Iceland July 2016
Iceland 201611/1/2016
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Iceland- Summer 2016 (This entry under construction...editing and photos coming.)
Iceland is a place that I have long associated with adventure and a keen sense of mystery. I have heard so many great things about Iceland and there are so many photos with such diversity that beckon one to travel there. Its a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time. I approach this trip in a relaxed fashion as it is the only week that I get off this summer. School finishes June 30th and I am on a night flight to Reykjavik the same day. I return to rafting, then to an East coast paddle trip with One Ocean, back to the river, and then another expedition trip to the Arctic and Greenland, followed by another stint in the valley before I return to work in Guidance in Aurora. So, the trip to Iceland is effectively my summer vacation aside from the work that I do in the travel industry which is like traveling, but with a great deal of responsibility and lack of freedom from actually traveling on your own for pleasure.
So, Summer 2016, starts with Iceland. It's a place that has always intrigued me, always a vision of photographic iconic Beauty and curious little country with its unique ways and quirks. There is a lot of global attention to Iceland right now because of its mighty upsets in the Euro Cup. I arrive on a Friday and the team plays on Sunday. That should be something to see. History in the making no doubt. It is a trip planned in order to meet up with my friend Beate who was my roommate in Cape town at the hostel. In Cape town we had several fun adventures together and we’ve managed to keep a close and unique friendship from afar. Luckily for me, her partner Frank has less vacation time than Beate, so this is hopefully one of several adventures to come. Iceland was close to the middle for us to meet.
I have no expectations of Iceland, other than to hopefully have a great time and take in as many interesting sights as possible. I do have a desire to seek out natural hot springs, and to be in Reykjavik on game day, other than this, the only plan I have is for Bea to pick me up from the airport with the rental car.
I Arrived after a five hour flight very tired, and foggy and happy to be there. I was met by Bea at airport with our little white go kart which would be our trusted means of transport for the days to come. Our plan was to attempt to make this an affordable vacation in camping as much as we could or as much as we felt like, or as much as the weather would allow. To cook for ourselves and to see as much as we could.
Day one involved us driving around, very much in a blissful, jet lagged fog. Iceland roads are great driving, very curvy and fast. We discovered that some roads are not accessible by go kart so we need to plan well. We had wanted to access @@@@@@@@@@ but in the the end, we needed to wither hike in or to catch a 4x4 vehicle to get there. So, we moved on and stopped to sleep alongside a farm with horses where we pitched a tent for a few hours to try and shake the jet lag. We stopped in at a hostel for Gas and asked about suggestions in the area and we were directed to some hot springs called the secret lagoon. At the secret lagoon, we enjoyed some relaxation in our tired state. It cost the equivalent of 30 dollars to access this pool. I discovered that the Iceland kroner was approximately 10 times that of Canadian dollars. We quickly discovered that food was moderately more expensive than what we were used to and that attractions and restaurants were considerably more expensive. Following the secret lagoon, we camped on the edge of an airstrip it was nice and flat and quiet there. It was a short distance from a campground that we visited in the morning to wash dishes and replenish our fresh water supply which was essential for cooking on the fly. We initially had an issue with having enough carrying capacity for water as our nalgene bottles were otherwise occupied with wine that we imported to top off our bags at 50 pounds. (Bea brought 5 liters and I brought 6)…This was the perfect amount and lasted us right through to the last night…great budgeting.
Day 2- We visited Gullfoss which is a super interesting and beautiful waterfall. The water falls in a typical way and then the river turns into a deep canyon, its a really unique topography and very picturesque. The geyser was really cool, but its exactly as you would expect it to be. There was a really nice hike at the Geyzir, that ultimately was nicer than the actual Geyzir. As the day progressed, we made our way to a place that was one of the absolute highlights of the trip. We went to the town of Hveragerdii. This is a hot spot of the map with many, many hot pots. Its a place where you really must stay on the path as you might be at risk of steeping into the wrong spot. Its easy to melt your soles on your shoes here. We spotted all of the host springs on the map and decided to go there and seek local knowledge about where there might be a swimmable spring. (We learned already that simply because there is a hot spring that it might not necessarily be locatable or even safe. We took a 3 km hike up into the mountains where we passed by several bubbling cauldrons of boiling muddy water we climbed on and on and arrived at a shallow lazy river. This is a magical, magical place. The stream had rocks piled into different segments to form little mini pools where you could climb into and claim for yourself, we arrived in the evening as the midnight sun continued to shine on strongly. As one bathed higher up into the source of the hot spring, the water was hotter, and as cold springs tributes into the spring, there was a cooling affect. We found a place in the spring that was the prefect temperature for the air temperature that day. We spent many hours snacking, drinking wine and soaking up mud facials and the sights of people watching as bathers came and went. It was a really casual vibe and I found it fun to be in such a laid back space, with no official washrooms, change rooms, entry fees or rules about bathing suits. It seemed most people there were campers or backpackers, several people with smaller tents camped up top.This place felt very much like a paddlers event. We finished at the pool about 12 am and we were surprised to see many people still arriving to the river at this time. That night, we camped at the foot of the mountain. The view from the tent was amazing. In summer months, there are sooooo many places to camp. I cant understand why one would pay money to camp in an official camp ground where people and tents and campers are packed in there and you can hear the coming of and going of people at all times of day and night. It was strongly my preference to use campgrounds as a shower stop and sometimes a dishwashing, water stop for a nominal charge.
