Iceland - Hvammstangi to Western Iceland

We woke up after a very cold and windy night. One of the problems with 24-hour daylight is that you don't know if you've woken up too early, so I woke up a few times thinking it was daytime, but it wasn't even 5am yet.

We ate breakfast in the campground's common room, and talked a bit to an Australian lady. When we first sat down she was in the corner talking on her phone, and she later told us that she'd been trying to organise contracts for a new business she was working on. Not a great way to spend your holiday!

The campground didn't have any showers, so we called in at the Hvammstangi swimming pool. There are community swimming pools absolutely everywhere in Iceland, and they all have showers. There's strict etiquette that dictates that everyone must undress fully and clean themselves in the showers before going in the pool, which helps keep the pools and hot tubs nice and clean! Because they're everywhere, the pools are common places for travelers to stop and take a shower, so they have a discount rate if you don't plan to go swimming.

Before leaving the small town we called in at the KIDKA wool factory. We walked around their store area looking at the interesting patterns for a while, before being invited on a tour around the factory! We were shown machines where the wool is washed, brushed, and steamed to get it ready for knitting. They have big computer controlled knitting robots which churn out bolts of fabric with intricate patterns. From there it's steamed and pressed, and then cut and sewn into various garments.

The tour was very casual, it was just us two being shown around by a girl who'd been working at the counter. We just walked through the factory between active machinery and people working, which was a very different experience to other industrial tours we'd been on.

After an hour or so on the road we stopped at Grábrók Crater, an old volcano (about 3400 years old). We hiked up a long steep staircase to the crater rim, where we got a good view both down into the crater and out across Western Borgarfjörður. At the very top it was so windy that I had trouble breathing!

Our major point of interest for the day was a tour of The Cave, a massive lava tube in a 1000 year old lava field. The cave is actually called Víðgelmir, and is the largest cave in Iceland. Lava tubes form when a lava flow develops a crust, and then eventually drains, leaving the empty tube. Our guide likened lava tubes to arteries, which are fed from the heart (the eruption), and branch more and more as they get closer to the extremities.

The lava field, Hallmundarhraun, is named after the troll Hallmundur who lived in a cave nearby. Because of the fear of trolls, this cave hadn't been explored by people until the 1900s. Luckily, this meant that protections for the caves extremely delicate natural features could be put in place before they could be damaged by inquisitive humans.

Even though many of the formations in the cave looked similar to what you'd find in a sedimentary rock cave, everything was actually made from lava, all within a very short time frame when the cave was formed. We saw some incredible lava straws, which are like stalactites, made by lava dripping down from the roof. Unlike regular stalactites though, these are formed from the inside out (similar to the cave we were in), resulting in a super fragile hollow straw-like structure.

It got very cold in the cave, as we walked the 600m of pathway. Near the entrance was saw ice stalagmites, formed from water making its way through cracks in the cave roof. Apparently in winter, given the right conditions, these stalagmites can get over 2m tall!

The final natural wonder of the day was Hraunfossar, a series of waterfalls that emerge into the Hvítá river gorge from within and underneath the Hallmundarhraun lava field. It was pretty amazing seeing all this water seemingly appearing out of nowhere on the side of a cliff! We were both pretty tired and exhausted by this stage, and didn't stay here long.

Our campsite for the night was again chosen from Google Maps. It was on a farm, and we were initially pretty confused about where we were meant to go. We first drove down to the end of a long driveway, following some handwritten signs, and passed what looked to be a pretty permanent community of caravans. We eventually got a large field, with one tent in it, and some toilets. After wandering around down there for a little bit, we decided to head back up the driveway to see if there was somewhere more official looking.

At the top of the drive we found another turnoff, which again led to a field, but this time with more tents, caravans, and a large common room with a kitchen. We parked up and went inside, and few minutes later a young girl ran across from a nearby house and introduced herself. She told us that we were welcome to use the fridge, the kitchen and any of the food on the shelves. She also explained that there were showers available, but that they were down the drive in a "guest house", and while it might look like someone was living there it was just her cousin, and we were free to use the shower.