Friday 9th July 2010Seeing Iceland for the first time from the air just before landing and also while driving from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik, you get the feeling that you might as well be landing on the moon! The landscape is very dramatic and the open tundra is windswept and barren - in some places there literally is a lot of nothing. Reykjavik is a lovely little city with a warm atmosphere and a population of only 300,000. The streets are clean, the people friendly, the air fresh and the houses brightly clad in a bizarre mixture of colours.
The streets are lined with cosy little coffee shops and restaurants, and it is in one of these where we had our first meal. Le Roux tried one of the local dishes - "Plotfiscur" which is a kind of fish stew consisting of mashed fish mixed with rye bread and potatoes, and spiced with a hint of curry. He chose well as it was absolutely delicious and even more so washed down with a local "Viking" beer. I had the pan-fried flounder with shrimp and caviar which was pretty tasty too. I also couldn't resist the local desert, Skyr, which is a delicious concoction made from soured milk, sweetened with a little sugar and berries. Le Roux was keen to try all of the weird local delicacies such as Svio - singed sheep's head; Slatur - sheep's leftovers stuffed into it's stomach and cooked; Lundi - puffin which are such cute little birds :0( ; Hervabred - a rich dark rye bread baked underground using geothermal heat; and Hakarl - putrefied shark's meat which is buried underground for up to 6 months! Apparantly the technique to eating this is to swallow it down with a shot of brennivin, a schnapps made from potatoes and flavoured with caraway seeds. He did turn his nose up at the idea of eating ram's testicles though, the final suggestion on the Lonely Planet list! Other than the bustling night life and coffee shops, Iceland is a mecca for the outdoor enthusiast, with activities like glacier hiking, ice climbing, whale and puffin watching, fishing, sea kayaking, quad biking, horse riding, caving and snorkelling, to name but a few. The landscape is also very unusual with an array of geysers, active volcanoes, thermal pools and majestic waterfalls (the biggest in Europe!). You can seriously lose yourself here for months although that would drain your pockets pretty fast as this place is definitely not cheap! Another thing that is also very bizarre about Iceland is the midnight sun - it literally never gets dark, which means you totally lose track of what time of day it is and find yourself going to bed very late!Sunday 11th July 2010
Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and Le Roux headed off deep sea fishing, where he caught a couple of lovely cod and some pollock. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling great having got a heavy cold just as we headed away so I had a lazy day wandering around Reykjavik and then met up with him after the fishing for some warming lobster soup at one of the harbour restaurants. Later on we cooked one of the cod for dinner with some sautéed potatoes and veggies and the other one was saved for a spicy kedgeree later in the week. Monday 12th July 2010
Monday was a busy day with two activities booked: Sea kayaking followed by whale and puffin watching in the late afternoon. The first trip was aptly called Fjord Serenity: kayaking in the beautiful Hvalfjorour fjord with majestic mountains towering over us. We stopped in a little bay for a picnic lunch before paddling back via a hot spring which was far too hot for any of us to climb in, although we did dip our toes in the overflow pool which was lovely and warming. The whale watching trip was also pretty exiting. First of all we stopped right next to a puffin colony on a little island in the bay. The puffins are really cute and almost comical when they take off with their angled legs awkwardly stuck out behind them and a frantic flapping of wings. The whale watching itself was absolute mayhem and we felt like such tourists running around like lunatics on the deck of the boat trying to capture the whale on camera every time it surfaced for a mere moment. Our whale watching guide would shout out over the microphone "whale at 3 o'clock!" and suddenly the whole boatload of over exited tourists would rush to that side of the boat to snap at anything that dared to move, only to hear "another whale even closer at 9 o'clock" causing yet another stampede in the other direction! Luckily we did manage to get a few nice pictures and all in all it was a really nice day out.
Tuesday 13th July 2010
Tuesday was the "Black and Blue" trip which consisted of caving in a 365m long volcanic lava tube and snorkelling in the Silfra fissure in the heart of Thingvellir National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the caving we had to don helmets and headlamps and the footing was fairly treacherous with a lot of loose rocks but we all made it out alive, including me who wasn‘t too keen on the idea of caving to begin with! Good job I wore the helmet though as I really clonked my head on a low bit of rock in typical Gillian style of not knowing where my limbs are! At one point our guide had us all switch off our headlamps for a little story about the trolls and you seriously couldn't see your hand in front of your face! What was really interesting is how all your other senses are suddenly heightened in the pitch black. After lunch we headed off for the snorkelling. First we struggled to get into the dry suits which was a mission in itself but boy were they necessary! The water temperature was around 2-4C so it was a bit of a shock when your hands and head got wet - the only parts not covered by the dry suit. The dry suit made you feel like you were vacuum packed as you had to squeeze as much air out as possible so you weren't bobbing around like a cork on the surface! 
