I've
been wanting to see the Northern Lights for as long as I can remember (well
actually since I saw a documentary on the Aurora Borealis at the Brisbane
International Film Festival) and I finally got to see it this year.
In
late November Ollie and I, Stuart and Kris spent 9 days in Iceland. We packed
groceries and bottles of wine with us so we could do some cooking in our
various apartment kitchens to keep a lid on the costs of what we knew would be
a very expensive holiday. It was still a very expensive holiday, but it was
also completely worth it!
The
first couple of nights we spent in Reykjavik. On Saturday we spent the day
wandering around the city and exploring. We had lunch at a cute cafe called
Bergsson. Kris and I did a spot of shopping while the boys watched apparently
unmissable football. We saw the impressive church and concert hall.
And I bought a traditional Icelandic jumper called a lopapeysur which
is thick and cosy and I wore it for the rest of the trip.
That
evening was our first SuperJeep Northern Lights tour. We didn't see any lights
that night but we did have hot chocolate spiked with vodka in the snow and see
an amazing night sky full of stars.
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Hallgrimskirkja
- the city's lutheran church
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View
from the church tower
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On Sunday we picked up our hire car and headed off on the Golden Circle
drive. We spotted the gorgeous Icelandic traditional horses and pulled over
to say hi - they were very friendly. The drive was amazing. We stopped at Pingvellir,
an historical sight where the first Icelandic parliament was established by
vikings; Geysir a series of natural geysirs, and Gulfoss a
stunning, enormous waterfall. For a late lunch, we stopped at Fridheimar, a
tomato greenhouse that served delicious fresh tomato soup.
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| A friendly Icelandic horse |
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| Entering Pingvellir National Park |
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Waterfall at Pingvellir
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The gang!
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A beautiful scene
The setting of the first viking parliament - the world's first democratic parliament
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| The North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet here |
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| Geysir |
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| Strokkur Geysir |
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| Gullfoss, the double cascade |
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| Some of the passing scenery |
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Cute farmhouses whizzing past
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| The tomato greenhouse |
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| Fresh tomato soup |
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| So happy to be here, we could still have lunch at 4pm! |
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Sunday
night was our second night on the SuperJeep Northern Lights tour
and we were oh-so-lucky, we saw the lights. It was amazing! We saw it in two
different spots and stayed out for a couple of hours. The hot chocolate was
even tastier that night. We celebrated back at our apartment with a homemade
galette, wine and game of Dobble.
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The
days in winter are very short. The sun rose at 10am in the morning and set at
around 4pm. With the dark and sometimes icy roads we tried to make it back to
our accommodation around 5pm or 6pm each evening before it was too dark. There
was a lot to squeeze in each day.
On
Monday we started our drive along the South Coast - it was a day of pretty
spectacular waterfalls. We stopped at the very icy Seljalandsfoss,
drove past the famous Eyjafjallajokull volcano and had lunch at a restaurant
under it's shadow where I had a delicious volcano (lamb) stew. We headed
further along the coast to Skogafoss which looked even more
impressive in the afternoon light. It was getting dark by then so we made
our way to Hrifunes Guesthouse where we were staying for the next two nights.
Dinner
at the guesthouse was a delicious three courses made by the hostess. I popped
back to our room briefly after dinner and when I looked up, I saw the Northern
Lights again! I called everyone outside and we stood watching it for ages in
the freezing cold. It was somehow even more beautiful than the first night
because we were out of the city and not on a tour. Afterwards we sat in front
of the fire in the lounge room and played scrabble drinking some of our stash
of wine.
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Starting our drive at sunrise
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| Hay bales dotted across the field, just like Australia |
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| Each strand of grass is beautifully frozen in ice |
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| And so are the stairs if you're brave enough to go up them |
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Back on the road and the sun is out
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| Under the volcano... this is just the edge of it |
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| Volcano soup |
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| Horses frequently dot the landscape |
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This farm was totally covered by volcano ash in 2010
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| Skogafoss in the late afternoon |
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| Skogafoss |
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| Ollie and Stu climbing the stairs up to the top of Skogafoss |
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| Sunset |
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Northern Lights!
The photos don't do the lights justice here |
After
breakfast the next morning we drove to the black sand beach of Reynisfjara with
dramatic rock columns. We warmed up with a hot chocolate for a long snowy drive
east to the Jokulsarlon ice lagoon. When we got there the snowfall
made the lagoon even more pretty and amazing. I saw a photo of it in a book
later, and what we saw was just the smallest part of the edge but it seemed
huge.
We
were hungry after our long morning and had lunch in the car making yummy open
sandwiches with the groceries we'd brought with us. It was a relatively slow
drive back to the guesthouse due to the weather. As it cleared we got our first
glimpse of the huge Skaftafell ice glaciers from the car windows. The evening
was spent enjoying dinner, wine, playing scrabble and listening to records.
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| The basalt columns of Reynisfjara |
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| Down on the black beach |
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| Photo time |
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| Our snowy drive |
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| White out |
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Check out that luminous blue!
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Me in the snow!
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It takes 5 years for the icebergs to float down from the glacier to the Atlantic Ocean
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| That black stripe is volcano ash |
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| Panoramic shot of the lagoon; just one small part of it |
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| Driving by farmhouse; so pretty at dusk, always blurry in the photos though |
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| Skyr dessert from our host |
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The evening's entertainment
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It
was pitch black when we woke up to pack the car and had a rushed breakfast. We
drove back to the Skaftafell glacier and national park for a
glacier walk. I was a little bit nervous spending a morning walking on ice but
the crampons stopped me from slipping and sliding too much. The view from
up on the glacier was impressive. The ice cave was smaller than I thought it
would be, and it is hard to grasp the 1000s of years ago that the water and ice
had flowed there to create it. It was a good experience, but I don't think I'd
do it again.
