I left my aunt and her family in Berunes and headed north, threading the Eastern fjords — Berufjörður, Breiðdalsvík, Stöðvarfjörður, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Reyðarfjörður, Eskifjörður and Norðfjörður.

The route along the fjords is an extremely beautiful ride, with high mountains rising above the road. It was a relaxing ride, I laid back behind the wheel and enjoyed the view — to the extent that I could without loosing sight of the road. I made sure to stop every now and then to take photos of the mountains, light houses and whatever looked good through the lens.

I made some tactical stops on my way. Had cacao and cake in Fárskrúðsfjörður and bough a souvenir. I intended to go swimming in Reyðarfjörður but found out that there is no public swimming pool in the town. I was really surprised since I thought every town in Iceland had a public swimming pool. It was specially surprising for a town like Reyðarfjörður that is so big that it has at least three multi-floor apparent buildings and a roundabout.

Fortunately there is a short drive form Reyðarfjörður to Eskifjörður, a proper town with a decent swimming pool. This time I did not bother to bring my swimming goggles to the pool since I had no hopes I would bother to swim instead of just laying like a boiling sausage in the hot-tub. However, after a few minutes in the warm water I got an urge to swim. Hence I fetched my swimming goggles and did a few laps. Having swam enough I went for the sauna and some more hot-tub. Of course I tried out the slides. Compared to Höfn I was a bit disappointed with the closed dark one. I was too short and there were hardly any surprising twists and turns in the darkness. The curly one was however a nice ride.

Having bathed, it was time to meet my namesake. The close-by town of Neskaupstaður is the home of the most famous Börkur in Iceland. All my life I have lived in the shadow of this magnificent celebrity. Almost every year I read news about his extraordinary success. I have always looked up to this namesake of mine and dreamt about being as famous. Now that I was in the neighborhood I had a chance to meet him face to face.

I was a little nervous when I drove down to the Neskaupstaður harbor and saw my idol tied to the docks. Börkur NK, one of the most famous fishing vessels in the Icelandic fleet. For many consecutive years the ship that caught the greatest quantity of fish. A true hero of the fishing nation. It was nice to see that despite his celebrity status, Börkur NK is just like a humble ordinary ordinary ship. And his favorite color seems to be blue. Just like mine.

After spending some quality time with my namesake hero and enjoying a sandwich and tea in the Norfjörður sun, it was time to settle down for the night and put up my tent. I left the Eastern Fjords behind me and drove inland to Atlavík, a nice and quiet camping area by the Lagafjót (lake) in the heart of Hallormstaðaskógur (forest), next door to the biggest monster in Iceland, Lagarfljótsormurinn, a giant monster worm that lives in the lake. I’ll upload a photo of the worm if it drops by for a nightcap.