After Akureyri, we caught a boat to the small island of Hrisey. Think Hitchcock’s The Birds but without the pecking – although there were a few irritable ptarmigans owing to my rambling off-piste into their nesting area. Things to do on the island (population 120): admire the herring drying racks, go on a tractor ride with a fisherman called Ragnr, get all steamed up in a hot tub then lose your footing and roll over onto a very small person called Julia. ‘Ha, ha’ we laughed as we sprawled nonchalantly in 40 degrees of Volcanic bathwater on the summer house verandah, waving at the birds and passing whales. One night, Annetta tried to impress me with her roast lamb signature dish. Sadly, the bbq was playing up and we ended up with a plate of charcoal. Luckily for us though, Helga’s dad, who comes from Nottingham, had given us his homemade pork pie which we enjoyed with a side salad of sausage, so we didn’t starve. Moving on from the island, we drove to Myvatn , the romantically-named ‘Lake of Midges’ – an area dominated by volcanic landforms and lava caves. Here, while fighting off the flies, we cosied down with a touchy-feely type  called Gutti. Gutti was a man of tools and a pair of false knees. This hadn’t stop him building a b&b in the arse-end of nowhere. His ‘house’ was a health and safety nightmare – there were axes, jigsaws and chainsaws galore – but most pressing on Gutti’s agenda was showing us his crack! And we’re not talking buttocks. Gutti’s crack was a secret hole in the ground that housed possibly the hottest water I’ve ever swum in. After climbing down a 30ft vertical rock face , we stripped off and swam in semi-darkness taking great care not to kick too wildly for fear of shredding our toes on the submerged rocks. Annetta and Helga took this opportunity to wash each other’s hair while Gutti and Elin sat on a rock petting. You don’t get that in your local baths! Well ok, maybe you do. Must be something in the water.