Iceland Feb 2015 - Day 1: A Meander Around the Golden Circle

I knew before I set off for my eighth trip to Iceland that my plans were going to be messed up. My obsession with the Icelandic weather-forecast meant that I was aware of a couple of nasty storms due to hit on the very day that I was supposed to be doing a mammoth drive from Keflavik to Jökulsárlón. And it was Friday the 13th, so I didn't want to take any chances. So before I left I made a few rearrangements, opting instead to stay a short distance from Reykjavik, in the town of Hella, instead of risking being blown off the road along the south coast. Sadly it meant I'd lose out on visiting an ice cave, but better safe than sorry.

Otherwise my trip started off well. My flight was on time, with no cancellations and consequent horrendous hangovers to deal with like last year. On arrival I stayed at the hotel just across from the terminal building at the airport, which was perfect after landing just before midnight.

I picked up my rental Suzuki Grand Vitara the following morning and had an easy day ahead of me - meandering through the "golden circle" area, before heading down to Hella. The weather this side of the storms was lovely and I headed east as the sun rose above the stark black volcanic landscape that covers the Reykjanes Peninsula. I didn't stop until I reached a Bonus supermarket on the other side of Reykjavik, where I stocked up on packed lunch food and ingredients for 4 or 5 nights of self-catering (tuna pasta - the easiest by far). I also bought some nuts, dried fruit and chocolate-covered licorice sweets to scoff as I drove along!

My first proper stop was up on the hill overlooking the lake at Þingvellir. The roads were a bit snowy, but not too bad, and my snow tyres meant that the drive uphill was an easy, quick one. The sun was hazy, hidden behind high clouds, but the light was still beautiful, and the lake below was serene. Others stopped in the same pull-out to admire the view. It was extremely cold, so no-one stayed out for very long.



I continued down towards the centre of Þingvellir, past the four cabins, one of which I'd booked to stay in on my penultimate night. I turned into the road towards the church and had a little drive around. I could see the magnificent and mostly frozen Oxarafoss peaking out along the rift, but decided I'd visit it on my return visit. I stopped to take a couple of shots of the church and then headed back to the main road, passing some people wearing dry-suits plodding down the road towards a spot where they were about to dive in extremely clear (not to mention icy) water.

The road across to Laugarvatn was snow-covered in patches and a little slippery. As I went around a roundabout when I reached the town the car skidded slightly, which was a little hairy. A little light blinked on the dashboard telling me that I was skidding, which seemed a bit unnecessary as it was quite obvious that I was! I continued onwards, slowly, towards Geysir, not having much faith in the winter tyres after all. I'd originally planned on looking for an off-the-beaten-track waterfall called Bruarfoss, but the road to reach it was very snowy, so again I thought I'd leave it until my return when the snow might have melted. Instead I drove straight to Geysir, stopping only to photograph some beautiful horses standing around in the snow. 

I carried on to Geysir, parked at the bustling visitor centre and then watched the Strokkur geyser erupt over and over. I thought back with fondness to my first trip there in October 2002 when a Kiwi friend and I had visited; the 5 or 6 of us in that minibus were the only visitors there to the desolate geyser in the cold drizzle! It is a little busier these days... (to be fair, it was a Friday, Valentine's Day, and half term to boot, so not really surprising that it was that busy).

I still remembered the way the water in the hole moved up and down and everyone thought that the eruption was imminent, but it would just tantalisingly swish back and bubble and steam for a little while longer. Evenutally, though, the water welled up an incredible blue colour and then exploded high into the air, before resuming its bubbling and swishing. It was mesmerising waiting for it to erupt (not to mention tiring on the arms holding the camera up in a portrait position just in case it erupted at any moment)!

As well as obsessing over the main Strokkur geyser, I also wandered a little further up the hill where there are some beautiful geothermal pools, one of which was a bright blue colour, reminding me of Yellowstone.

My fingers and toes eventually got too cold, so I headed to the visitor centre for a quick coffee, before setting off on the road down towards Hella. I passed through the town of Flúðir, where I remembered from a previous trip seeing something strange, but couldn't remember what it was. As I drove through the town it became obvious - there was an Ethiopian restaurant there, which seemed incongruous in a town in the middle of nowhere with a population of 394.

The drive back towards Hella was pleasant as the roads weren't too snowy and some light cloud prevented the sun from blinding me as I drove (not something I normally complain about in Iceland!). I arrived at the Nonni Guesthouse a little before sunset, and headed straight out again, driving a little further east, hoping to find a good spot to watch the last of the light. I drove on through Hvolsvöllur, and eventually turned down a little road to the south, where I watched a few dark horses mill around. In the distance I could see the storm that I was avoiding, and blowing snow began creeping closer to me.

Before the storm reached me I headed back to Hella and took a last few shots down by the river in the last light of the blue hour. I tried out a local restaurant and ate an expensive pasta dish, alone, and ended the day with a Skype chat with hubby and a lovely Borg IPA back in my room, and the alarm set for a reasonable hour, given that sunrise was a very sociable 9.19am.

