Standing on a pseudo crater watching Fast 8 being filmed

A lie in after such an eventful night watching the Northern Lights. Brekkie overlooking the lake and then on with some more exploring. Our first stop was Krafla power station which doesn’t sound fun, but is. It’s a geothermal power station and the river running from it was steaming! Hot water pipes also go over the road instead of under it. We walked to Viti, which we visited in 2010. It’s a lovely turquoise caldera. Unfortunately it was covered in snow, so we had to imagine instead. Yet again, tourists were making their own routes and ignoring the signs. I wouldn’t walk beyond a sign that said ‘drilling in progress, no entry’. We walked on the top of the crater but alas it was so muddy, my crampons felt like lead and I couldn’t lift my feet, so we only walked a bit of the rim before heading down.

Down the road to Hverir, listed as one of the most dangerous places for tourists and I can see why. We walked over steaming soil, trying to avoid the lighter colour mud as that can mean a vent. Lots and lots of steaming sulphur vents, with a huge cloud over it. It was scary enough walking over the soil but while we were trying to clean our boots, Ali jumped on one foot to clear the mud and the ground echoed under her! It sounded hollow. We made a sharp exit.

At a viewpoint to Lake Myvatn, we cleaned our shoes. Having so many books on Antarctica paid off, I remember reading about explorers washing in the snow and that’s exactly what we did. Ourselves and our boots. It works surprisingly well. Lunch back at the portacabin and then on with our afternoon excursions, which started at Hofoi for a walk in the woods to the lake. We saw great lava pillars coming out of the lake, crystal clear water, noisy swans and eider ducks.

A little further around the lake, we stopped at Skutustaoir because I have a fascination with Icelandic churches on this trip. We walked to the pseudo craters and walked around the tops of them. The lake was frozen by the side of the pseudo craters and is where Fast 8 is currently being filmed. It has been in the press because two diggers have already fallen into the lake. We spoke to the search and rescue person stationed at the top of the crater. He talked about the film and why the lake is so frozen that it can take the weight of all of the vehicles on it. There must have been over 50 vehicles, including two Lamborghini’s! We watched the tanks and then the gun shots, before making our way along the path, which actually goes through the filming quarantined area. Alas photo’s aren’t allowed, but it was rather fun walking past the third orange Lamborghini, the cast trailers with music blaring out (wonder if that was Vin Diesel in there?), and then past the tanks and helicopter.

Last full day at the lake, tomorrow we head South and get more colour, we’ve been rather buried in snow.