Iceland & Faroe Islands

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Once we got back to Akureyri and mounted the new tyre, we decided to check out the Flateyjarskagi peninsula. It was an excellent challenge blessed with an equally worthy scenery.

Flateyjardalur is a deserted valley in northern Iceland, on the Flateyjarskagi peninsula. The valley stretches north from the Fnjóskadalur valley all the way north to Skjálfandi bay. Flateyjardalur is named after the island of Flatey, which lies just off the shore. Finnboga saga ramma, one of the Icelandic sagas, takes place in the valley. The last inhabitants left the valley in 1953. The same year a road was built from Fnjóskadalur to Flateyjardalur, connecting the valley to other parts of the region. There are three concrete houses in the valley, built in the late 1920s, which today are only inhabited seasonally, during summer.



Flateyjardalur by tsiklonaut
 
But then we were suddenly stopped by a large river. With the water depth over the balls almost to the tits there was no other way but to turn back.

Back on the main road, we took the F26 to Aldeyjarfoss, The waterfall is situated in the northern part of the Sprengisandur Highland Road. One of the most interesting features of the waterfall is the contrast between the black basalt columns and the white waters of the fall. The river Skjálfandafljót drops here from a height of 20 m. The basalt belongs to a lava field called Frambruni or Suðurárhraun, hraun being the Icelandic designation for lava.


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Loving the description "With the water depth over the balls almost to the tits..."
It looks like the temperature of that water wouldn't have a good effect on either of those parts. The last time I had a good-sized water crossing in Australia the main concern was if there were any crocodiles near. Most of the way down this web-page if you want to have a look.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~fingon/mckinnon/ocr_2014/ocr_2014.html
 
mcfingon said:
Loving the description "With the water depth over the balls almost to the tits..."
It looks like the temperature of that water wouldn't have a good effect on either of those parts. The last time I had a good-sized water crossing in Australia the main concern was if there were any crocodiles near. Most of the way down this web-page if you want to have a look.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~fingon/mckinnon/ocr_2014/ocr_2014.html
Click to expand...

Lol, that's the saying. Icelandic rivers are a different matter - high-speed flows, rocky bottoms and gut freezing temperatures. Actually those river crocs aren't too bad, you got to be real careful about those salt water monsters :). Looks like you had a decent dash there. Loved our Outback adventures back in 2009, we did a longish "S" circle around Oz to explore the coast and the interior with the same GS, came in via Sydney and left to Timor-Leste via Darwin.

Plenty Highway:

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And I vividly remember having a very decent high-speed crash on a completely flooded Great Central Road with rain pouring for days, ironically happened with over 1000 km of muddy dirt covered and no less than 5 kilometers before the tarmac started again:

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Luckily for us only bruises and broken egos, but on bike a broken frame and front-end, took me a week of repairs in Kalgoorlie. But our trusty ol' GS refused to be stopped and carried us on to Asia, Middle-East, Africa till back home Europe. I still ride the same old bike with nearly 300 000 on the clock, it looks like crap and young polished cafe-racer cultured or brand-new GS hipsters have a good laugh on it but it just keeps going strong on exploring new places in those remote corners of Earth :)


Cheers,
Margus
 
Nearby, we paid a visit to Goðafoss (Icelandic: waterfall of the gods or waterfall of the goði), one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 meters over a width of 30 meters. Spot the people up there to scale things up:



The Fall by tsiklonaut
 
The little woman and I are driving across in October, in one of their "Happy Campers." She's obsessed with Sigor Ros and Iceland.

Driving across on your own iron, though ... that is something else. Even when I ride my little Vespa in another town, I feel totally out of myself. Your trip must have been transcendent to say the least, even among all your other exploits.

Thank you, I'll be coming back to this for sure!
 
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