Day 18: Húsavik – Lambeyri Campsite

The Húsavík campsite was pretty packed last night; small camper vans kept squeezing into any available gap throughout the night. You can sense the problems caused by overtourism – something we are admittedly part of. The number of toilets and showers simply can't cope with the rush.

Our strategy to avoid bad weather is taking us further west; today, we’re heading past Akureyri to the area south of Sauðárkrókur and Varmahlíð. Wolle has been here before, and the campsite is nice. It may not have a "view," but it does have communal kitchens, a small hot pool, and a dryer :-) It’s a comfortable place to hang out, and we can cook in the kitchen.

Although a very scenic road over the mountains is now open, after checking the weather maps and following Guðmundur’s recommendation, we’ll likely head west towards Snæfellsnes tomorrow instead. There could still be snow in the mountains, and it’s bitterly cold up there.

We made a stopover at a small museum village: Laufás is mentioned as far back as around 900 AD and served as a parsonage from 1047 to 1938. The turf farm complex was built later but appears to have been a prosperous one. Fascinating stuff – the detour is definitely worth it.

Among other things, we learned that eiderdown is collected from the nests after the chicks have fledged, and that it takes the down from about 60 nests to make a single kilogram.

And one more thing: today is Iceland's National Day.