Last minute decision to head to Iceland on the first weekend in June. The original intention to go to the Epsom Derby Day fell through when tickets were sold out. So in my wisdom I booked tickets to Iceland instead..such a far cry from the glamour of the races! Anyway, even managed to find substantially cheaper tickets out of Stanstead and was lucky with hotel accommodation too! So where does the costs come in? The tours! We elected for a private tour since 1 day to capture the essence of the country was not sufficient. On the agenda were volcanoes, waterfalls, glaciers. So much to see, so little time...
Bright and early Saturday morning (after a restless sleep...Icelandics don't stop partying - sunset at 3am does not allow for it! Not to mention the thin walls & windows allowing external noise pollution in! Requested for a change of room in the morning.. we were offerred their "most expensive room"... RIGHT. Nothing special at all... and still the noise filtered in!) we waited for our tour guide to pick us up from the hotel. Little did we know, this HUMUNGOUS jeep crept in and out came an equally HUMUNGOUS guide! The tour was to be taken on a super jeep with 45" wheels and we got the bonus BFG. Now I came to call him BFG cos neither of us quite caught his name (which I later found out was 'Halli') and he reminded me of the Big Friendly Giant from Roald Dahl's books. So BFG it is (and still is).
A detour along the way took us to the geothermal power station. Interestingly, the place is not secured at all, and open access to anyone. BFG drove right up to the pipes and opened them to let the steam out. It was kinda cool, but my camera does not like the drizzle from the heavens. Next stop was to the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, the only known waterfall in Iceland one can walk behind, more than 40 meters high. Since it was slightly windy, it was like running through rain to get to the inside, and plenty of photo opps. Next was the Skogarfoss waterfall is by Skogar area, 60 meter high. Once again, BFG does not disappoint and drove right up to the base of the water, to 'clean the car'. You can feel the force of waterfall even from that distance, but to get out of the car would be like taking a shower! Not many people can say you walked up to a waterfall!
So to really test out the super-ness of the jeep, we went off road and down towards the black sanded beach. Yes you read right, b-l-a-c-k sand!! It's not like your conventional sunny beach though. This is more rough seas that can drag you in and you're a goner. But the totally awesome part was riding up the dunes on the jeep. And then practically doing a vertical drop down to the beach.
After all the excitement, it was a lunch break and towards Mt Hekla - an active volcano that last erupted in 2000. The terrain was quite rough and la-di-da, we saw a 4WD stuck in a hole - thought he could take it on! hehehe... Up and down the bumpy road, which resembled the moon's surface, and trying to take on the rocky roads. But even the super duper jeep was outwitted when it got stuck in a hole trying to climb up to the top. So out we hopped, and time for BFG to dig and get the jeep out - which was perfect for photo opps and exploring the dead lava. Since that was a far as the vehicle could go, we went for a walk up the slope, and got itchy feet and detoured the water flow (from the ice) onto a makeshift waterfall...wonder if the pool is filled up now?? On the way out, signed the guest book in the middle of nowhere!!
Just when you thought the adventure has concluded, on the way home, BFG decides to take the high road and crossed a river on the jeep. Show off....
Back at the hotel, it was still bright..sun still shining. Tried to find a decent restaurant for seafood, but being Saturday "night", lots of places were booked out. Tried a shack by the port selling lobster bisque..mmm....That held us up for a bit, and dinner wasn't until 10pm. Got an atlantic fish, didn't want anything heavy by then. But got to try... minke whale! hmmm...feel bad thinking about eating a whale, but only had tester slice... raw... To walk off the food, did a quick walk to the cathedral and when the rain sweeps in, time to hang up the boots for an early morning wake up!
Sunday - booked for Blue Lagoon. The water was picture postcard perfect blue. The outdoor pool with natural landscaping had water from the geothermal spring. I also had a massage in the water - something different! Was indeed relaxing and fun. Unfortunately cut short cos silly bus driver reckons we should get to airport ultra early cos there may be "traffic jam"... How many cars are there in Iceland to cause traffic jams anyway?? He obviously never been to a BIG city! Silly duffer!!