Before
hitting the road back to Reykjavik for the longest drive of our journey we had
another car picnic and started playing our next instalment of the 'name game'
which we played every time we were in the car.
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Skaftafell Glacier (pics taken the day before)
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| Skaftafell |
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| Skaftafell |
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| Beautiful sunrise.. we saw lots of these |
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| Before we start our hike, helmets on |
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| Starting our walk up the glacier |
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| Little moss 'mice' growing on the glacier |
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View from the top with our guide
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| View from the top! |
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Kitted up - coat, crampons, helmet, pick axe (that was just for show!)
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| In the ice cave |
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Glaciers
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| Stunning scenery on the drive as always |
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| Oh so many waterfalls |
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| The cutest shed! |
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A local horse
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| A close up of the cute shed by the water |
We went back to Reykjavik via Gamla Laugin aka the secret
lagoon. We loved it! The thermal pool was so relaxing. We changed into our
swimmers and made the dash into the freezing cold air before plunging into the
warm geothermal water. We floated around for an hour or so with a seasonal
Icelandic beer. I didn't want to get out. I can see how it is so energising for
the Icelandics in all that darkness.
Then
it was back on the road to Reykjavik. We got into town and checked into our
hostel (which I won't ever do again) very late. All the restaurants were shut
so we walked to a famous hot dog stand and had one of the worst (sadly not
wurst) hot dogs I've ever had! Still, it filled us up and back we went to bed.
We
were supposed to be hitting the road pretty early on Thursday but it turned
into a leisurely morning with coffee at Reykjavik Roasters and brunch at
Sandholt bakery. It was back on the road then but this time heading west to the Snaefellsnes
Peninsula.
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Coffee
time at Reykjavik Roasters
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Breakfast
- cinnamon swirl and skyr
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We drove to the small town
of Stykkisholmur. It had
been raining heavily for most of the drive but we did pull over and say hi to
some more horses we passed on the way. To unwind from our long drive we had a
pit stop at a cute little bar, called Sjavarpakkhusid, right at the front of
the equally cute little port. We tried a few of the Einstock winter beers
(that are made especially for the season by a number of local breweries) and
hung out for a couple of hours and then it was time to find our Airbnb. We
stayed in that evening, made spaghetti bolognese, played games and had a fun
time. We popped outside and we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights
above us for the THIRD time! We were in a very rural area so it was pitch
black and the sky had cleared despite the earlier rain. They weren't as
bright as the previously but we still saw the green colours dancing across
the sky.
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The
port of Stykkisholmur
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The
setting of our Airbnb
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Friday
was our day to explore the peninsula and national park. We didn't help
ourselves with a late start and then by accidentally driving in the wrong
direction for an hour. The passing scenery was as stunning this day as every
other day. Our first stop, in the right direction, was a the small town
of Arnarstapi. We were short on time so couldn't do the walk to the
next town from there which we had planned. Instead we jumped into the car and
headed through the national park, past fields of ancient lava flows with big
charcoal boulders to the ocean edge and bird cliffs.
Looping
back around the peninsula we drove down the road that Ben Stiller famously
skateboarded down in the movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It was dark
then so we headed back home, and relaxed for a while at the house. We treated
ourselves to dinner at a recommended restaurant, Narfeyrarstofa, that night.
The fish soup starter was delicious! We had lamb for dinner, and a couple of
glasses of wine (we splashed out - they were €20 each!), and ice cream for
dessert. Believe it or not, on the drive back home, we saw the Northern Lights
for the fourth and last time from the car windows. Back at the house we had
another game of Scrabble.
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Fields
of lava flow covered in moss
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A
passing volcano. We saw quite a few of these.
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Enormous
glaciers and mountains
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Arnarstapi,
waterfalls straight into the sea.
It looked like a scene from an epic movie.
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Not
a very good close up of the waterfalls and birds
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Bardur,
a guardian spirit of the area
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More
mossy lava fields in Snaefellsjokull National Park
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A
lighthouse on the western edge of the Snaefellsness Peninsula
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To kick off Saturday
morning we had breakfast, packed up the car, and drive into town to walk up the
small island, Sugandisey, that sits in front the harbour for a very windy view
across the picturesque town.
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Cute church with candles in the windows in Stykkisholmur
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A
lovely building in town
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On
the little island off Stykkisholmur
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| More pretty scenes from the car window |
We
drove back to Reykjavik and found our very cute little weatherboard apartment.
Kris and I wandered around the town and did a spot of shopping. The boys went
to the pub to watch sport. We couldn't decide what to have for dinner so we
didn't choose - we shared Icelandic fish and chips at one restaurant, and then
shared a burger from Tommi's, followed by ice cream at Valdi. The Icelanders
don't let a bit of cold, rain or snow get in the way of an ice cream!
To
finish up our last night in Iceland we spent a small fortune on a few beers at
Mikkeler & Friends (€15 a pop!) and then Kaffibarinn.
Then
came our very last day. We were up in the pitch black packing the car again,
this time for our 9am start at the Blue Lagoon. It was cold and
foggy as we gingerly removed our bathrobe and slippers to dive into the bright
turquoise water. It was stunning there, the water was warm and the mist of the
early morning, and the sun rise made the whole experience pretty special. We
had clay face marks, and a glass of prosecco as we floated around. After a few
hours we had a delicious lunch at the restaurant which was really good, local
Icelandic food - blue mussels to start, cod for main and poached pears for
dessert.
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The
blue mussels were delicious
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And
then our amazing 10 day trip to Iceland was over. I would definitely go back to
Iceland, especially in the summer to enjoy more of the pools, see the north of
the country and more of that spectacular scenery.
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