Morning arrived and with it the now obligatory attempts to shift very sticky gunk from my (now our) airways greeted us. Undeterred, we enjoyed brekky and the beautiful scenery around our cabin. This one is another of the "pre 2011 volvano tourist boom" that Iceland is still in the midst of...quite a typical Bronnie and Timmy kind of place. A chance to review the great pictures of the aurora from last night, many of which were able to be snapped from the comfort of inside our cabin, looking out through the windows! It is amazing how quickly you get cold (hands and body) when hastily getting outside to catch an aurora :)

The drive today took us through again some simply unbelievably scenic terrain. First up was a side trip down to the largest of Iceland's basaltic column formations at Studlagir. Sadly, it seems on the tourist loop that some of our other companions are in a hurry but not necessarily that keen to overtake which is annoying. Ho hum...most likely Italians.

These columns were different again. A viewing platform on one side of the river with accompanying 240 stairs was first. The pillars in this canyon formation overlook a turquoise river which at this time of year is still significantly lined with ice flows. Unlike other, these show extensive evidence of other geologic influence being curved and twisted extensively, we assume whilst they were still cooling so they have retained their columnar shape, just smooth bent (see photos). Very cool.

A drive and explore along another nearby unsealed and sometimes ice/snow slush road to test out the Daxia's offroad capacity (passed with flying colours), and a walk to a waterfall and then for me a walk along the canyon rim, making good use possibly for the last time on the trip of my ice crampon shoe covers, and I got to see the pillars on the other side of the hill. Still feeling the effects of the virus (and Bronnie having also retreated to the car) we decided to keep heading on towards Myvatn area.

The drive took us up into absolutely stunning mountain ranges. These were mostly smooth in appearance due to the snow ice cover that is yet to melt in the spring thaw. Some nifty car photos were taken with limited spots to pull in. At one stage we drove through a 7km long tunnel through a mountain. Weird and a little claustrophobic. As we neared the Myvatn area, we came to a road stop where we were able to photograph some of the clearly visible large cone/stratovolcanoes. Brilliant to see.

About 20km from Myvatn, we saw the unmistakeable steam rising from a geothermal area ahead. We pulled in, realising then that it is not only in appearance but also in the smell of the area. Paying the ubiquitous parking fee, we headed over to the vents. These ones were not geysir like as a few days ago, but more mud pools and fumeroles. The sound of superheated gas pumping out of the ground like a jet engine is quite awe inspiring and I got some excellent photos of crystalline "brimstone" (sulfur) and other minterals. There were some grey clay mud pools plopping away too. What a place. Like being on another planet. This area underwent an eruption in 1984 and this residual heat is utilised for geothermal energy in the surrounding area.

Over the hill and down into Myvatn we drove to the beautiful lake that the area is focused on. Our accommodation is at a working farm, so I got to see their sheep (indoors until they have lambed, but they have already been shorn). They have horns! I also was allowed into the dairy at milking time. It seems that the cows are kept indoors year round, fed silage/hay that is grown on site, fertilised by the manure that drops down through the metal grate in the shed where the cows are housed. A very intensive system but they have kept it 100% immaculate and tidy...unsure what I think. The milk is used here on farm for ice cream, milk and cheeses that they provide as part of the breakfast, with the rest going for processing nearby. The breed is a specific Icelandic dairy one. Quite small but with big udders! They calve them year round to ensure constant milk supply. The males don't seem to be castrated and they said that occasionally they do get a calf from within their herd, but mostly it is AI.

We decided to have dinner at the restaurant behind our accommodation tonight...bit of a cash splash, but was fun. Bronnie had genuine (guaranteed since this area is a nice agricultural region) lamb soup...very yummy and I had smoked trout that is processed in a building I could see from my table seat. Very authentic. For main course, we shared a pizza with smoked arctic char, red onions, cream cheese etc. Yummy. The smoke flavour was incredibly unique and went really nicely with geysir bread...a sweet almost date like flavoured dense bread. We asked what they used for smoking the fish, given the distinct lack of anything even remotely resembling combustible material on Iceland. He said something that in my mind at the time resemble animal carcases that are first dried then smoked. Bronnie thought he said sheep dung. She was right...I'm not sure if I will fully recover but can confirm that the flavour was really nice but there isn't really anything that it tasted like as a reference point, except to say that it had obviously been over something releasing smoke. Best I could come up with at the time was it tasted like eating something that had been smoked over something that doesn't quite smell like you should have burned it...like if you chuck plastic over a campfire...sort of wrong, but not as terrible as most people claim and carry on about! Anyway, notched up for experience.

We then managed to have a game of darts and pool at the hotel (not supposed to we guessed but it wasn't busy) and then back to our room for bed. Aurora alerts going off but a bit too much cloud cover.