Day 3- From this town, we were only an hour and a half from the capital of Reykjavik. This was an important day to be in the capital as it was game day for Iceland in the Euro cup. The home team had just won a huge victory of David and Goliath in beating England against all odds to earn a spot in the quarter finals against France. The population of Iceland is just over 330,00 people….similar in population to London Ontario, It is a country that has more volcanoes than professional soccer players. The team is known for being incredibly tightly knit and scrappy and tough to play based on the fact that there is no expectation of them. The Icelandic people are bursting with National pride for their team at this time. We found the main stage for the masses to gather to join in on the Viking pride. There was a huge gathering with massive screen on a hill where everyone gathered to unite, cheer and to do the unison I clap. Many cheers of Iceland (eeesland). In the end, Iceland was no match for the dominant team from France, loosing 5-2, it was a valiant effort on the underdogs part. In lands of midnight sun, evening lighting is beautiful and confusing. Its very easy to change ones internal clock. There is much more nocturnal behaviour. One example is spas open till 1 am as there is demand for late hours because people stay up late. We would commonly wake at 11 am- 12 noon local time and stay awake till 2 am, We ended up keeping a four hour severance from real time, this would never be a choice for me in normal lighting conditions. There is beauty in Iceland in every direction. Beauty is diverse and constantly changing. It ranges from moon like terrain, to valleys, mountains, fields, rivers, streams, glaciers, volcanoes, icebergs and so much more.
Icelandic horses are super cool, they are everywhere, they are frisky, and active. Its common to see movie like settings with the horses running, with wind in their manes in groups along mountains sides.
On Day 4, we attempted to go to the Blue Lagoon. It was clear very quickly what a massive tourist attraction this was. It was filled to capacity and there were no more people permitted in. We learned that pricing was on a sliding scale driven by supply and demand. Pricing ranged from 40 Euro to 70 E for the basic get in the door access to pools and a facial. We decided to make a booking for the blue lagoon for our last day of the trip since we needed to be near Reykjavik anyhow. So instead we drove to Vik.
Vik is a neat little town East of the capital. It boasts beautiful black sand beaches. Enroute to Vik there are a couple of Gorgeous waterfalls and beautiful scenery in every direction. We found a nice place to camp at the volcanic beaches. There was no one else around. We very much had the place to ourselves.
Other than for the purpose of bathing and washing dishes, I see no reason to stay at camp grounds in Iceland….unless you are traveling on your own I suppose. There was a campground that many people were staying at, which was nice, but our beach spot was far more beautiful and free of cost.
Day 5 was fun in that we hiked up the coastal mountains at Vik. There was a beautiful view of towering basalt cliffs, green green pastures and white waves on a black beach. We weren't really sure what we wanted to do with the rest of this day, so we decided to gain internet access and read over some suggestions that were sent to me via email. It seemed like Hot springs were a popular choice to date on this trip and one of the suggestions that was included in the email was a hot spring swimming pool that was very close to Vik and located toward the glacier and volcano section of road that we had driven by, but hadn't stopped at, so we agreed to go to the pool in Seljavellir. It is off the 242 road (Off of hwy 1) It is a long straight road that looks like a long farm driveway. It goes and it goes until the road ends into a couple of parking lots. To the right of where the road ends is a horseshoe mountain valley that wraps around itself. We followed a path next to a shallow river and made our way to a very rustic pool. The pool itself was constructed of cinder blocks and had natural green organic build up on the walls, but the spring water, hot and cold was continuously flowing so it was fresh. We stayed here for a very long time. It was one of the most beautiful places to spend time. We departed from this pool very late at night and found a great camping site very close to the volcano visitors centre next to a river with a view of the mountains, volcano and glacier. Brilliant!
