Day 12 - Southwest Iceland (Gullfoss, Geysir, Þingvellir National Park) and back to Reykjavik

Today we left Laugaras and took the route 35 first to Gullfoss where there lies a magnificent waterfall. We arrived and there was literally not a soul in sight. However a few minutes later, the Japanese tourists (same ones from yesterday!!) arrived, so we took our photos then walked to the nearby cafeteria which is famous for its lamb soup, so guess what we had for our snack? By this point the tourists were pouring in, there were about a dozen or so tour buses, vans and other vehicles in the small parking lot.

Gullfoss in its mighty glory. The wind is not captured in the photo but I can assure you it was very cold with very strong winds.  Gullfoss flows along a ravine.

Shiver me timbers...

Back in the cafeteria I bought some souvenirs after we had our soup and then we took the route 35 to Geysir.

Some photos here. We sat and waited for the geyser called Strokkur to burst, which took a few minutes but it's quite impressive when it happens. The other geyser, called Geysir has stopped errupting.

Geysir, now defunct.

Strokkur, erupting.

Strokkur, erupting the sequel.

We also went to the exhibition centre. Many scientific facts, history, and a strange head of a woman projected onto a rock surface. She was speaking icelandic so I had no idea what she was talking about.

Woman head projected on to a rock.

Energy in Iceland, 99% of it is clean renewable energy, how cool is that??

After that we had a look at the store and I bought a few things here, wind proof gloves, a thin wind proof jacket and a wind proof beanie. It's going to be colder in Norway so I figured this would be a good time to load up.

After that we took the route 37 to Laugarvatn hoping to get the route 365 to Þingvellir but it was closed so we had to take a long detour back to the 35 then on to the 36. Basically it took us at least 2.5 times longer than what it would have.

We arrived and Þingvellir, where the first parliament was found, and took a walk to the great rift called Almannagjá. This is where the tectonic plates meet i.e North America and Europe. The rift expands by 2mm each year. So this spot is extremely well known.

Some scenery while walking to Almannagjá.

Do not donate coins to the water!

The actual plate.  Awesome!

At the top, the scenery is stunning.

Inscription for the National Park, click on the image to read it.

Me in my new clothes.  This is taken along the walkway to Almannagjá.

We also took a walk to a few other spots around the area, the "law rock", and walked back to the jeep after that as it was close to sunset.  We continued on the 36 but unfortunately just when we were 34 kms away from Reykjavik, the road had too much snow and we got stuck in it.. again (digging in snow with wind blowing in all directions is not fun). Fortunately some Icelandic people with land rovers drove past and helped us out. They said the road wasn't suitable for 4WD vehicles so we had to go back all the way along the 36 then caught route 1 to Reykjavik. Something that would've taken has half an hour took us at least 2 hours longer than expected. Well we're still alive, and that's all that matters!

We had dinner at the nearby Mexican place, we're staying in the same hotel we were originally when we got here. There was an Australian sitting next to us and he wouldn't stop talking. He actually came here alone and he was going to other places in Europe and Asia as well. I suppose since he's travelling alone he doesn't get to talk much so... anyway, tomorrow is our last day in Reykjavik before we catch the plane to London and then to...

NORWAY!

Day 11 - Drive to Southwest Iceland (Skogar, Hvolsvöllur, Leirubakki, Laugaras)

Today we drove from Vik to Laugaras going via Skogar, Hvolsvöllur, taking a detour to Leirubakki then back to Hvolsvöllur, then to Hella and then to Laugaras via route 30.  We saw many more vehicles today on the road than the past several days combined as we're now closer to Reykjavik.

We were going to check out the caves at Dyrhólaey unfortunately that didn't turn work out.  The jeep got stuck at the turn off and we had to dig the snow around the tyres off the road with our hands before the jeep would finally move, but alas even though we passed the turn off the caves were inaccessible.

So instead we carried on driving and we arrived at Skogar, which is famous for the Skogarfoss waterfall.
We also saw a group of mostly elderly japanese who had arrived the same time as we did.  No one said Konnichiwa to me this time.  We attempted to climb the waterfall but then it started to hail so we stopped, on this side of the island it hails and it's quite painful if you're wearing thin clothes.

Skogarfoss!

Me in front of le mighty waterfall which measures 60m high.  Legend has it there's gold behind the waterfall.

We also visited the folk museum to check out how life used to be a long time ago.  Here's a pair of "poor man's Nikes".  They are made of fish skin and only last several kms before they have to be changed.  A far cry from what we're used to now.

Whale stomach.  Lots of things were made of whale, chairs, tables, tools, etc.

Toys for children.  Today if you're caught with these someone will think you're a murderer or killer of sorts, but not back then!

After the museum visit we stopped for coffee at Hvolsvollur. Also had lunch of jalepeno cheese which we bought last night with bread that we bought in Akureyri.  Then we drove to Leirubakki for the purpose of visiting the Hekla exhibition center (Hekla is a live volcano) but that was closed.  We tried to drive to the location where Hekla was located but that road was closed too. So instead we took some photos and then drove back to the ring road going to Laugaras.

Hekla's somewhere in the background.

Photos at Laugaras.  Our hotel is in a state of to be completed i.e. renovations.  We suspect we are the only ones renting the hotel.  In the hotel corridor you can see furniture from other rooms.  And the second floor doesn't even have a wall constructed, you can see the insides.  This hotel is possibly a victim of the financial crisis that occurred 2 years ago.  Abandoned now being built again.

Anyway here are some photos we took driving around.

Girl made out of wood.

We had dinner at Cafe Klettur which is about 10kms from where we are.  There was a very jovial Norwegian there who shook my hand and said goodbye to me as we left.  It was a very small restaurant and even though there weren't many people there it was noisy.  I suppose that's where people must hang out on the weekend in this area.  The waitresses greeted us initially in Icelandic, they just assume we are Icelandic, so possibly they don't get many tourists in this area in winter time.

