Day 9 - puffin hunt

We left about 8am to head out to Borgarfjordur eystri, which is a popular puffin viewing spot.  They come here to nest between mid April and early August.  Up to 7,700 pairs are known to meet here.  They partner for life, each year they return to the same burrow they used last year and wait for their mate. The female lays one egg a year, once the chick is raised, the pair will part ways and live separately on the ocean, until the breeding season starts again. Maybe that's how they manage the "mate for life" bit 🤔 

They live on average 25 years, max known lifespan is 38.  All this info from the helpful display boards around the site.

Hafnarholmi harbour with the puffin area the green grassy bit on the left


One of the puffin viewing platforms in the centre of the photo

We had high hope of seeing masses of puffins, but perhaps some have left already.  They were catching fish and bringing it back to the burrows, but they are FAST and erratic in their flying, so trying to get them flying in, with fish, before they disappeared into their burrows was challenging!  They seemed totally unafraid of the people there watching, with some burrows directly under the stairs and platforms built for viewing them.  Eventually bus loads of poxy tourists crowded out the viewing platforms, and we figured we were never going to crack the illusive shot, so we headed back to Egilsstadir to camp again for the night.  

Built in 1900, the last remaining house of this style in the area

Views en route


We took the opportunity of sun and a gentle breeze to put up our tents to dry them out before they began to stink. We also did a reccie in search of a charging cable for B's watch (success!) and a hunt for Icelandic whisky (no success), donuts from Netto (of course), and the pharmacy for knee treatments for B.

We had a left over freeze dried meal for dinner, followed by donuts.  Then we went out to Vok baths, this is a hot pool taking advantage of thermal activity nearby. It's very different from Blue Lagoon in that is designed to look and feel more "natural". The water has algae floating in it, and the wooden seats and concrete base of the pool feel very slimey.  That doesn't sound appealing, and I was initially a bit grossed out, but it was actually very nice.  Our tired muscles, twangy knee and manky toe all felt so much better afterwards.

Pool temps range from 38-41 degrees, and if you are feeling brave, you can take a cold dip in the lake the pools empty into, which is about 13 degrees. I did not feel brave.

The building has a grass roof and is hidden in the landscape.

Vok baths, very discrete 

Usual story with the spa, you have to strip off and shower  before putting your togs on and entering the pool, and have another shower after to wash off any clinging algae.

These pools are smaller and much less crowded than Blue Lagoon, which is right on the tourist circuit. Vok is in East Iceland, so a bit off the main tourist track.

Afterwards we had a drink of water/tea on the deck looking out over the lake that the pools flow into.

The pools "float" above the lake


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