On Day 6, we woke up in front of the ….glacier, started our day with coffee and made our usual omelette breakfast with cheese and veggies and sausage. We hadn’t really decided where we wanted to go, so we agreed that one of our favorite places on the trip was to the hot springs, lazy river in Hveragerdi. so that is where we went! We stopped to do a little wool shopping since wool is a good deal in Iceland. We hiked in spent til 2am there met some German guys there and did some exploring of the different pools and the area. We have it entirely to ourselves, It was magical
After our late night at the hot springs, we slept in and awoke to another beautiful sunny day. We went to a geothermal bakery that uses hot spring water to cook all of their food.
Our trip was drawing to a close so we went back to see Reykjavik, to and to go to the Blue Lagoon. In Reykjavik it was back to a normal day there, and very different from the soccer vibe. The shops were cool, but all seemed to sell the same touristy items. We stopped and had a nice lunch before heading to the blue lagoon. The Blue Lagoon turned out to be a tourist trap. The color of the water is amazing and thats about it. It is caused by the white clay in the area and the water has a milky blue hue. The water is naturally cold so there is a bunch of heaters making it a “hot spring”. There are so many tourists who I am sure pee in the water with great frequency. The clay from there is harvested, refined and sold in their very expensive gift shop. Entry into the Lagoon gives you access to the facial clay. We ended up sneaking in a nalgene of water and wine and after having drank the wine, we loaded up the 1 liter nalgene with this very expensive clay. The clay retailed for 100ml being 100 Euro, so we were pretty keen on walking out with that to take home. The pricing for the lagoon was 60 Euro and its on a sliding scale of business. Of all of the places we waded in, this is the least favorite. I recommend not going to the blue lagoon, but to drive there and to wade in the water right next to it and acquire your own blue mud. For our last night, we slept in the same field near the airport with a view of the ocean and with the Icelandic horses. a field, airport.
It was sad to end this trip, we had such a great time …………
Thoughts on Ice...laid back, chill pal, multicolored bails of hay. - lucky weather, rapid changes in weather. Rapids changes in landscape. 1 cop the entire time. Expensive to eat out, but reasonable to grocery shop. Wool is a good deal.√
0 Comments
Iceland- Summer 2016 (This entry under construction...editing and photos coming.)
Iceland is a place that I have long associated with adventure and a keen sense of mystery. I have heard so many great things about Iceland and there are so many photos with such diversity that beckon one to travel there. Its a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time. I approach this trip in a relaxed fashion as it is the only week that I get off this summer. School finishes June 30th and I am on a night flight to Reykjavik the same day. I return to rafting, then to an East coast paddle trip with One Ocean, back to the river, and then another expedition trip to the Arctic and Greenland, followed by another stint in the valley before I return to work in Guidance in Aurora. So, the trip to Iceland is effectively my summer vacation aside from the work that I do in the travel industry which is like traveling, but with a great deal of responsibility and lack of freedom from actually traveling on your own for pleasure.
So, Summer 2016, starts with Iceland. It's a place that has always intrigued me, always a vision of photographic iconic Beauty and curious little country with its unique ways and quirks. There is a lot of global attention to Iceland right now because of its mighty upsets in the Euro Cup. I arrive on a Friday and the team plays on Sunday. That should be something to see. History in the making no doubt. It is a trip planned in order to meet up with my friend Beate who was my roommate in Cape town at the hostel. In Cape town we had several fun adventures together and we’ve managed to keep a close and unique friendship from afar. Luckily for me, her partner Frank has less vacation time than Beate, so this is hopefully one of several adventures to come. Iceland was close to the middle for us to meet.
I have no expectations of Iceland, other than to hopefully have a great time and take in as many interesting sights as possible. I do have a desire to seek out natural hot springs, and to be in Reykjavik on game day, other than this, the only plan I have is for Bea to pick me up from the airport with the rental car.
I Arrived after a five hour flight very tired, and foggy and happy to be there. I was met by Bea at airport with our little white go kart which would be our trusted means of transport for the days to come. Our plan was to attempt to make this an affordable vacation in camping as much as we could or as much as we felt like, or as much as the weather would allow. To cook for ourselves and to see as much as we could.
