Iceland march 2015

Iceland trip 19th March 2015 - 24 March 2015

Day 1 -

Arrived at Heathrow airport around 10am and had a lovely full English breakfast

in the Harlequin pub.

We took off on time..

Unfortunately Kat's TV didn't work so they gave her an ipad to watch movies on.

Soft drinks were free but anything else cost extra but we'd already eaten so didn't need anything.

After landing and getting through passport control we were eventually picked up by Sixt car hire to take us to get our hire car.

We were informed that the car had no damage but i was going to photograph and film it anyway,

We got to the car and noticed the massive dent and scratches along the passenger side

so i went back in and got them to come out and note down any damage while i filmed.

We got into Reykjavik around 6pm and checked in, as before i had upgraded to a superior room so i had room to swing a cat because standard rooms in hotel cabin are tiny, I'd picked the same room as last time because of the great view.

We sorted our things out and went down to the buffet dinner which costs 1920 isk each around £9.50, it's basic but fills you up.

I got my camera gear and after checking the cloud cover using the now free (although terrible) wifi and then headed out in the car towards the blue lagoon which was going to be clear of cloud and dark for the northern lights.

After about an hour the lights appeared in all their glory with some purple and red as well as the green, it was a treat and i took a lot of photo's.

We got back around midnight for a well earned rest.

Day 2 -

This was the day of the total eclipse although we were only going to get 99.7% which is good enough for me.

After a good breakfast we headed to þingvellir national park 

and i set my tripod up on the viewing platform which overlooks the park, the sun was shining bright with only a few tiny clouds about, i was able to photograph the entire duration of the eclipse

, it was amazing, and i made a time-lapse of it.

We headed down into the park for a walk to the waterfall and around the crystal clear waters.

We then headed to Geysir geothermal area to see Strokkur which is a geyser which erupts around every 7 mins to a very impressive height.

We stopped off at a supermarket shortly before to get some food as i knew the food at Geysir would be expensive.

Next we headed to Gullfoss waterfall and parked right down the bottom by the falls, this completed our tour of the golden circle so we headed back to the city.

We ate in the hotel again and was planning on using our northern lights coach tour voucher but all tours had been cancelled due to bad weather so we walked into the city centre which is around a 20 min walk

, we had a look around some shops and were thinking about going in a bar but there were lots of groups of people from the EVE online fan fest going on organized pub crawls so it was crowded everywhere, instead we stopped in a 10-11 shop to buy some drink, the can only sell alcohol up to 2.25% in normal shops so we had to make do with that, we went back to the hotel for a quiet evening drinking and watching rubbish tv.

Day 3 -

After breakfast we headed out towards Snæfellsnes peninsula, you normally go through a 6km long tunnel under the Hvalfjörður fjord at Borgarnes which costs 1000isk each way but i wanted to drive around the fjord because there are a lot of little waterfalls along the way 

and when you reach the tip of the fjord there is a little gravel road which leads to a car park where you can walk to Glymur waterfall which is Europe's highest falls at 615 feet, i climbed to the top of it on my last trip but wanted to see it from the bottom this time, we climbed down the steps and through the caves 

to get to the water where you walk up the the falls, you eventually reach a steel cable across the water which you use to walk across it but because of the snow melt and rain ,the water was too deep and fast flowing to even attempt to cross 

so we had to go back, just before we got to the car there was a sudden downpour of freezing rain, we got soaked.

We then carried on in the car, stopping to feed some Icelandic horses our cinnamon rolls, who knew they'd enjoy them so much.

We carried on and stopped at an inlet which is full of icebergs, you can walk on it if you're very careful but it's a great sight to see and photograph.

We continued along and up into the mountain pass over the peninsula where we stopped to look at another waterfall,

by this time Kat was getting bored of them i think.

We then headed to Stykkishólmur which is a little port town where they filmed some of 'The secret life of Walter mitty' i took some photo's of the different scenes from the film before heading home,

we had planned to drive around the peninsula but it was already getting late.

Back at the hotel the northern lights tour had been cancelled again but after checking the cloud cover and activity i couldn't understand why so we headed out anyway.

Kat had got bored of the hotel buffet so we stopped at Taco bell and had a box meal each which was nice but way too much food.

We parked at the same spot as the first night and not long after, the lights showed up even brighter than the first night although mainly just green but very impressive.

