Iceland 30: Back to Reykjavik

The journey from Hveragerdi to Reykjavik was a short one, so we had some time to kill before returning the hire car.  As a result we decided to go to the Natural History museum.  First problem was finding it, because Icelandic maps seem to work in a strange way: turning the page forwards takes you west, and turning it backwards takes you north (for example).  We did manage to find the location - after much searching and cursing - and parked outside what should have been the correct address.  Unfortunately it was a private house and we were on the wrong street!  There was quite an impressive church at the top of the hill, though, but sadly it was shut.

On the second attempt we found a Concert Hall which appeared to be in the right location, but still couldn't find the museum.  Eventually we asked and were sent to the basement.  Bingo.  Not a big museum, but apparently they are very proud of their collection of molluscs.  Enough said...

I just had to take a picture of my favourite bird from the Iceland trip: the ubiquitous, and rather charming, whimbrel.

We still had a bit of time to kill before we could check into the hotel, so headed north of the city to a headland where it is possible to catch a ferry across to an island which has no cars.  There we watched the fishermen and some very enthusiastic gulls and Arctic Terns who were attempting to steal their bait.

Eventually we bowed to the inevitable and took our trusty hire car back.  The 2 litre VW Golf Diesel had taken us 2,590 kilometers (about 1,609 miles) at the astonishing average of 58 miles per gallon.  That's a proper honest-to-goodness UK gallon too!

We were then dropped back into the centre of the city for an evening's walkabout.  Watch out for this thrilling (and penultimate) episode in our grand odyssey.