Day 3 in Iceland started with a lovely breakfast at the guesthouse, a chat with Élin and Borgar, before heading off late to continue my journey east - I didn't have too far today, so was taking it easy. I took the alternative route 208 back to the ring-road, which I'd avoided on my last visit due to the stormy conditions. It was a pleasant drive, alongside river braids before meeting up with the ringroad. It was a lovely day, mild and still, with mainly blue skies - nice conditions for a drive, if a little dull for photography.
As it was such a lovely day I decided to stop at the basalt floor of Kirkjugolf, but first headed a little further to a waterfall I'd never visited - Stjórnafoss. A coachload of tourists was there when I arrived, but soon headed back to move on to their next stop, so I had the place to myself for a while. It's only a short walk from a car-park, so easy to visit, like most of the sights along the ring-road. It was in annoying shadow - I was there at totally the wrong time of day for decent light - but it was still rather picturesque, set in a mossy, craggy canyon.
There were some interesting geothermal slopes on the low cliffs nearby that reminded me of Yellowstone National Park. And some nice trees.
I hadn't visited Kirkjugolf for a few years, as most of the times I've driven through nearby Kirkjubæjarklaustur it is covered in snow. This was a perfect time to visit. There were a few cars parked in the car-park, but I could see about three couples walking back across the meadow - only one pair was in front of me and hopefully they wouldn't stay long. I was annoyed to see the guy put his bag down on the basalt floor and get a drone out. He spent about ten minutes with the horrible thing buzzing around, and where he stood meant I couldn't take any photos of the view towards the hills behind. Eventually he retrieved the noisy menace, packed it away and they headed back to their car, leaving me in peace finally. I do like photos taken from above with drones, and have considered getting one myself, but they should never, ever be used with anyone in sight or earshot - that buzz is so unbelievably painful!!
Next stop was a brief pull off at the pretty Foss á Siðu, one of my usual quick stops. The falls were going straight down, as there wasn't a great deal of wind.
And then it was on to my beloved Lómagnúpur, which was looking spectacular with a little autumn colour nearby. It was time for the silly selfies, in a spot I've taken many before. I think the borrowed lopapeysa (thank you Sigrún!) made me fit in quite well as a honorary Icelander! The clouds were moving a little, so I did a couple of long exposures to capture their movement across the sky. I get a bit impatient and never work out the calculations, just putting the camera on bulb and trying out a few different times. Must be a bit more scientific about it!
I stopped after the long bridge when I found a pull-out to take a shot looking back - I just love that stretch of road (and was devastated to read of a fatal crash off the bridge last week).
I turned the corner and the glaciers in the distance came into view. The road goes on for ages, but it's certainly an easier experience in conditions like these. I passed the next corner near Skaftafell and stopped in at the petrol station for a burger, before stopping a little further on at a spot called Háalda. Just before I turned off I drove past a lone tree that was in peak autumnal colours - I'd only noticed the tree on my previous visit, which is odd given that it's been there for a long time! I'd always noticed the strange desert landscape, though, with boulders strewn across it, reminding me of the incredible surreal
Salvador Dali area in the high altiplano in Bolivia. This time I turned off the road and parked, something that is tricky in winter when you've no idea how deep the snow might be and don't want to risk getting bogged down. I did a hike back the way I came, away from the road, turning round after half an hour when I reached a good viewpoint for the tree.
I loved the place - so peaceful and alien at the same time.
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| Nice views from near the car park at Haalda |
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| Looking to the east - glaciers! |
The landscape was dotted with sporadic patches of moss and plants, some with yellow or red leaves.
As I was leaving three girls arrived and got out to take a few snaps; I love this photo - I think it would make a good album cover!
Next stop: Jökulsárlón - hurray!! I always feel a sense of trepidation and excitement as I approach, with the usual places along the way to let me know I'm close - the turn-off to Fjallsárlón, the moraine along the road and the parking spots, and the electricity pylons and cables eventually meeting the top of the little suspension bridge. I arrived at the bridge at about 4.45pm and was surprised to find that a new road was in the process of being built on the west side of the bridge down to the car park. It wasn't completely finished, but looked as if it had a much better, wider road down the hill. The icebergs didn't look all that impressive at first glance. I drove across the bridge and discovered that the road down to the car park on the east side of the beach had been blocked off, and access was via the area on the other side of the road near the café. I carried on to Gerði to check in, to get that out of the way, and then returned to Reynivellir to drop off my bags. It was nice to be back there, in my little single room.
I made myself a (nice) cup of tea and headed back to the beach and parked on the far side, got myself ready and headed off to see the icebergs. I'd left it a little late, and it was already 6.30pm by the time I got down to the beach, about 40 minutes before sunset. There wasn't a particularly spectacular display of icebergs to greet me, which was a bit disappointing, but I had a little wander along the beach and found a few small ones sitting in the surf line. There weren't that many people either - the usual 20 or so milling about in-between the icebergs. The sky wasn't very interesting either, with a few streaky clouds turning slightly pink over the horizon.
The light began to fade and I suddenly noticed a weird bright light on the horizon. At first I thought it was a boat on fire, then it dawned on me that it was the moon rising! As it was rising I also suddenly noticed that there were loads of large icebergs visible in the waves a little way offshore. This had happened on a previous occasion when in the space of a couple of minutes the outgoing tide revealed some huge bergs. They were moving around a lot in the waves, but I managed to capture a couple of weird-looking creatures with the rising moon behind (which was an incredible burning orange). The moon also cast a beautiful light on the crashing waves too.
I stayed around a bit, taking a few more shots of the stunning moon, before heading off to check out the potential northern light situation at the lagoon.
It's very handy now to be able to use 4G for free and be able to check the forecast from the car, rather than having to wait until I have wifi somewhere (back in the old days). There wasn't much aurora activity forecast, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. As I drove out of the car-park at the beach I couldn't find the new road - it took another car arriving for me to be able to find how to get out. I parked up along the road a little (where I'd parked on a couple of previous occasions) and set off across the moraine to the lake. The moon was now shining pretty brightly on the icebergs, although it was only just appearing from behind the moraine. I could see a very very vague greenness in the distance, but nothing to write home about. I wandered along the shore for a while; it was serene and not too cold. Eventually I got a bit bored and hungry, so walked back to car (managing to find my way up the hill in the dark, which was no mean feat, although the moonlight definitely helped!).
The forecast for the following morning was for rain, so I had some food, one of my lovely strong beers, and headed to bed with the alarm set for a positively luxurious 10am! Not the best first day back at my favourite beach, but that's just the way it goes, and makes it all the more special when you do get incredible conditions.
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| My route on Day 3 |
Click here for my blog from Day 2 - From Hraunfossar to Hrifunes
Click here for my blog from Day 4 - Out and About near Jökulsárlón
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