Today started off with a trip to a Bird Museum at Myvatn with the algae balls! (these flora live in the ocean and form green balls) From the bird museum we started our 2-3 hour scavenger hunt which took us all around the lake. We started with the Church that had "split" the lava - flowed on either side, but didn't hurt the church! WE also had to identify 5 bird species from around the lake, and we stopped at the tourist centre to ask the guide for help - he identified a bird who's picture we'd already taken, then we ran off o take our "on an island" photo and got he remaining 4 bird photos to identify before heading off to get lava cooked bread (they make let the dough cook in cooling lava!). Our last two stops were a peninsula with magnificent lava arches/columns, and finally a lava field that cooled in the forms resembling man-made castles and are the rumoured homes of trolls.
Before heading for Akureyri, we stopped at a geothermal hot spring hidden within the lava field. The first pool was too hot at over 40C, but the second cave we stopped at was amazing! After scaling the rocks down to the entrance (because the stairs were burried in snow), stripping down to our bathing suits and finally climbing down a rather precarious ladder, we found ourselves in a pool light only by the light peaking through the rocks above our heads. It was unreal how beautiful the area was, and I was smart enough to grab my mask and snorkel (part of which fell off into the black depths of the cave ): so I could dive and explore the caves at will. I really wish I'd had a good waterprooof flashlight though! That would have made exploration far less scary... (I don't particularly like dark, unclear water...) Still, it was unbelievably clear, and though not warm, was a good temperature for swimming despite the cold temperatures (and snow!) outside. The walls were fun to climb and jump off of!
The drive to Aukureyri was peppered with stops as usual (so as not to drive us all crazy - pun intended), and we arrived not too late in the afternoon I had a burger from the restaurant in our backpackers - it was delicious! Avocado salsa! (it was nice to get some veggis! - haven't had many this trip...) Emily, Sharon and I asked about stuff to do in town the next day (our first and only free day!). Horseback ridding, whitewater rafting, and ATVing came out as options but the guy behind the desk ended up "deciding" for us that rafting would be the best. The price made us run around for awhile trying to get others to join our 5 person group to make 8 or a discount, but we weren't successful. The night was topped off by a lengthy party session (one of few so far - I definitely expected this to be a much more party trip than it has been, apparently we're lagging pretty far behind last year's standard! - we found this out after the midterm in Hofn). Leslie and I were out until 315! (She has a picture of us at the church on the hill with the clock behind us showing this!) We ran into Gabi, Stacie and Riley when we arrived back at the hostel - I sat down for a chat with Riley, then tried to get him to come sleep on the etra bed in our room because he was locked out of his! He ends up up sleeping on the couch in our hallway. I went to bed for a couple hours sleep before 730 departure for rafting!
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