The fissure looked like a massive crack in the earth’s surface, filled with water which was crystal clear because it is filtered through rock for 30 years. You could see all the way to the bottom, which was about 45m deep in places and the rocks at the bottom were covered with a type of seaweed that looked like someone had gone mad with a can of lime green silly string! The snorkelling trip ended with a leap off the fissure edge into the icy water below and we all managed to make ourselves do it, including me! That evening we went out to a fancy restaurant called The Fish Market - one of Reykjavik's best restaurants. We literally bit off more than we could chew by opting for the tasting menu which consisted of 8 generous courses to share. Le Roux filled up by eating too much bread beforehand not realising the ludicrous scale of food still to come. First up was spicy mussels followed by barbeque ribs, beef carpaccio salad, sushi, salmon, cod, lamb and a platter of mini puddings. The highlights were definitely the spicy mussels and the Icelandic lamb which were truly delicious. We both rolled out of the restaurant with seriously fat bellies - we were so full we didn't know what to do with ourselves, but we certainly got our monies worth!Wednesday 14th July 2010
On Wednesday we trekked up into the mountains near Hverageroi on a "Hot Springs Hunt". The whole of Iceland gets its hot water from the underground thermal springs which is why most of the hot water in Reykjavik has a sulphurous twang to it - not the most pleasant smell in the shower of a morning! The water is so hot when it comes out of the ground that it is pumped through a network of long pipes to cool down. The geothermal power plants are also located in this area, using the steam from the hot springs to generate electricity for the island. 
It was pretty cool hiking through the rocky hills seeing the steam snaking upwards in various random places. The earth almost seemed alive with a cacophony of hissing, gurgling and bubbling as the heat and steam tried to escape. In most of these holes you would be cooked alive but fortunately there is one spot where a hot spring meets a cold one, creating the perfect temperature (around 40C) for a warming soak, so it was here that we donned our swimming costumes and lazed in the water after the long hike. In the afternoon, we headed to an Icelandic pony farm where we went riding. These ponies are almost as round as they are high and very comical with their long tails, short legs and afros - they also have a lot of attitude! Le Roux's feet almost touched the ground while sitting on his pony. It promptly started raining heavily just after we left the stables and continued to do so until we got back. So much for the Icelandic scenery - all we could see was a misty, rainy blur! However, the riding was fun as we bounced along trying to work out the Icelandic "tolt" which is somewhere between walking and trotting. We were all absolutely drenched by the end of the ride and slightly amused to discover loads of waterproof suits at the stables - they somewhat misjudged the weather! That evening we went to a Tapas Restaurant with some of the friends we met on our excursions. We sampled the Icelandic Tapas menu which started with a shot of Brennivin and was followed with puffin, sea trout, lobster, minke whale, lamb and chocolate cake for dessert. The whole meal was washed down with a nice bottle of red which cost us an arm and a leg! The puffin tasted like a mix between pidgeon and fish and the whale very much looked and tasted like beef.Thursday 15th July 2010
Thursday was a relaxed day, with the planned hike up Mount Esja aborted due to wet shoes from the riding the day before, and sheer laziness if I'm honest! Le Roux did a spot more fishing in the harbour in the sunshine, where he caught a massive mackerel as well as a few pollock, while I was busy wandering around Reykjavik taking photos of various architectural features. 
Lunch consisted of 2 of the best hot dogs in Europe - yes they really were the best hot dogs ever, with fried onions, crispy onions, a sweet mustard sauce, some kind of tomato sauce and a third mystery sauce. After an afternoon nap (I said it was a lazy day!) we headed off to the blue lagoon for a long relaxing soak. 
The Blue Lagoon was magical to say the least. It is located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by moss covered volcanic rocks which resemble the surface of the moon. The perfectly warm water was a milky blue colour and there was a swim up bar right in the middle of the lagoon. It was nice just lying back, sipping on a Blue Lagoon cocktail. After we reluctantly dragged ourselves out of the water in order to get the last bus back to Reykjavik, we sampled some more weird Icelandic dishes for dinner. Le Roux finally tried the rotten shark which was pretty disgusting but not as bad as he'd thought. He then decided to try a horse kebab. I did try the kebab which was quite nice, but decided I fancied sushi instead, having ridden the lovely ponies the day before!Friday 16th July 2010
Friday we did a trip called the "Golden Grand Slam": which included visiting Thingvillir, Geysir, and the Gullfoss waterfall before white water rafting on the Hvita river in the afternoon. Thingvillir is located in the National Park of the same name and is where the American and European tectonic plates meet. The whole landscape is riddled with crevices and ravines and the plates move apart by about 1mm each year. It is a beautiful spot which is unfortunately spoilt by the bus loads of tourists who seem to be synchronised with your camera shutter and move in front of you just as you are about to take a nice picture. 
