We both woke early again. The endless sunshine here makes sleeping slightly challenging at times. It does get dark, although only for a few hours in the middle of the night, and by 6 in the morning the sun is already high in the sky and shining VERY brightly. We’d saved the sleeping masks from the plane flight and they are coming in handy.

We set off around 9am, and continued along route 261. Soon after, we came across a gorgeous waterfall really close to the road (this once called Gluggafoss).

Matt couldn’t resist attempting to take a quick dip, which was quickly cut short in response to the near freezing temperature of the water (it’s pretty much just slightly melted snow).

We popped out onto the ring road at around midday, grateful that the swathes of traffic we passed exiting out of Reykjavik seemed to have dispersed somewhat by the time we joined the highway further south.

Travelling along this section of the ring road (towards Skogarfoss) was absolutely stunning. We passed snow covered peaks, and huge waterfalls, all while having the ocean a stones through away on our right. We also had perfect cycling weather. The sun was shining, and the air was cool with only a light breeze. Not bad for what is supposed to a fairly wet part of Iceland (the town we’re heading to tomorrow takes the prize for the rainiest town). The map we have had also marked that section as being prone to dangerous winds, which were no where to be seen.

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To cap out the day, we took a side trip to Seljavallalaug, a hot thermal pool constructed in 1923. Hot water was running straight out of the mountain into the pool, right next door to a gushing glacial melt stream. A beer and chips after the swim made the day just about perfect.

We made camp that night at Skogafoss, having travelled around 65km for the day. Another great waterfall, but a few too many campers packed in for our tastes. Oh well – guess you can’t win them all.