A long drive today, we left Breiddalsvik and headed for Djúpivogur, which is meant to be the prettiest town on the Eastern Fjords. While it might not be as attractive as some I’ve seen elsewhere in the world, it certainly had a stunning location, and was well worth the detour.

At the point, the road hugs the coast, so we were in and out of a series of fjords; all of which were spectacular. Several had spits – presumably of glacial deposits, right across their mouths, leading to very calm bays. (Actually, not sure they were all technically ‘fjords’ – as some were very wide.)

We’d seen a few fairly tantalising glimpses of the icecap –Vatnajökull– 3rd largest in the world after Antarctica & Greenland, but as we approached a road tunnel, there was a viewing point just off the road (actually it was the old road, from pre-tunnel days), here we got a fabulous view over Skarðsfjörður (one of the wide bays), towards Vatnajökull – it was stunning.

Then to Höfn for a late lunch, before heading off again. The scenery was changing; raw landscape, clearly in some areas the ice hadn’t long receded (geologically speaking), so the plants were just getting a foothold. Several of the mountains appeared to be nothing but screen. There was a broad, flat plain at the base of the mountains, presumably where the outwash had accumulated. At times, the tongues of ice got quite close to the road, though none as close as Jökulsárlón – where they’re calving into a lagoon, before heading out to see. The tide was high, so they were somewhat trapped in the mouth of the lagoon. Clearly the fishing was good here – lots of sea birds and seals. The colours in the ice were fabulous – one was a phenomenally clear blue,, others whiter – and quite a few grey.

Our hotel tonight was right by another tongue of the glacier, we went for a short walk after we’d arrived, and got good views within minutes.

We’d been so lucky with the weather today, almost wall to wall sunshine. Which, as these altitudes is a lot of sun. OK, so there was a fair bit of wind to accompany it …