Iceland

(Lesley Aug 26) Well, Iceland is beautiful.  We have been enjoying the landscape; it is quite striking. We have been driving around, stopping and hiking or climbing, and checking out the little villages by the sea. We discovered that it is difficult to navigate and find things here because the names are long and quite foreign.  We got lost trying to drive north, out of Reykjavik and directions at the service station were vague and incomprehensible so ended up buying a 3800 Kroner ($32.00) detailed map of Iceland.  With it, we have had a much easier time finding the right roads and villages. Perhaps we will sell it to a newly arrived traveler on Friday, when we leave the country.  

Tuesday, John and Mhari sorted out getting our car from Keflavik while Sam and I wandered around Reykjavik.  Then we drove up the west coast and stayed in a lovely cabin by the sea.  We could hear the waves lapping on the shore all night long.

Wednesday, Mhari turned 11.  We drove a few hours northeast and managed to find a bakery where we got her an orange soda and a piece of cake covered with marzipan. Mmm.  After the treat, we went to Skagastrond and hiked up a small mountain gaining a beautiful view of the coast, the hills, the sheep and horses.  It was a good workout; the climb was very steep.  Tuesday, we enjoyed the cabin so much that we returned there for a second night.

Near the cabin there was a geothermal spring.  It looked like a little river that steam rose from constantly.  There was also an outdoor hot tub at the cabin.  It was filled constantly with hot water from the spring.  In Canada, everyone I know who has a hot tub uses an insulated hot tub cover, to keep the heat in.  Here, the hot tub cover was just wood decking to keep animals, and perhaps young children, from jumping in.  Hot water is abundant in Iceland (and by hot, I mean HOT.  It is advisable to always turn on the cold faucet first to avoid scalding.)  The hot water here in Iceland is geothermal, so it isn’t an expensive commodity like in Winnipeg.  Icelanders heat their homes geo-thermally and apparently 40% of their electricity is generated from geothermal heat as well.  Wouldn’t that be nice in Winnipeg? It would sure change the way we live.   

Back to what we have been up to… Thursday we had a full day.  We headed back towards Reykjavik stopping to visit Grabrok and to walk on a big lava field.  It looked like an erupted volcano (a big hill of lava) but it wasn’t a volcano apparently -just a fissure where the heat underneath couldn’t contain itself any longer so it came up and left a huge pile of volcanic rock.  

Later, we drove through Pingvellir, the national park, then onto Geysir to see the hot water shoot up out of the earth.  No matter how prepared I thought I was for it to spray, it always took me by surprise and I did a little jump. The water shot up quite high!  We were really impressed it was free to go see.  We were finding Iceland expensive so we had prepared ourselves for a big entrance fee and –wow- it was free.  

That afternoon we also went to see the Gullfoss waterfalls.  They were big and impressive and there was no charge to see them either. Thursday night we drove back at the Reykjavik City Hostel.  We fly out tomorrow after a visit to The Blue Lagoon.  

Lesley

P.S. Thanks for your patience, we had no internet access north of Reykjavik.

Photos: Saeberg Hostel Cabin, Saeberg View of North Atlantic

From Spakonufell, Reykjavik,