really not that hungry. I'm still fairly satisfied from the Colonel's offerings so decide to stay in, have my last 2 Viking beers, finish reading my book and type up my notes from yesterday. This occupies me until around 22:00, after which I decide to turn in. There's another early morning ahead including another taxi avoiding walk to the airport.