Safe Return Doubtful

Snow fell pretty much continually from Monday morning onwards this week. There was much more than was forecast, though I think weather forecasting here, especially around the coast, is a much less reliable affair. 

On Monday I drove from Vik to Höfn along Highway 1 in my first experience of driving in snow conditions in Iceland. I was reminded of getting stuck in Norway on a hill in heavy snow four years ago. I was about half an hour behind another English van and a couple that I knew and was following. They had sent a message saying that the road was okay, but in that time it had deteriorated greatly. Fortunately I was able to turn around, and retreat, though the way round to where I was headed was several hours longer. Since then, I blamed the experience on the van’s inability, and was therefore immediately concerned at the conditions on highway 1.

Actually though, my tyres proved very capable on such roads, and are fine so long as there isn’t any steep hills, or deep snow that has just fallen. Ploughs run up and down the roads every hour when snow is falling heavily; in such conditions it’s best to get behind them. Otherwise, speed reduced to twenty to thirty miles per hour, and avoidance of any sharp breaking. It pays to drive your vehicle in an empty car park for five minutes to understand the amount it will slide if a quick stop is required. Some of the rental cars go far too fast, I saw two that had come off the road, but were lucky in that the roadsides did not have big drops, and they were both in the process of being towed back onto the road. 

It’s much more tiring than normal driving also. 

At Vik I spoke to a French guy who explained the colours on the roads website to me. He said that only red was impassable, everything else could be managed. If snow falls more quickly than expected, a plough will usually be there within an hour, so the traffic can continue. 

The beach at Vik is spectacular at any time, but the following morning, in fine cold weather, it was magnificent.

After an hour or so wandering on it, I proceeded to Höfn, about 250 kilometres that took about four and a half hours. It’s was minus six degrees in Höfn with snow falling throughout the evening. I parked up at the indoor sports arena as anywhere else had snow too deep to guess what sort of surface was underneath. By the morning though it was a little clearer, and I was able to get out on foot for a couple of hours down the coastal footpath, heading out of town and around the golf course. 

From Höfn it was a couple of hours to Djúpivogur, again on snowy (deep blue on the map) roads. Djúpivogur is a very pleasant fishing town situated around a sheltered harbour with a spectacular headland on either side. It has a well situated and small campsite on a little hill just a hundred metres out of town. The attraction of the campsite to me is that it has a common room which means I don’t need the van heater on all day, and can conduct business, and read in alternative surroundings. 

The freezing conditions, which had been with us almost a week now, lifted last night and gave way to heavy rain and a thirty mile per hour wind, but from the south rather than the east; actually far less pleasant conditions for getting outside. The forecast rain was for 36 hours, but eased this afternoon, so after a morning of Halloween reading I was able to get out for a couple of hours, though the rain returned this evening.

I’ll stay here for the rugby tomorrow and most likely head on to Egilsstaðir, the last stop before the ferry, on Sunday. 

Generally the age of the tourists renting the vans I run into is young, millennials, generation Z even, and there are, perhaps surprisingly, a lot of Italians and Spanish. There are three young Italian women here in a ‘Camp Easy’ VW T5. They have stayed two nights, and don’t look like they are enjoying themselves. As I used to say to the kids, I think they may have chosen the wrong course, maybe better something quieter and indoors, like flower arranging, chess, or additional maths. It seems all about getting that selfie picture that can be shared on social media, by whatever means, disregarding any deeper experience, and actually enjoying the experience seems irrelevant. There’s also an older German couple here in their own van, something quite rare. They are returning on the same ferry as me next week, so I expect I’ll chat with them quite a bit. They are a couple of years older than me, and we seem to have plenty in common. 

It’s a huge weekend for rugby, but it’s all tomorrow, which does clear the way for Halloween, which for me means a couple of good books, and hopefully a good movie later tonight. I’ve got a Shirley Jackson on my audio, she is one of my all time favourites. It’s not so much of a horror, more humorous, but is absolutely brilliant. It’s called The Sundial, but more on that in another post. Movie wise I’m not sure, maybe Twin Peaks (Fire Walk With Me), maybe one of the old Hammer movies, perhaps From Beyond The Grave. I really enjoyed Dr Terror’s House of Horrors a week or so ago. I haven’t found a film scary since the 1970s and the days of The Exorcist, The Omen and Blair Witch, but some horror, done well, no jump scares, really does entertain me.