So the time for us to leave Akureyri came and we rose early for us to go to the bakery which is about the only shop to open early in town. The Bonus supermarket for example doesn't open till 11 am. We bought rolls for the day and fortified ourselves with a breakfast of vegan chorizo sausages, which weren't that bad.

Our flat is above an icecream parlour which we never managed to visit as we got home late every night. One of the drinks there had a highly unfortunate name.

Check out was 11 and we headed back along the ringroad towars Reykjavik. This time we had more time to stop and look at things. The road follows rivers and occasionally rises to get to the next fjord. In general it's gentle hills with the odd waterfall or stream falling downwards.

On the way we stopped for lunch at a picnic site at Vatnsdalsholar, a valley bottom covered with conical bumps that are the remains of a landslip a long time ago. Spread over four square kilometeres, the hillocks are so numerous that they are counted a one of Iceland's three "uncountables" which also includes the Islands of Breioafjorour and the lakes of Arnarvtansheioi. The last execution by beheading also took place on one of the hillocks.

Further down we passed the pyramidal peak of Baula and then soon after three scoria cones at Grabrok that had ancient lava spewing out of them.

We decided to make a detour to see the largest hot spring in the world at Deildartunguhver. The steam could be seen miles away. There was a river just steaming and water spurting up into the air. Construction is currently going on there but it was magnificent nonetheless. The water here is pumped down to Borgarnes and Akranes to be used as heating. The heat is also used to promote the growth of vegetables and tomatoes in greenhouses closeby and there was a stand where you could purchase them and pay in an honesty box.

Next we went up to Reykholt, a small village where historical figure, Snorri Sturluson lived and was brutally murdered. It's a few houses now but seemingly 60,000 to 80,000 people used to live here. (Three to four times the size of Akureyri.) We couldn't find any explanation why this lush valley with its superheated waters was now so depopulated.

We visites Snorralaug, a pool where Snorri bathed that had its own tunnel to his farmhouse. It's one of the oldest archaeological remains in Iceland and mentioned in the Sagas. It is fed by a hot spring, Skryfla, that is nearby and has a carving of Snorri on it. There were other hot vents nearby and even the ground was warm to walk on.

There was a small but beautiful church nearby and a visitor centre where you can find out all about Snorri, politician and historian (and Casanova!). An interesting exhibition tells his tale and his gruesome death when he backed the wrong claimant to the Norwegian throne.

So, then we were off again along the route 50 towards Reykjavik. We had to take a detour as the road was closed. A motorhome had fallen off the road and a crane was lifting it up. The detour was dusty and gravel tracks with some 4WD hurtling along at windscreen cracking pace. Then through the tunnel at Hvalfjordur (1000 Krone) and back to the capital. After some trial and error we negotiated the one way system and found our apartment. It's right in the heart of the restaurant section of town and next to a venue apparently playing rather loud Icelandic death thrash rock. We had a walk around and confirmed that you couldn't really buy a main course for less than £25 and a bottle of wine was £50 upwards. So we retired to our flat and had a Mexican....