Iceland2

The flight over was beautiful, the red sun across the clouds looked like lava flowing across the sky (Stella missed this because she was the only one sleeping).  Because we were flying Northeast, the sun set, in fact the whole time we were in Iceland it got as dark as a late afternoon dusk. Very weird and it played havoc with our body clocks. We arrived in Iceland very early in the am after only a 5.5 hr flight. We were sooooo tired.  We spent the first day having a look around Reykjavic and sleeping!  We quickly worked out a couple of very important Icelandic words: kaffihaus and bakkeri!!!  Once we knew where they were, we were set!  We were initially worried about the language – too many consonants next too each other…. It was hard to work out what was inside many of the buildings and shops, but we didn’t need to worry about communication.  Almost everyone in Reykjavic spoke very clear british-sounding english and were so friendly and happy to help!  On the second day we drove north-west to the fjordlands.  The drive up there was spectacular, so raw and dramatic.  One minute lush green fields, which would end abruptly in a pile of dramatic black rocks from a real lava flow!  Driving through the fjordlands was amazing.  We would drive along a fjord, which would have a tiny village on the edge of the water, maybe 10-20 (sometimes fewer) houses in the shadow of the mountain.  Then we would drive up over the mountain to the next fjord.  Going up the mountains, the green very quickly gives away to rock.  Just rock.  We felt like we were driving on the moon.  A lot of the roads were gravel, with sheer drops off the side of the road, and very few guard-rails bordering the roads.  Driving was an adrenalin rush!  …. At least for us, the kids just played games in the back oblivious to the sheer cliffs either side of us!  Although they did get excited by sheep-that-look-a lot-like-goats on the side of the cliffs!  On the third and last day, we had planned to go on a whale and puffin-watching trip before driving back to Reykjavic.  But sadly the weather closed in, so the whale watching was cancelled.  And because of that, we got to drive back across one of the mountains in the clouds – just to add to the adrenlin rush!  We then caught a car ferry back towards Reykjavic, which gave us a bit of a rest from the adrenalin-pumping drive.  The ferry stopped at Flatey island, a tiny island with only a handful of houses on it.  The only people that live on the island full time, are two farmers, who apparently are always fighting over women or money so don’t talk to each other!  We ended our trip in Iceland with a long soak in the blue lagoon, Rob and I sipping champagne and all of us caking ourselves in the silica mud.  The lagoon is a thermal bath that has been created in the very dramatic background of a lava flow.  

wildflower explosion..

Ajouter une légende

One of the main streets in Reykyavik
This photo was taken around 1045 PM! We really are in the land of the midnight sun!

The flat coastal strip north of the capital

Plenty of glacial meltwater

The new concerthall in Reykyavik, the "Harpa"

Blue lagoon hot baths- note the cut lava bricks

water 28C, outside air 6C!

I want to live there!

Blue lagoon.... on our way to France!

The blue water against the black rocks looks amazing and felt even better!   We finally dragged ourselves out of the hot water to head for the airport and our 1.00am flight to Paris.  We landed 3 hours later into peak-hour Paris traffic! 

Our only regret about the Iceland trip is that it was too short!  We would have loved to go on that whale watching trip, or a trail ride on their little Icelandic ponies through the mountains!  There was so much to see and do!  It is expensive though.  Fuel for the car was about 40% more than Australian prices, which means about 4 times as much as US prices!  Food and accommodation were also more like Australian prices, if not more.  Tourism is becoming a big industry there, and even out in the country, they were well set up for tourists.