Next stop was Geysir which explodes every few minutes, and our first sight was of an unsuspecting tourist who had stood down wind of it and had been soaked to the skin! We therefore chose a safer spot to wait for the perfect shot, which took a while because Geyser only seemed to explode every time we looked away or lowered the camera because our arms got tired. Just before it explodes the water starts bubbling and swelling up, then a big "poof" followed by "ooh's" and "aah's" from the surprised crowd. Next up was the Gullfoss waterfall on the Hvita river. The wide fast flowing river fell down into a deep gorge. I expected the water to be crystal clear but it was in fact the colour of dish water - an impressive sight all the same. There we finally managed to leave the crowds behind and travel down stream for the white water rafting. This was definitely one of the highlights of our visit in Iceland! After squeezing ourselves into yet another wet suit, topped off with a fleece, splash jacket, booties, life vest and helmet, we headed off to the river. 
Saturday 17th July 2010
On Saturday we rented a car and headed out of Reykjavik towards the infamous Eyjafjallajokull volcano and Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in Iceland (and Europe!). The scenery during the lengthy journey across the island was every changing and fascinating, with beautiful mountains, waterfalls and the volcano, giving way to black lava sand flats (Sandur) as far as the eye can see - an incredible sight. The unexpected highlight of the day was arriving at our hostel to find the most amazing view across the sand flats - totally awesome as the Americans would say!Sunday 18th July 2010
Sunday was our last day in Iceland. I'm starting to feel like a stuck record using words like dramatic, beautiful and picturesque but that can't be helped because yet again we saw some spectacular sights. Our Glacier Grand Slam" tour started with a drive to the Fjallsjokull glacier tongue where we put yet more gear on - crampons, a harness, helmet and an ice axe. The surface of the glacier was very different from what I'd expected and instead of smooth ice it was rather more crunchy and dull white. It was really cool walking up the glacier seeing all the crevices and waterfalls which drained down the random holes in the ice surface. Our destination was the foot of a glacier "waterfall" - majestic ice peaks protruding from the glacier tinged blue. At one point we tried our luck with some ice climbing and I managed to half lose a shoe and slid back down to the bottom. Le Roux then had a go and managed to lose both of his shoes so our guide had to push him up the wall by his bottom - hilarious! After overloading our cameras with copious pictures we crunched our way back again to our bright yellow school bus. From there we drove to Jokulsarlon which is a lagoon filled with icebergs breaking away from the Vatnajokull glacier. 
We rode between the floating icebergs on an amphibious vehicle which made for some cool pictures with the towering mountains and white glaciers in the background. Apparently you can only see about 10% of each iceberg as the rest is hidden below the surface of the icy cold water which ranges between -5C and +4 C. Usually the water doesn't freeze but we were told that the river mouth had been blocked up so that no sea water could enter the lagoon causing the surface to freeze so the film makers could use the frozen lagoon to shoot the opening scene of "Die Another Day". Our final stop was the river mouth as many of the icebergs float out of the lagoon, down the river and into the sea. It was very surreal seeing the stranded white icebergs on the black sand beach with the big glacier covered mountains in the background. This glacier excursion was definitely highlight of our trip - totally different to anything either of us has done before.- Watch out for the "suicide sheep" which seem to favour grazing right next to the roads waiting to fling themselves right in front of any unsuspecting vehicle at the last minute. Apparently 75 sheep have chosen to end their lives already this summer!
- Icelanders seem to favour driving monster trucks with ridiculous over sized wheels!
- On Fridays and Saturday nights the whole of Iceland seems to congregates in Reykjavik to get absolutely wasted on a pub crawl which lasts most of the night and into the early hours. These militant drinkers really are out to drink as much alcohol as humanly possible and it is not unknown for some to party till 8 o' clock the next morning! This does seem odd though given the crazy price for alcohol, although this might have been overcome by some of the local girls who seem to drink their beer through a straw.
- Don't forget to bring some bug repellent and/or bug net for walks in the countryside as an army of midges seem to magically appear every time you open your car door.
The ponies are such lovely animals and they have the cutest way of nibbling each other affectionately - unfortunately my photography skills let me down and I haven't managed to capture this on film!
If I can summarise Iceland in three words it would be raw, dramatic and beautiful. The ever changing landscape ranges from vast open plains which seems to be devoid of any life to volcanoes, geysers, thermal pools, waterfalls and beautiful large mountains capped with glaciers or covered in vivid green grass. I can highly recommend a visit to this lovely country. We had some amazing experiences here and it is a must for any outdoor enthusiast!
Complete photo album:
Complete photo album:
