Desolate, Volatile, Bleak, Unpredictable, Surprising. Iceland. Flying in to Iceland, Dave and I looked at each other and almost simultaneously said why did we choose Iceland?! At first it looked like a huge iceberg with a massive split in it, As we flew around the side of the island the ground turned black and white from the volcanic rock and snow. Wow. We landed into Keflavik which is home to the international airport but still 40 minutes drive from the capital Reykjavik and went to get our hire car. The ground was covered in snow but the roads were unbelievably good! We didnt have far to drive, knowing that we would be arriving late we just booked a night at the airport hotel 5 minutes down the road. The following day was my birthday! After some cuddles in bed, a few Skype sessions with family and friends, we all got ready and headed to the Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is one of the major tourist attractions in Iceland, located in the lava fields of Grindavik, 20 minutes from the airport. The man made geothermal lagoon is a beautiful 37-40 degrees. The mineral rich water has been said to help people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis. When we first looked into going to the blue lagoon we thought that it was a natural spring, but thats not the case. It is actually fed from the geothermal power plant just next door. The super heated water is brought up from underground and is used to run the turbines which generates electricity for the local area. It is then fed into the lagoon, the water is turned over every 2 days. First on the agenda was lunch. Dave really wanted to go swimming first so that he could enjoy the novelty of being able to wear a robe to a fancy restaurant :) It was after 12 though and to keep the girls happy we sat down at the lava restaurant and ordered some Birthday lunch. We enjoyed an Amazing three course lunch! Icelanders know how to cook!! I had to order the lamb as I had read that it was really good! it didnt disappoint, it was the most tender lamb I think I have ever had. Lamb is actually one of the few things that isnt imported to Iceland. The lambs are all able to roam freely in the warmer months and then when it gets cold they are killed and because they are so young and free range, they are super tasty! Dave had the catch of the day, caught overnight in the waters just off Grindavik. Seafood is another thing that Iceland is know for especially their langoustine (thin little lobster) as well as their Salmon. Dave had also given them the sneaky heads up so my dessert came out with Happy birthday written on it, which was nice. Even though the outside temperature was around -6, because of the design of the lagoon and the temperature of the water, it surprisingly wasnt that cold. We took all the precautions with the girls, the major one is to ensure their ears dont get wet, if they get water in their ears and then get the cold wind in them too they can quickly develop an ear infection. Also to be on the safe side, due to the mineral levels we only kept them in the water for 30 minutes. After our lovely dip, we had showers, and headed off to our hotel, The Northern Light Inn, which was just two minutes down the road. After we got settled in it was dinner time. The hotels restaurant was really lovely, with glass windows stretching all the way from the floor to the roof the view dominating. We got prime seats looking out onto the rocky volcanic landscape as well as a view of the geothermal power plant and the blue lagoon. Dave had again managed to sneakily tell the wait staff it was my birthday and my dessert came out with candles and the staff even sang me Happy Birthday. The skies werent looking very good to see the northern lights. It needs to be really clear and dark. We had our room number down at reception and if they did start to show we would get a call, regardless I think I must have been up at least 10 times to check from the window, hoping to maybe see a glimmer. Saturday we took a drive south to check out the Rekyjanes lighthouse as well as cliffs alongs the coast and the many hotspots and steam vents collectively called Gunnuhver, where just under the surface its said to be around 300 degrees. The smell of the steam was a really strong sulphuric smell, it wasnt very nice at all. The skies were actually looking pretty clear most of the day and we had been monitoring the predications for the northern lights and it was looking good. Getting back to the hotel we walked past a sign saying that there was going to be a free workshop about photographing the northern lights in the auditorium at 7.30 pm. In record time we bathed and got the girls ready for bed. Both were down by 7.30 so I managed to sneak away to the workshop. I learnt lots of good tips and it just got me more excited and desperate to see and photograph the Lights! Because im was still feeding Mackenzie (too often) overnight Id accepted that I probably wouldnt be able to go out on a Aurora photography tour so my plan was to literally camp outside and wait. While I was setting up my tripod and camera, the Photographer came out, He told me that no one had booked to go on the tour that evening. I curiously asked if he would still go out and semi jokingly asked if I could tag along. He said he was still planning on going out and would love some company! He knew that I had to stay close because of Kenzi. Trying not to show my ridiculous excitement I ran inside to ask Dave. He couldnt really say no, so off I went. I felt like a real Aurora hunter! Barely siting back in my seat, continuously staring up into the sky, we drove to the first location. The clouds were coming in thick and fast so we literally turned around and drove in the opposite direction, we checked out another location but that too was very quickly becoming clouded. It was amazing how quick it went from a star