Hot ice & berries, Iceland

With a cold snap due mid-week, my new French friend Soizic (pronounced swah-zeik) and I ventured out on Tuesday afternoon to collect the last of the summer Blueberries growing on the edge of the Holar Forest. The resulting Jam, which we prepared on Saturday morning, was a welcome and cheap addition to my already very meager winter stores. Even 250g of 'Peter Pan Peanut Butter' runs up about NZ$8 - not to mention the fact that they don't have Marmite or Vegemite.

Icelandic Blueberries ... mmm ...

Hunting and gathering

We couldn't have timed our Blueberry picking excursion better. The snow flakes that began falling as we hurriedly filled our baskets continued until Saturday. I figured that the icy roads would provide the ideal conditions for me to learn how to drive "the other way 'round". Sketchy is all I can say - and that I can't wait for winter proper.

Main street iced up, Saudarkrokur

A typical Icelandic vehicle ...

Having finally made it through the drudgery of the working week, without incident on the road, everyone was eager to enjoy their weekend. Some of us decided to head in to Saudarkrokur to have a few jars and see a punk band/stand-up comedy show (an odd mix, but okay). After a few minutes we decided that perhaps it would have been money better spent if we could have understood anything that they were saying. Judging by the crowd reactions however, they were flippin' hilarious.

After making Blueberry Jam on Saturday morning, Cat, Dan, Soizic and I headed off for a soak in a locally famous 'hot pot' just 20 minutes outside of Saudarkrokur. Siozic's miniature Peugeot/Pocket Rocket is not exactly the ideal winter vehicle here in Iceland, but fortunately the snow had eased up and the gravel road was in pretty good nick. Despite a small problem with grip on an icy uphill section it did surprisingly well, especially considering some of the potholes could have eaten it alive.

Not exactly what you would call the ideal off road winter vehicle ...

The 'hot pot' was beautifully warm (if not a little slimy), but getting changed into your togs was a bit of a nightmare. Can anyone say shrinkage? Despite the outside air temperature only being about 2 degrees, one of the pools was so hot that we had to get out periodically, and Dan and I even braved the iciness of the Greenland Sea to go for a (very) quick dip. The highlight of the trip was definitely the bunch of Swedish girls who turned up for a soak after a hard mornings work in the slaughterhouse packing room. Delicious.

Slow poaching

Dan gettin ' pruned up good

Sunday saw us headed for a supposedly very beautiful waterfall somewhere between Saudarkrokur and Akureyri. Soizic was playing tour guide because she had been on this trip once before. After negotiating a few farmer's fences and finding the correct portion of the old Ring Road, we set off up the canyonous valley of the Valagisa River.

Cat, Dan and Soizic in the (wrong) canyon

It felt very odd not to have my fly rod in hand so close such beautiful water, and I couldn't stop scanning the riverbed for likely shapes. Sadly, a few hundred metres in to the narrow and icicle filled canyon our path was blocked by the (literally) freezing water, and we had to take the much more physically demanding overland route.

Trout about to get frozen in for the winter

Our overland route followed the canyon - up

We walked uphill for a couple of hours, stopping to eat Blueberries and constantly wishing for a sighting of the elusive Arctic Fox. With no waterfall in sight, and only steeper terrain ahead of us, we decided to head back down the valley - and to check out a map when we got home. As it turned out, while we stopped to open a gate on the drive home, Soizic recognised the adjacent valley 2km down the road as the one we should have hiked in to. It was at this point that I introduced everybody in the car to the word 'muppet'.

Looking up the Valagisa River valley towards the non-existent waterfall