Day one involved us driving around, very much in a blissful, jet lagged fog. Iceland roads are great driving, very curvy and fast. We discovered that some roads are not accessible by go kart so we need to plan well. We had wanted to access @@@@@@@@@@ but in the the end, we needed to wither hike in or to catch a 4x4 vehicle to get there. So, we moved on and stopped to sleep alongside a farm with horses where we pitched a tent for a few hours to try and shake the jet lag. We stopped in at a hostel for Gas and asked about suggestions in the area and we were directed to some hot springs called the secret lagoon. At the secret lagoon, we enjoyed some relaxation in our tired state. It cost the equivalent of 30 dollars to access this pool. I discovered that the Iceland kroner was approximately 10 times that of Canadian dollars. We quickly discovered that food was moderately more expensive than what we were used to and that attractions and restaurants were considerably more expensive. Following the secret lagoon, we camped on the edge of an airstrip it was nice and flat and quiet there. It was a short distance from a campground that we visited in the morning to wash dishes and replenish our fresh water supply which was essential for cooking on the fly. We initially had an issue with having enough carrying capacity for water as our nalgene bottles were otherwise occupied with wine that we imported to top off our bags at 50 pounds. (Bea brought 5 liters and I brought 6)…This was the perfect amount and lasted us right through to the last night…great budgeting.
Day 2- We visited Gullfoss which is a super interesting and beautiful waterfall. The water falls in a typical way and then the river turns into a deep canyon, its a really unique topography and very picturesque. The geyser was really cool, but its exactly as you would expect it to be. There was a really nice hike at the Geyzir, that ultimately was nicer than the actual Geyzir. As the day progressed, we made our way to a place that was one of the absolute highlights of the trip. We went to the town of Hveragerdii. This is a hot spot of the map with many, many hot pots. Its a place where you really must stay on the path as you might be at risk of steeping into the wrong spot. Its easy to melt your soles on your shoes here. We spotted all of the host springs on the map and decided to go there and seek local knowledge about where there might be a swimmable spring. (We learned already that simply because there is a hot spring that it might not necessarily be locatable or even safe. We took a 3 km hike up into the mountains where we passed by several bubbling cauldrons of boiling muddy water we climbed on and on and arrived at a shallow lazy river. This is a magical, magical place. The stream had rocks piled into different segments to form little mini pools where you could climb into and claim for yourself, we arrived in the evening as the midnight sun continued to shine on strongly. As one bathed higher up into the source of the hot spring, the water was hotter, and as cold springs tributes into the spring, there was a cooling affect. We found a place in the spring that was the prefect temperature for the air temperature that day. We spent many hours snacking, drinking wine and soaking up mud facials and the sights of people watching as bathers came and went. It was a really casual vibe and I found it fun to be in such a laid back space, with no official washrooms, change rooms, entry fees or rules about bathing suits. It seemed most people there were campers or backpackers, several people with smaller tents camped up top.This place felt very much like a paddlers event. We finished at the pool about 12 am and we were surprised to see many people still arriving to the river at this time. That night, we camped at the foot of the mountain. The view from the tent was amazing. In summer months, there are sooooo many places to camp. I cant understand why one would pay money to camp in an official camp ground where people and tents and campers are packed in there and you can hear the coming of and going of people at all times of day and night. It was strongly my preference to use campgrounds as a shower stop and sometimes a dishwashing, water stop for a nominal charge.
Day 3- From this town, we were only an hour and a half from the capital of Reykjavik. This was an important day to be in the capital as it was game day for Iceland in the Euro cup. The home team had just won a huge victory of David and Goliath in beating England against all odds to earn a spot in the quarter finals against France. The population of Iceland is just over 330,00 people….similar in population to London Ontario, It is a country that has more volcanoes than professional soccer players. The team is known for being incredibly tightly knit and scrappy and tough to play based on the fact that there is no expectation of them. The Icelandic people are bursting with National pride for their team at this time. We found the main stage for the masses to gather to join in on the Viking pride. There was a huge gathering with massive screen on a hill where everyone gathered to unite, cheer and to do the unison I clap. Many cheers of Iceland (eeesland). In the end, Iceland was no match for the dominant team from France, loosing 5-2, it was a valiant effort on the underdogs part. In lands of midnight sun, evening lighting is beautiful and confusing. Its very easy to change ones internal clock. There is much more nocturnal behaviour. One example is spas open till 1 am as there is demand for late hours because people stay up late. We would commonly wake at 11 am- 12 noon local time and stay awake till 2 am, We ended up keeping a four hour severance from real time, this would never be a choice for me in normal lighting conditions. There is beauty in Iceland in every direction. Beauty is diverse and constantly changing. It ranges from moon like terrain, to valleys, mountains, fields, rivers, streams, glaciers, volcanoes, icebergs and so much more.