Lauren had some foal and I tried some as well.  It was quite tasty but the thought of me eating the horse that I rode on about a week ago turned me off a bit.

Night shot of the restaurant.

Tomorrow we'll be off to the Golden Circle and then head off to Reykjavik.

Day 10 - Drive to Vik

Today we drove another 273km, to Vik, the southernmost village in Iceland with a population of 279.

We wanted to get on Vatnajokull this morning, which is Europe's largest glacier but the weather was not permitting.  It actually showed in Hofn this morning which is rare according to the woman who worked at the Glacier museum which was where we went instead.  The hotel had to ring the museum to get her to open it, things here are only open on request it seems, during winter time.  The museum was pretty good with a lot of detail.  Iceland is a result of the Earth's divergent tectonic plate movement, so it's really what the sea looks like if it was to reside above the ground.  Very interesting.  There was also information about the Vatnajokull glacier, which has the highest and lowest surfaces, warmest and coldest, and wettest and driest parts of Iceland.  Some parts of it measure 950m  thick!  It's surface area is 8100 square kilometres.  The popular Skaftafell national park is also part of the glacier.  Apparently they also shot two bond movies on the glacier, "Die Another Day" and "A View To A Kill".

Glacial mice, these reside on the glacier and are usually green.  Moss balls basically.

A section of the museum with stuffed animals.

After the glacial visit we went to the nearby handicrafts store and bought a few things then started the long drive part II.  Today's drive was amazing, we drove through different weather ranging from snow to  dry!  This is all within a couple of hours.  One minute it would be as white as a sheet of paper and the next would be clear sunny skies.

This is at Hestgerdi.

Shortly after this we went on a bridge, check out the blue of the glacial ice!

Where we were located when the above were taken.

We arrived at Sandfell and were treated to this spectacular sight.  Sandfell is close to the Skaftafell National Park.  The scenery just changes from snow to dry land just like that!

Stopped to take photos.  This is why you need a tripod when you are in the middle of nowhere.

More photos.  The blue is glacial ice.

Snow greets us as we approach Vik.  Goodbye dry land and sunshine.

Our destination, the town of Vik.

Night photos of Vik.  I'm braving the freezing winds to get these photos.

Shot just outside where we're staying.

That's all for today.  The drive wasn't so bad, it was quite nice actually, we were expecting a bit worse.  Apparently it's pretty bad at Reykjavik with the snow today.

Dinner was a meal cooked at the hostel as there are no restaurants open in this area.  Tomorrow we'll be getting to Gulfoss which forms part of the Golden Circle, if my memory serves me correctly.

Oh lastly I caught this at Hofn, Super Sheep!  I would've bought the shirt but there are none my size.

Day 9 - East Coast Drive to Hofn

Today was spent driving again, we drove all along the east coast, back to Egilsstaðir to Reyðarfjorður to Fáskrúðsfjörður to Breiðdalsvík to Djúpivogur then finally to Hofn. These towns are along the coast. Mostly small towns consisting of a couple of hundred. In Hofn the population is 1695. We drove about 270 kms today, estimated.  It was a pretty nice drive, most of the roads were clear and it wasn't snowing much if at all.

Here's some photos we took along the way.

Town of Fáskrúðsfjörður from across the road.

Island off Fáskrúðsfjörður.

Coastline of Heyklif.

We went through a tunnel that went under a mountain.  See the next image for the location of this tunnel.

Tunnel at Kollufell, shortly before arriving at Fáskrúðsfjörður.

Coastline of Skoruhjalli.

Green trees!  They exist in winter too!

Icelandic horses.

More coastline of Skoruhjalli.

The town of Hofn.  This shot was taken off one of their small islands which you can take a walk just off the road.  It was beginning to snow when this shot was taken.

Chair with town in the background.

Seamen and Fishermen's Monument.

Boats at the harbour.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening unpacking and having a swim at the town swimming pool.  Tomorrow hopefully we'll get on a tour to the vatnajokull glacier, weather permitting and then head off to the small town of Vik which will be another long coastal drive.

Day 8 - Long drive to Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður

Today most of the time was spent on the road. We woke up, had breakfast, checked out then drove from Myvatn to Egilsstaðir then to Seyðisfjörður. Egilsstaðir has a population of 2265 and is on the way to Seyðisfjörður. On the way we drove on (and past) mountains and rivers. Everything looks like chocolate chip ice cream but I can imagine it being a lot colourful in summer!

Seyðisfjörður has a population of 699 and is on the coast residing next to the Atlantic ocean. We wanted to visit the museum at Seyðisfjörður but unfortunately it was closed by the time we arrived. We found out soon enough that during winter everything is closed, when we arrived we had to ring to get the owners to open up the hotel! And guess what, we are the only occupants in the hotel. Which is actually quite nice, other than the fact that everything is closed. The bottle shop is only open for one hour, between 5 and 6pm.

Even all the restaurants are closed, nothing is open. The woman who came to open up the hotel rang someone who works at the gas station and she thankfully cooked some nice dinner for us which we had at the gas station. It was crumbed fish with rice, some curry and salad which tasted quite good. Otherwise we would have had to eat junk food for dinner.

This is Seyðisfjörður from the route 93 road which runs along a mountain.  You can see a cruise ship's docked along the harbour.

Frozen waterfall along the Seyðisfjörður coastal road.

Cool looking orange painted street light.

One of the many colourful looking houses along the coastal road.

Night shot of the town.  Pretty huh?

The blue church, it's apparently famous in this town.

Tomorrow we will be driving to Hofn which will again be another very long drive but this time along the coast.  We should have some great views.