We got back around 1am for a well earned rest.

Day 4 -

Today we decided to drive the south shore tour, going through the mountain pass you could see just how much snow the recent storm had brought, the first stop is the waterfall Seljalandsfoss but we stopped for coffee and to see more horses.

Last time there was snow and ice everywhere but this time i was able to walk up the steps and go behind the waterfall even if it was a bit slippery going, Kat wasn't sure but managed to make it too and once behind the falls i asked her to marry me which she thought was a joke for the next 30 mins.

We carried on walking along to the other smaller falls near by 

and once back at the car i gave her the ring 

which was too small so I'm going to have to get it enlarged.

The next stop was Skogarfoss where i was able to get a good photo of the falls with a rainbow behind it, something that i had seen in books but was unable to get last trip due to bad weather.

We then continued along to another waterfall in the same town which isn't advertised to tourists but it really should be as it's very impressive.

Our next stop was Sólheimajökull glacier tongue, you have to drive down a very bumpy gravel track to get to a car park 4km down but you can park before that and walk up to the glacier, we didn't go all the way but just enough to see it in the distance and get a couple of photo's.

The last stop was the black sand beach just before you reach Vik, you go down a small road through Reynisdrangar and get to a car park at the bottom where there is also a really nice cafe where we ate late lunch.

We then walked down to the beach to see the limestone cliffs in all their glory,

the sea was creating some very nice waves which i spent far too long taking photo's of,

There were some guys with a DJI S1000 Octocopter and a DJI Inspire filming for a 360 degree virtual reality sim, I have a DJI myself so I was quite interested in this.

We then headed back as there really isn't much to see in Vik, when we reached the mountain pass just before Reykjavik we were first hit by rain, then sleet, then hail and finally a white out of heavy snow which was fun.

Kat fancied a rest from the Lights so we stopped to get some low alcohol drink from the 10-11 store and I dropped her off at the hotel before heading out to the spot near the Blue Lagoon again, although there was a large clear spot above I could see a storm cloud heading towards the area,

after about 10 mins is was heavy snow, so I drove up to Grindavik and around the peninsula and found more clear sky but no sign of the lights, I waited a while before heading back to the last spot where it had now stopped snowing but there was still a lot of cloud about. I took a couple of long exposures and could see the glow in a gap between the clouds 

but it wasn't going to get any better so I headed back to the hotel.

Day 5 -

We didn't need to get up as early today , after breakfast we drove into the centre of the city to have a look round at the sights and look at souvenirs , I took some photo's of some of the amazing graffiti .

We headed to a quaint little cafe near Hallgrímskirkja church which is the main one on the hill shaped like a rocket, the cafe was called Babalu 

it sell lovely home made sandwiches and cakes and has a random starwars themed toilet which is pretty cool, We had cheesecake and hot chocolate which was divine.

We then headed up to the church to take some photo's 

and have a look inside 

before heading back down towards the harbour for more photo's 

and finally back in the car.

We had a bit of time to kill so had lunch in American style on the way to the blue lagoon.

The lagoon is still as wonderful as the last time I went, some people moan about the cost but I don't think £26 is much for as long as you like in a geothermal lake which has a sauna and steam room and a bar in the actual lake where you can enjoy a beer or wine.

We had only been in there for 30 mins before Jimmy Carr randomly swam past us, he said he had a couple of shows in Reykjavik and was just relaxing before the final one.

We left around 8pm and drove to Grindavik to get some food before heading towards Þorlákshöfn along the road going east along the southern edge of the southern peninsula, it's very empty along that road , we pulled in next to a little track and not long after the lights appeared and it wasn't dark yet but they were quite bright and making some very interesting patterns and doing the curtaining effect for the first time on our trip.

After an hour I wanted to get back to a safer area before the temperature dropped too much so we drove back to the lagoon and stopped again, the lights sprang up once more and this time with some purple and red, 

it was a great end to a great holiday.

Day 6 -

We had breakfast and checked out before heading down to the centre one last time for souvenirs and a hotdog.

We dropped the car off at the airport and wandered around before it was sadly time to leave, the flight was on time 

but this time neither of our TV's worked, the last 3 rows of the plane has issues, the restarted the system and Kat's came back on but mine didn't so I just started to write this blog :)

All in all another amazing trip to Iceland and I can't wait to come back for a 4^th time.