Day 17 waterfalls, acoustic domes and rainbow paths

 This morning we left camp at about 8.30 and headed for Gufu waterfall. The conditions were really icey and we had to go over a high pass to get there. I was driving, and paranoid about hitting ice and tipping off the edge of the road. I think I have already mentioned, there are no shoulders and steep drop-offs on the side of the road, if you go over, you are not getting back up without a tow truck. 

But we made it safely and stopped at Gufu waterfall.  It was very pretty, especially with the ice in the river and around the falls itself.

Gufu waterfall

We risked our lives walking along the icey path to get some photos, cursed ourselves for not buying yak traks (similar to crampons) earlier when we saw them bear Skaftafell, and then continued to our next destination, Seydisfjordur. This is known for a pretty little church with a long rainbow crossing. When we arrived there was a flock of tourists, all taking turns posing on the crossing, sucking in fat rolls, pouting lips and taking ages for each shot. We left them to it, thinking we'd wait until they were done, but when we came back about 20 minutes later they were still all there on a gaggle. They were no longer posing, so I said "if you're done taking photos, can you get out of the way so others can have a turn".  The looked a bit shocked that there might be others to consider, but eventually mooched off. 

We quickly took some obligatory snaps and went in search of a toilet. Alas we couldn't find one, so headed to Tvisongur - our next stop, the acoustic domes.  

This structure is a sound sculpture by the German artist Lukas Kühne - called "Tvísöngur" or the Duet.

This mushroom-looking sculpture is actually interconnected domes of different sizes. Each one of the domes has a "resonance that corresponds to a tone in the Icelandic musical tradition of five-tone harmony and it serves as an amplifier for that tone"

Thanks google.

Time to head back over the pass to our next destination- Hengifoss.  But first we stopped at the local petrol station and grabbed a hotdog - bacon wrapped cheese dog with fried onions.  Yummy. 

Bacon wrapped hotdog

We also went in search of yak traks, some of our walks have been pretty dicey, and we'd like to be a bit safer. We googled but were sure if the shop we found actually existed, tried the local spirts store who said sorry nothing. When I asked where the locals get this kind of stuff, she said online. Helpful. However as we blatted out of town, we spotted a likely looking store with boots and ski poles in the window. It didn't open until 1pm. The shops seem to open odd hours here. It was 12.45 so we figured we'd wait until 1pm. An initial look and we couldn’t find what we wanted, but we asked the lady behind the counter and she said they had some out the back. What luck! So we bought a pair each, and can now pretty much guarantee the weather and tracks will clear and we will not need them.

We continued to Hengifoss, a "1 hr 45min round trip" which was a slog up a very steep hill, with the trail horribly muddy in many places from melted snow, and almost impassable across the river which was partially covered in ice. It took us 2hr 45 minute 5.58km and altitude gain of 318 metres.

That's the waterfall ...  waaaaay in the distance.

When we got to the end, I was not impressed, as the view of the falls was no better than further back. It was also hideously windy and cold, and we didn't even bother the unpack the heavy tripods we had lugged all the way up there.  

Not impressed 

Done for the day, we headed back to camp and had leftover chicken schnitzel with coleslaw for dinner.