After what turned into a pretty massive day yesterday after missing the snorkel followed by some actually very good sightseeing, today was a quieter one in Selfoss.

Took the opportunity to catch up on the last several days of the blog (last 2 in Ireland and first 2 in Iceland), upload some photos and put on a load of washing. As ever, finding our way to things proves a challenge. Immediately after putting a load on in the washing machine that we thought was the one to use at our accommodation (which is a caravan park/campground in Selfoss) and paying the 990krone (about $13), we ran into the manager who said that there is another one that is available for cabin guests for free. We used the correct drier anyway...

So, in an attempt to avoid the tourist crowds and at the recommendation of the manager at the accommodation, we headed a short drive south to the coast. A beautiful spot it turned out to be. This particular section of Iceland is very much dominated by volcanic extrusions. The section of coast is about 45km long and is the largest single eruption effusive lava in the late holocene (8700 years ago) with some 450 cubic kilometres of magma coming to the surface over a 5 year continuous eruption. We went down onto the black sand and rock beach...our first taste of black sands. A cool wind but otherwise lovely place. We also purchased fuel. Happy with the Daxia's fuel economy having driven 390km on 22.5L of fuel is good going. Offset though that it was 320krone/L (that's just under $4/L). Argh!!!

Anyway, next stop was another spot on the nearby coast called the black lava cliffs. Getting there was interesting and not really signposted. The cliffs as such weren't high but they certainly were beautiful. Set next to a fish farm (we assume ocean trout/cod/salmon) we had the place to ourselves again. The shapes of the rocks look like solidified black meringue out of a piping bag. Some areas were honeycombed like the inside of a crunchie bar. All really interesting. We spent quite a while there just enjoying the waves crashing and looking at the rocks and the ocean, that is so different in appearance to Australia. The swell/waves are much more variable and much less observably predictable.

As we've driven around, and with it being early spring, we're able to see how they use the available land for farming. It is VERY apparent that the Icelandic horses are a priority. We've seen lots of them on farms, a few sheep (not many) and only a tiny number of cows. In fact, it is clear that there is not a huge amount of biodiversity here. Sea birds, gulls, geese (and apparently puffins in the summer) are common, but zero small birds, no mammals, reptiles, insects (I've seen one fly). In the farming areas, the grass looks extremely thick and the paddocks are interspersed with deep trenches (must get some photos) that I assume are to encourage drainage so the grasses don't get too waterlogged and give way to moss/red bracken. Interesting and more to observe/think about.

Also, in terms of observation, the black cliffs had some rocks that were split open revealing a bright red colour inside. We're not sure why the outside is black but the inside is red. Maybe it's a copper colour (partially oxidised...we'll see I guess).

Overall, a good day to sit back and have an easy day, and for me to try and make sure that my current throat infection doesn't get too sinister. Into and out of warm then cold then warm then cold is probably not helping :)