Iceland, Day 3: Húsavík

Click here for A Peek at Humpback Whales and other Flora and Fauna of Iceland (slideshow)

Prior to our arrival in Iceland, a massive winter storm (that's right ... a winter storm at the cusp of summer) had made the roads impassible in North Iceland.  Many sights and attractions remained closed and multiple vehicles (including a camper van very similar to our own) remained overturned by the side of the Ring Road. While on land, the storm had vanished by the time we arrived, the open seas were a different story.  Fortunately, Gentle Giants Whale Watching gave us ample opportunity to reschedule our previously scheduled, morning whale watching tour.  After the marine conditions weather forecast for the morning made me seasick just reading about what was going on in the open sea, we were both very agreeable to postponing the three hour whale watching tour to the afternoon.  After all, we reasoned that it was Gilligan and his friends who went amiss after a three hour tour and I certainly wouldn't survive a day on a desert island in the Icelandic North.  

On the tour, we were given a rugged, waterproof onesie to keep us warm on the boat. While I would like to say that the boat cruised amid calm, soothing waters and I remained warm and cozy in my onesie (layered over a sweater and a heavy parka), I would be lying. While stumbling around on the boat as it slammed to and fro into this or that wave and being greeted by walls of spray on a regular basis, I had a very memorable time that understandably involved few level photographs and even fewer photos of the multiple humpback whales we were so blessed to see amidst the turbulent conditions. I will forgo a description of the seasick passengers although I did discover what our guide's advice to "feed the fish, not the boat" meant.   

After warming back up thanks to a very generous heater in the camper van, we set out to Myvatn Lake which hosted a field of pseudo-craters.  The pseudo-craters were formed when hot lava flowed over wetlands, boiling the water underneath and causing explosions that henceforth became craters.   They were quite a sight, even in overcast conditions.

Distracted by the "pseudo craters" at Myvatn Lake, it was getting quite late before we became equally quite as serious about finding a place to stay for the night.  As we searched, we soon discovered that the first two weeks of June were not yet tourist season and many campsites were still closed, so it was much much later into the evening when we landed at the adorable Möðrudalur Campsite, several miles along a rather bumpy unpaved road, and seemingly squarely located in the middle of nowhere. Whether in nowhere or somewhere didn't matter at that point and we settled in for a snowy night (yes, that's right -- snow).