DAY SEVEN

The next morning it was dull and a mizzle was falling but no wind. I was on the road for 7.00am and although there were some initial hills I made good time. My objective for this day was to get to Vik this meant riding over the Eldhraun and then down and across another sandur (moraine) the Myrdalssandur.

I new from past experience that this was going to be tough going especially if the wind started up again which was almost guaranteed in the afternoon.

The Eldhraun was a strange place, there is a moss that grows on it that is almost yellow when dry and green when wet, it covers the lava like a carpet giving it a sponge like appearance peppered with deep fissures. By contrast the sandur is dry and dusty and on the roadside you can see signs warning that you may experience freak sandstorms.

I stopped for lunch halfway and took photos of the small cairns that travellers, including myself, pile up for good luck. Whilst having a brew a British guy Paul, who was cycling in the other direction pulled in. His first words were, "Your Swifty aren't you" which took me a bit by surprise, he had heard about my exploits back in Reykjavik and gave me some money for the charity. We chatted and I wished him well on his trip not that he needed it because as he set off he had the wind at his back and I had it in my face which was just typical.

The journey to Vik was uneventful although I did pass two Australians going the other way who shouted an antipodean acknowledgement and gave me the thumbs up. Vik is a tiny settlement on the south coast nestled in the lee of some low but pretty steep hills.
The campsite was adequate but basic with a disappointingly locked and unusable disabled toilet and the weather was turning bad again.