filled sky to cloud then clear again. We drove to our third location by a frozen lake and this is where we waited. It was fascinating talking to Malcolm (the photographer) about the science behind the Aurora, photography, and Iceland in general. Grey patterns started to form in the sky, they simply looked like clouds to the untrained eye but I was informed that that was the beginning of the Lights. The slightest green tinge started to show and unfortunately thats when the clouds came in... We waited for them to pass, which they did, but once they left the light still hadnt got going and then Malcolm said that the next big cloud coming over was a snow cloud! So thats when we decided to head back. He wasnt wrong about the cloud, driving back to the hotel the snow was bucketing down! I thought I was going to be more disappointed about not really seeing the Aurora but in fact I feel so lucky that I got to go out with an experienced photographer and learn from him about not only about the Lights and photography but also Iceland and why he loves it so much. Its also reinforced the fact that we have absolutely no control over mother nature. Since returning back to Scotland Ive been researching another possible trip later in the year, this time to Northern Sweden to hopefully see the lights there. Dave might say Im borderline obsessed now ;) Sunday was a busy day. After breakfast we checked out of the Northern Light inn and headed two hours inland to check out one of the largest and most consistently active Geysirs in Iceland, Strokkur. It was very impressive! It hurls boiling hot water in the air up to a hight of 15-20 meters every 4-8 minutes. The area around the Geysir was fenced to ensure that crazy people didnt get too close. We were just standing waiting, poised with the camera and then suddenly the pool of water makes a gurgling noise, then some of the water gets sucked down before erupting into the sky in a cloud of steam and boiling water. While we were at the Geysir it started snowing, and it snowed and snowed. The largest Geysir which is nearby, called the Great Geysir only erupts once a week or so and youd have to be pretty lucky to see it. We decided to give that a miss and hopped back in the car. We drove for a further 40 minutes to Gullfoss, the largest and most spectacular waterfall in Iceland. It was a truly breathtaking waterfall, well worth the drive! I think partly because of all the snow and ice. Driving from Gullfoss the aim was to complete the Golden circle as we made our way to the capital Reykjavik. The Golden circle is a name given for the tourist route that circles from Reykjavik into central iceland between the main attractions of gullfoss and the Geysir and back to Reykjavik. Unfortunately due to our stupid GPS, crazy weather and timing (needing to check in and get the girls sorted) We didnt get to compete the circle. The GPS took us back on the same path we came on so it was more like a semi circle. Driving back we ended up driving through a massive blizzard up the mountain. We could barely see 50 metres in front of us and the snow was just pelting down. This is about the same time that Madi tells us she needs to wee. Brilliant. At the top of the mountain there was a lone service station that we managed to pull over for. It wasnt terribly fun jumping out to make the dash from the car to inside! Back down the mountain, the blizzard had settled and by the time we reached Reykjavik it was getting pretty late, we decided to stay in. Dave picked up some takeaway while I got the girls ready for bed. It was pouring rain and was predicted to remain that way for the whole night, no chance of seeing the Northern lights. Dave had been telling me for a few days he was going to take me to a surprise place in Reykjavik! I suspected it would be the Aurora science centre so I could research and educate myself a bit more. The next day the weather was still rotten and Dave had also woken up with a bit of a cold, so rather than walking around exploring the streets as we otherwise would have, we headed to Daves secret location. I was very wrong with my prediction! We pulled up in front of the Icelandic Phallological Museum...in simple terms, the only penis museum in the world! Dave thought it would be good for a laugh, though I dont think even he was prepared for a room full of hundreds of shrivelled, preserved male private parts in jars. After our experience at the museum we had a bit of a sightseeing drive around town and had some langoustine soup and fish down by the wharf for lunch. They also sold whale at this place but we gave this a miss. After lunch we went back to our hotel. Luckily the place we were staying at let us have a super late checkout and we were able to let the girls have a proper nap and shower before our late flight back to Edinburgh that night. Its been a week now since returning to Scotland, The reason it has taken me so long to write this is we have all been really knocked around with a nasty flu! Were still actually struggling with it! Madi gave us a fright on thursday night when she acutely developed croup. Shed never had it before and it was pretty scary. Thankfully we were able to manage it at home and it hasnt got any worse. Dave has had to take a few days off work. Mackenzie has been coughing a lot and has been waking a lot overnight (more than her usual 5 times) which has been hard work! Ive been managing to cook up some bone broth soups and gingery lemon drinks but all I really want to do is curl up and go to sleep! So basically weve been struggling :( Weve decided that the next adventure needs to be to somewhere a little warmer, It might be hard still to find a warm place in Europe but basically we dont want to pack any of our snow gear or thermals!! xx
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 20:58:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015