Iceland's Highlands.

Getting to Iceland from the UK with a campervan is now relatively easy (getting back is more complicated). Smyril Line run a weekly service between Scotland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark and Norway. The exact route varies during the year and can get quite complicated.

Getting two people and a 7.3 metre campervan from Scotland to Iceland (via the Faroe Islands) costs around £625 (UKP) in August 2008.

The Norröna starts loading at Scrabster at 03:30. You can wild camp at the docks if you want, it is not necessary to use the dock car park at £15 for the night.

You arrive at (or rather above) the town of Tórshavn on the Faroe Islands at 19:00 where you can get off for an hour. However since you will probably end up spending three days here on the return journey it may not be worthwhile.

The Norröna arrives at Seyðisfjörður in Iceland at around 12:00 the following day. Customs and immigration procedures are minimal. We were parked up for lunch within an hour of arriving.

Seyðisfjörður is pleasant little town with a small supermarket and a couple of good but expensive restaurants. There is a campsite in town and a large overflow camping area.

Because many of the roads in the highlands (central Iceland) close at the end of August we opted to head for Askja immediately via the 923, and the F910, with a day detour to the ice cave at Kverkfjöll.

"B" knows were we have come from but seems less sure of the way to go.

Finding somewhere to wild camp is relatively easy.

The ice cave at Kverkfjöll is interesting rather than spectacular.

You can swim in the "small" Viti caldera at Askja.

The lake in the "large" caldera called Öskjuvatn is 220 metres deep. The last eruption here was in 1961 and the area is considered volcanically active.

"B" ponders "life the universe and everything".

The river canyon at Drekagil near Askja.

The view from Man's hatch as I write at the camp site at Reykjahlíð.

Below are links to most of the places we [wild] camped during the first week in Iceland.

2008-08-07 Latitude:65.2633 Longitude:-14.0134

2008-08-10 Latitude:65.0629 Longitude:-16.2064

2008-08-11 Latitude:64.7474 Longitude:-16.6315

2008-08-12 Latitude:65.0419 Longitude:-16.5930

2008-08-13 Latitude:65.1924 Longitude:-16.2210

2008-08-15 Latitude:65.6400 Longitude:-16.9134