03/07/18 Last night, I tried hard to fall asleep, but 3 guys out of 4 in the room snored really badly. In sequence. Another group was also talking loud in the hallway, and as the temperature was too hot in the bedroom we had to leave it open, which didn’t help with the soundproofing. Around 2.30am, I was so pissed I asked the receptionist if there was another bed/room available, and they moved me to a girls only room where I could finally rest for a few hours, as I had to leave at 7.30am. I didn’t know I could be so angry for not sleeping, I guess I am not young anymore.
Today I am flying to Reykjavik, where I booked a car for my stay and a room (single!) for the first night to make sure I sleep well before going on the road for 2 weeks. I changed some euros for Icelandic Krones at Dublin airport, where the rate was better than most places in the city.
After landing, a shuttle took me to the car rent desk. I had to call my bank to raise the limit of my bank credit card so the car agency could block enough money as an insurance. Luckily for me, I transferred money before the call so they could see I had the money available, so the lady made an exception apparently. Then with my blue Hyundai I drove through the city, bought some groceries and spent 1 night in a minuscule room. I also went to the tourist info centre to grab maps and brochures to guide me for the next 2 weeks.
04/07/18 14 degrees today. I put a few extra layers and I stopped first by Perlan, an interactive museum close to the city. There are exhibitions on volcanoes, glaciers, an ice cave (-15 degrees) and a panoramic view on Reykjavik. As an area of the museum is under construction, the ticket was discounted half price. Later, I went to the ON power plant, which produces electricity and hot water to Iceland using natural geothermal activity. 99,9% of Iceland homes are heated by geothermal heat! They also have recorded the sound of a few big earthquakes that happened in the country.
Later, I found a camping hostel in Hafnarfjörður which has open bathroom access so I parked there for the night, and slept in the car with my sleeping bag. 8 degrees is not warm but manageable.
05/07/18 Today I went to Gunnuhver, a geothermal area. Steam is getting off the ground at a temperature of around 100 degrees. The air smells like in my chemistry lab, when we played with hydrogen sulfide – it smells like rotten egg ?. Later I explored the Reykjanes peninsula and stopped by a few places like the Valahnúkur mountain and the bridge between 2 continents, symbol of 2 tectonic plates who separated North America and Europe a long time ago. I stopped by Gardur to have lunch, see the beach and the lighthouse on the top west point. The landscape around Reykjavik is lunar, full of rocks and bumps. As there is only about 300 000 habitants in Iceland, you rarely cross cars on the roads. There is only 1 main road, route 1, which circles around the country, Limited at max of 90km/h. Some smaller ones, leading to most attractions are not always made for standard cars as they are gravel roads. This has been quite challenging for my little Hyundai sometimes. Finally, some are for 4WD only and are mostly in the center and in the Westland part of the country. For those, I will have to come back and explore with what they call here a super jeep, driving monsters mounted on tyres wider than the car, useful particularly around volcanoes and glaciers, during hard winter conditions. Brice, you would love it! Australian vehicles I am used to, made for adventure are very different, obviously made for different landscapes.
At 5pm, the only booking available in the next 3 days, I had dinner at the Blue Lagoon restaurant, went for the 3 courses option as this might be my only Icelandic food experience and it was delicious (langoustine soup, cod and strawberries). Fine dinning and great portions are served here, with a view on the Blue Lagoon itself. It is built on a natural geothermal site, the water there is milky blue due to the silica. The most weird and beautiful natural water colour I have seen so far. It is known for its health benefits and attracts tourists from all over the world. I could not resist the number 1 attraction here. With 8 degrees outside, you can swim in a 40 degrees water. There is a mask bar and a bar inside the pool, a steam bath and a sauna next to it. A bit pricey but worth it!
Later I chased the midnight sun as the weather forecast didn’t look great for the next week or so, and went to the Sun Voyager, a sculpture by the sea, famous for sunsets. I found a camping site where I could access the bathroom and slept a few hours there.
06/07/18 This morning, I will start moving south and explore waterfalls. I drove along the beautiful Pingvellir national park on my way to Geysir, where a popular geyser throws water in the air every few minutes. Hot steam is coming from the ground here and there. The site was a little disappointing without the snow, but it was still nice to witness this natural phenomenon.
The first waterfall stop is Gullfoss. A lot of tourists but a beautiful stop. The gift shop there was the cheapest I have seen so far. The second waterfall is Urridafoss, a bit less impressive, less crowded too, still beautiful. I drove close to the Helka volcano to get a picture but the map mentioned that the nice roads are 4WD only so I drove back towards the coast and stopped by a camping site in Hvolsvöllur for the night. I learnt my lesson on the west coast of Australia and didn’t want to get stuck with my vehicle in the middle of nowhere. I have done a lot of driving and I am tired so I will watch an episode of the series 3% then will try to sleep at the back of the car.
07/07/18 I booked a ticket for the Lava museum, to watch a film on volcanoes, learnt about eruptions, earthquakes and how the landscape of iceland is constantly changing. Iceland is indeed a land of fire and ice! An eruption means extreme conditions for the people but also the animals in the area. There are 30 active volcanoes in Iceland! Earthquakes happen every day but are small ones – about 0.5 on the Richter scale. They can be due to 3 types of earth movement: 2 plates moving apart from each other, 2 plates moving on 2 opposite directions along a breach, or magma pushing from below trying to find an exit through the surface.
Then I stopped by Gluggafoss (foss means waterfall if you haven’t figured that out yet). There is a hiking path on the side I decided to climb before having lunch in the car. I really needed to do some exercise. Despite all the flies and the mud, it was nice to get my heart pumping a little. I had a little nap in the car as I started to feel sleepy (try to sleep at the back of a small car for 3 nights when you are 1.80m tall).
There are lot of things I would like to do in the south region but the weather forecast is not great for the next week. Snow quads, ice caves, glacier walks, glacier kayaking… but 8-11 degrees with rain is not cool, I am not well equipped for that. Booking is not full so I will wait for a day or two and see if the weather gets better, I will focus on small free stops for the time being.
Next, I moved to the waterfall of Seljalandsfoss, which is 65m high and there is a pathway to walk behind it (and get wet). Parking here is paid, and there is a coffee shop and mini gift shop. Then I drove along the massive and famous Eyjafjallanjoküll volcano (I should learn how to pronounce this one), the one who erupted in 2010 and blocked the european sky for days.
Another waterfall stop in Skojar, which was very similar to Gluggafoss this morning, and under the rain I am not keen to climb this one, I am already freezing on the parking.
Last stop in Dyrhólaey is a lot more interesting, as this is where I found the famous black sand beach. From the view point, we can see it nicely. Unfortunately, due to some danger of the cliff falling, the access to the beach was closed. It is weird how a black beach can still be beautiful.
I then park at a camping site in Vik, the only village before next attraction area which is about 60km away. There is a grocery store where I will be able to refill in the morning.
08/07/18 I drove up to Fjadrárgljúfur Canyon, 100m deep and 2km long. The sun appeared between big grey clouds for 5 min.
