White Landscapes and Blue Pools

Iceland Roadtrip Part 3: Seydisfjordur to Akureyri

Seemingly endless expanses of white dotted with black outcrops lined the road as we cut through the interior from the east coast and headed north to Mývatn. The snowy landscape suddenly gave way to smoking mountains, bubbling mud pits and steaming sulphuric vents as we entered Iceland’s most geothermally active area surrounding Mývatn Lake. We took a dip in the nearby azur-coloured hot pools (which are far less crowded than their counterpart in Reykjavik) before continuing along the coast to the quaint sea side town of Húsavík.

When we heard that a blue whale had recently been spotted we decided to go whale-watching in Húsavík in the hope to spot the largest mammal on earth ourselves. There were no blue whales that day, but we did see some beautiful humpback whales, a lot of puffins, and admired the spectacular views of the surrounding snow-covered peaks from the water.

From Húsavík we headed to the city Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest urban centre. This marked the end of Lara’s trip with us so we celebrated her last night by going out for some delicious sushi. From here on, it would just be Kristen and I and western Iceland.