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Day Ten - Taking Leave of Iceland

The sky did not clear so no Northern Lights last night. Or at 4:00 this morning (Rob forgot to unset the alarm). I did see one star at 4:00 am, which was a first for the trip. Rachael discovered that the pastry shop we bought from on the

Day Nine - Reykjavík

After waking at 4:00 am to see if the clouds had miraculously cleared (they hadn't), the rest of today was about rest and a bit of exploration. Robin chose to rest so Rachael, Rob, and I went out to see what we could see. Our first stop was the

Day Eight - Golden Circle Tour

Since we were not coming from Reykjavík we were going against traffic on our tour. It was very windy with bouts of rain. Gullfoss (Golden Falls) was the first stop. There is a very big gift shop and a lot of people buy raingear so they can get close to

Day Seven - Vatnajökull Glacier (and more)

As we were driving to our first planned stop we passed diamond beach and had to stop. The evening before there had been very little ice on the beach and today there was a lot of very large pieces. Much cooler. The tide was also going out and you could

Rachael and the Arctic Tern

An Arctic Tern at a small cafe/fuel stop near Fagurhólsmýri was strafing every person coming or going to the cafe door. The tern meant no harm and was probably just defending a nest.  Rachael made it across the parking lot...barely.

Skaftafell

Visited another site where it's possible to get up close to the glacier.  I preferred Fjallsjokull since it was easier to get to and the ice filled lagoon is so cool. But Skaftafell is also worth seeing for its larger scale and the long hike through what feels like a

Fjaðrárgljúfur

Visited Fjaðrárgljúfur (Feather River Canyon) on Friday. It's hard to choose favorite sights in Iceland but this is somewhere in my top three. What struck me most is how lush and green the canyon walls and tops are. The green and black color contrast is beutiful--well done mother nature! The

Fjallsjokull Glacier Lagoon

Visited a second glacial lagoon. This lagoon is located at the edge of the glacier.   While we were taking in the view we heard a loud crash over the horizon, followed by an increase in wave action on the black sand shoreline. Just a reminder that the glacier is a

Diamond Beach

Across the road from the lagoon at Jökulsárlón was Diamond Beach, a beach of black sand with fragments of ice scattered about. Pro tip:  ice is deposited on the beach as the tide moves out, so arrive here at low tide to see the largest blocks of ice. Many of

Day Five: Rachael’s Version

Since the local shops in Iceland don't usually open until 10 in the morning, we let ourselves sleep in a little bit so we could time the peak of our morning hunger with the opening of our local supermarket and café. The gas station situation in Iceland is quite different

Day Six - East Iceland and Our First View of Vatnajökull Glacier

Before leaving Seyðisfjörður, we had breakfast at the cafe in the Orkan gas station. Gas stations are different in Iceland. The gas pumps are all "pay at the pump" and usually have nothing to do with the business in the building that may or may not be there.  In more

Jökulsárlón

Today we visited Jökulsárlón, which translates to "glacial river lagoon".   This lagoon is a slow moving water body carrying glacial melt and ice floating in the melt out to sea. This is something unlike anything I've seen before, and is well worth the visit! Among the floating ice we saw

Breiðdalur

On the way to our next waterfall we descended from a mountain pass into the Breiðdalur valley. Beautiful vistas! As in many places we had to stop for sheep crossing the road!

Hallormsstaðaskógur

The route to the Lagarfljót lake we took was through Hallormsstaðaskógur, one of the few forests on a mostly treeless island. We saw a lot of familiar trees, like Oaks, Pines, and Poplars. I only noticed one tree too large to put your arms around. Umlnown if this is because

Lagarfljót

Continuing our tour of Eastern Iceland we visited Lagarfljót, a lake formed of glacial runoff. What struck me the most is how silent it was at the shore of the lake. Occasionally I could hear a car making its way down the road across the lake, but otherwise you could

Day 4: Rachael’s Version

In the morning we sampled not one, but two coffee shops in Akureyri. It's the kind of city I wouldn't mind living in, if I decided to move northward. We also got in some souvenir shopping and sent a bunch of postcards to friends and other people who helped make

Seyðisfjörður

Made it through the Highland and descended into a charming village to spend the night. We stayed at a hostel thst was previously the town's hospital.  The current hospital is next door. On the way into town we encountered yet another stunning waterfall literally next to the road.  Glad we

Day 3: Rachael’s Version

Upon waking up, we found that our apartment actually had a lovely view of the fjord, invisible in the dark of night. After a quick breakfast we got on the road and continued our journey through the Westfjords. The scenery was absolutely stunning and we took advantage of a few

Day Five - More Vatnajokull National Park

Ásbyrgi canyon is a horseshoe shaped depression with 100 meter (300 feet) tall sides. Was it formed by a glacial flood or by Odin’s eight-legged steed, Sleipnir, stepping here as it descended from the sky? It is said that elves live inside the canyon. I can believe it as

Waterfalls

Iceland calls itself the land of waterfalls and that is not a joke. These are some waterfalls along the road. In no way every one we passed. We keep shouting "sheep" and "waterfall" despite seeing so many.

Day 4 - Midge Country

We spent the night in Akureryi and did a little souvenir shopping before heading east to the Mývatn Lake area. First we stopped at Goðafoss - waterfall of the gods. According to legend, after converting the country to Christianity, Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði (one of the main rulers of the island at

Highland of Iceland

Today we drove through the high interior as we turned South. This area is largely uninhabitable and very dry.  The only stop on our way was a fueling stop/restaurant. I was imaging what the only stop would look like in a desolate high desert, and this place definitely lined

Hijódaklettar

Our last stop in Vatnajökull National Park is this area having a collection of large and majestic geological formations. Hijódaklettar translates to "echo rocks", and its accurate: at many points bowl-shaped rocks are pointed at the river, giving the false sense that the rushing sound of the river is emanating

Ásbyrgi canyon

We took a tour of Ásbyrgi canyon, formed a glacial flood through a lava flow. Notable are the sheer vertical cliffs. At one end is a birch forest. This is notable as we rarely have seen stands of trees since we've been in Iceland. Within the canyon is  Botnstjörn pond

Dettifoss

This waterfall located in the Vatnajökull National Park is the second most powerful in Europe, and is fed from the same glacial runoff as the Goðafoss we saw earlier in the day. Dittifoss is the second in a series if falls running through "crater row". This fall is of the