Icelandic horses are super cool, they are everywhere, they are frisky, and active. Its common to see movie like settings with the horses running, with wind in their manes in groups along mountains sides.
On Day 4, we attempted to go to the Blue Lagoon. It was clear very quickly what a massive tourist attraction this was. It was filled to capacity and there were no more people permitted in. We learned that pricing was on a sliding scale driven by supply and demand. Pricing ranged from 40 Euro to 70 E for the basic get in the door access to pools and a facial. We decided to make a booking for the blue lagoon for our last day of the trip since we needed to be near Reykjavik anyhow. So instead we drove to Vik.
Vik is a neat little town East of the capital. It boasts beautiful black sand beaches. Enroute to Vik there are a couple of Gorgeous waterfalls and beautiful scenery in every direction. We found a nice place to camp at the volcanic beaches. There was no one else around. We very much had the place to ourselves.
Other than for the purpose of bathing and washing dishes, I see no reason to stay at camp grounds in Iceland….unless you are traveling on your own I suppose. There was a campground that many people were staying at, which was nice, but our beach spot was far more beautiful and free of cost.
Day 5 was fun in that we hiked up the coastal mountains at Vik. There was a beautiful view of towering basalt cliffs, green green pastures and white waves on a black beach. We weren't really sure what we wanted to do with the rest of this day, so we decided to gain internet access and read over some suggestions that were sent to me via email. It seemed like Hot springs were a popular choice to date on this trip and one of the suggestions that was included in the email was a hot spring swimming pool that was very close to Vik and located toward the glacier and volcano section of road that we had driven by, but hadn't stopped at, so we agreed to go to the pool in Seljavellir. It is off the 242 road (Off of hwy 1) It is a long straight road that looks like a long farm driveway. It goes and it goes until the road ends into a couple of parking lots. To the right of where the road ends is a horseshoe mountain valley that wraps around itself. We followed a path next to a shallow river and made our way to a very rustic pool. The pool itself was constructed of cinder blocks and had natural green organic build up on the walls, but the spring water, hot and cold was continuously flowing so it was fresh. We stayed here for a very long time. It was one of the most beautiful places to spend time. We departed from this pool very late at night and found a great camping site very close to the volcano visitors centre next to a river with a view of the mountains, volcano and glacier. Brilliant!
On Day 6, we woke up in front of the ….glacier, started our day with coffee and made our usual omelette breakfast with cheese and veggies and sausage. We hadn’t really decided where we wanted to go, so we agreed that one of our favorite places on the trip was to the hot springs, lazy river in Hveragerdi. so that is where we went! We stopped to do a little wool shopping since wool is a good deal in Iceland. We hiked in spent til 2am there met some German guys there and did some exploring of the different pools and the area. We have it entirely to ourselves, It was magical
After our late night at the hot springs, we slept in and awoke to another beautiful sunny day. We went to a geothermal bakery that uses hot spring water to cook all of their food.
Our trip was drawing to a close so we went back to see Reykjavik, to and to go to the Blue Lagoon. In Reykjavik it was back to a normal day there, and very different from the soccer vibe. The shops were cool, but all seemed to sell the same touristy items. We stopped and had a nice lunch before heading to the blue lagoon. The Blue Lagoon turned out to be a tourist trap. The color of the water is amazing and thats about it. It is caused by the white clay in the area and the water has a milky blue hue. The water is naturally cold so there is a bunch of heaters making it a “hot spring”. There are so many tourists who I am sure pee in the water with great frequency. The clay from there is harvested, refined and sold in their very expensive gift shop. Entry into the Lagoon gives you access to the facial clay. We ended up sneaking in a nalgene of water and wine and after having drank the wine, we loaded up the 1 liter nalgene with this very expensive clay. The clay retailed for 100ml being 100 Euro, so we were pretty keen on walking out with that to take home. The pricing for the lagoon was 60 Euro and its on a sliding scale of business. Of all of the places we waded in, this is the least favorite. I recommend not going to the blue lagoon, but to drive there and to wade in the water right next to it and acquire your own blue mud. For our last night, we slept in the same field near the airport with a view of the ocean and with the Icelandic horses. a field, airport.
It was sad to end this trip, we had such a great time …………
Thoughts on Ice...laid back, chill pal, multicolored bails of hay. - lucky weather, rapid changes in weather. Rapids changes in landscape. 1 cop the entire time. Expensive to eat out, but reasonable to grocery shop. Wool is a good deal.√