Rain, Glaciers, Icebergs and Rain.

The biggest attractions of Iceland are natural rather than man made. Even within 20km of the port of Seyðisfjörður you see spectacular waterfalls, snow capped mountains and black lava rocks.

Indeed by the time you reach Egilsstadir (25Km) you have become blase about waterfalls that would be a major tourist attraction in most of Europe.

The roads in Iceland can be divided into two categories, those suitable for ordinary cars and those for 4x4 vehicles only. The main ring road (Route 1) is suitable for ordinary cars, but contrary to my expectations is not entirely tarmac. The 4x4 only roads are identified with numbers starting with "F". All the "F" roads that cross the interior of Iceland (the highlands) are closed in winter and re-open about now.

Our first foray on an "F" road was a short but very steep drive up the F985 to the Jöklasel Glacier Lodge.

After an hours drive through rain, sleet and fog we arrived at the lodge car park, empty except for a tracked glacier bus and a dozen snowmobiles.

With near zero visibility and torrential rain nothing was open except the cafe.

We wild camped next to the glacier, which was disappointingly mute. Night time temperatures were +4°C.

In the morning visibility was no better so we returned to the ring road and continued south west to the 190m-deep Jökulsárlón (Glacial River Lagoon). This lagoon is full of icebergs calved from the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier.

Nearby we saw an Icelandic 4x4 with two punctures, four spare wheels and a non-working jack. The punctures had been caused the previous night by a collision with a car on the bridge across the outlet from the lagoon. We were told the car did not stop. The bridge is very definitely single track!