After a light breakfast, we left Reykjavík for the North, along the west road. The journey was relatively uneventful - three hours out we stopped for petrol (self-service, with credit card!) and a coffee served by a tall, slender, and extremely pretty local girl.Our next stop was Akureyri, the 'Capital of North Iceland', despite a population of only 17,304 (versus 119,900 in Reykjavík). By this time, the weather was clear and bright, and the sun pleasantly warm. After a short stop for soup and salad, we were back on the road to Mývatn.
We arrived in glorious sunshine, with several hours with which to make the round trip walking to Hverfjall, the nearest large caldera to the east of the village. Covered with grey ash, it afforded fantastic views to the west of the fissures marking the top of several normal faults cutting across the area, and also towards the lake, where several small circular cavities can be seen in the lava. These are known as pseudocraters or rootless vents, and can be clearly seen at Skútustaðir on the south shore of the lake.
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