46km from the Arctic Circle, 2662km from the North Pole. I can definitely say that I’ve never been this far up before! After our trek adventure, we continued along the ring road to the Vatnajökull National Park, which was about a 4 hour drive from Reykjavik. The weather being pretty terrible with thick fog and rain, we decided to just sleep the night and head straight on the next morning, up to Lake Myvatn which would be another 6 hour drive. The gorgeous landscape made up for the dreary weather and we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the lake area and the situation of our hotel. The kids and Thierry made a beeline for the sauna before a lovely meal with the ground-to-ceiling window lookout onto the lake and the mountains. The next morning we went to explore the surrounding volcanoes, sulphur and mud pots and, of course, the famous Myvatn Nature Bath with 38 degree milky white water.
Up legendary Namafjall 
Bubbling mudpots 
Dabbing over Viti 
Racing past “Hell’s pot” 
Refreshing dip in Myvatn Nature Bath 
All the while the kids have been itching to discover the cabin I’ve been telling them about – all the way up North, past Akureyri (famous for whale watching and its port) on to Olafsfjördur. The coast line is gorgeous, the tunnels somewhat dodgy but we finally reach the tiny village (actually, that’s an overstatement) which is also known as Ol’ Troll’s town. As we roll along our rocky road, we recognise the cabin prettily set amongst the hills, with a beautiful waterfall backdrop. The cabin is naturally heated from the underground water which bubbles up from nearly 1000m below, and which also provides our outside bathtub cum hottub. We take to our new home and our new bathing habits like natural “Islendigars”, in fact, it’s nearly impossible to get the boys out of the water, morning or night.
The next day we book a 100% guaranteed sighting whale watching tour. I fortunately grab just about every layer of clothing I packed (and which I didn’t get to use yet) because the boat tour turned into quite a windblown affair – it was FREEZING!! For two hours, only waves and bigger waves. When the guide started commenting excitedly about puffins we knew that a new level of desperation was reached and that we wouldn’t see any whales. We did see a few dolphins from afar though. Yay!
The next day we decided for a safer animal experience – horse riding. A leisurely little stroll by our cabin along the little river. Everyone had a great time.
Morning gym 
Tomorrow we head off again – and back South. Santa will have to await our next visit.