Click here for Day 2 - A Drizzly Drive to Jökulsárlón

First & Last of the Day in Iceland

I arrived in Iceland late last night for the eighth time! Obviously I'm a bit obsessed with the place. I will eventually do a blog for each day with a selection of the photos I take, but I thought that while I'm away I'll just post the first and last photo I take each day. There's a good challenge to make sure I don't stuff them up.

Day 1
The first photo I took today was taken from a snowy parking area just before I reached Þingvellir (or Thingvellir, which is the nearest English equivalent). The last photo I took was taken along the Ytri-Rangá riverside in Hella, where I'm staying for the night (a last-minute rearrangement, as there were a couple of huge gales forecast near Vik and Skaftafell for today, so I postponed the drive to Jökulsárlón for a day).

Day 2

Fortunately the winds and rain weren't so bad that I was forced off the road, and I made it in one piece to Jökulsárlón. My first stop was at a very windy Seljalandfoss, where I took the photo from the car-park. The last photo of the day was taken on my beloved Jökulsárlón beach, in horrible drizzly conditions. It's forecast to rain heavily all night, so no more photos to be taken until morning.

Day 3

I wasn't thinking about the blog when I took either the first or the last photo today, so not very happy with them! The first was taken here at Hali, where the sky suddenly turned pink, in spite of a forecast of heavy rain until 10am. The last shot was taken overlooking Jökulsárlón beach at night. There was a forecast for a couple of hours of clear skies, but sadly these were to the south. To the north there was a lingering cloud over some very vague aurora. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Day 4

Another day at the magnificent Jökulsárlón. The forecast for the whole day was a mixture of sun and snow showers, and it was rather accurate. The first shot was taken from the car when I arrived for my morning shoot at the beach - the snow and wind were driving towards me. It soon improved! The last shot of the day was actually just now, of the northern lights. Proper ones, this time! I took a few at the lagoon, and then some more when I got back to Hali, as they were on fire!

Day 5

It was my last morning on Jökulsárlón beach (although I will be passing through it again, and may well stop!), so I headed there early to catch a bit of dawn light. The colour was tricky, and I didn't fall in love with any of the icebergs, so overall a disappointing shoot. This iceberg was an interesting one at least; animal-like shaped. The last photo of the day was taken near Hvalnes; the light had gone and I was too lazy to get the tripod out again, so yanked up the ISO and took it hand-held from the car! The night isn't over yet, but snow's forecast, so no chance of any northern lights being visible tonight.

Day 6

I woke up early, hoping to see northern lights, and there they were, dancing light green stripes visible out of the window of my cabin. My first photo today, therefore, is of the aurora. The skies soon clouded over, and the weather for the rest of the day ranged from very windy to wet and very windy. The last shot I took was on my second trip of the day to Hvalnes, where I spent ages watching huge waves crash against the black rocks. There wasn't much light but I wanted to capture some movement, so I had to bump up the ISO. As a result, the image is rather grainy, so I thought I'd give it a little B&W conversion.

Day 7

I stupidly wasn't organised to be anywhere for sunrise, so my first shot was taken of the next door cabin. The last shot was taken on Stokksnes beach, after the post-sunset glow had gone. It was a stunning last hour, but the best of the light had gone by the time I took this!

Day 8
My first shot of the day was of a reindeer, along the road between Höfn and Jökulsárlón, as I began my journey back west. There was full cloud cover, so no return trip to Stokksnes. I ended today's journey with a little shoot of the waves crashing at Vik beach, using the 100-400mm lens.

Day 9
My penultimate day in Iceland started early, with a trip to Reynisfjara beach for sunrise - the stack in the photo is the middle one in last night's shot, seen from the other side of the headland. The last shot was taken from just outside the cabin I'm staying in at Þingvellir. I'm staying in a beautiful cabin, waiting for a storm to hit which may mess up my travel plans for tomorrow... I drove past the cabins a few years ago and decided that one day I'd stay there.

Day 10
My last day has been a disappointing one - storms spoiling my fun! Oh well, at least I got to my final destination - Garður, 10km from the airport - in one piece. Or at all. Had I stayed in Vik last night I would've been stuck, as the road's been closed all day due to gales and blizzards. As it was, the wind was pretty strong at Þingvellir, up to 23m/s (51mph) in the morning, so I was stuck there for some time. My first photo was taken from the comfort of my cabin (there was no way I was going outside!). The winds eventually died down and I had a slightly hairy drive back to Reykjavik with snow blowing madly across the road. After a quick stop to see Solfar, the pond, and Perlan, I then stopped by to say hi to my friends Johannes & Sigrun (where I was fed delicious home-baked special Icelandic cakes!). Then it was on along more snowy, windy roads to Garður, where I took my last photo, hand-held as the wind was still crazy, with horribly high ISO.

So, that's all folks (until my day-by-day account with lots of day-time photos - coming soon!). I've enjoyed the challenge of trying to think about my first and last shots a bit more. Now looking forward to getting home, seeing the hubby and pooch, and poring over nearly 200GB of photos!