Reykjavik Part 2 - the South coast

Today I got out of the city of Reykjavik and into the countryside. I did a small group tour (18) of the south coast with a tour company recommended by the hotel. Pickup was just outside the hotel which was more than convenient. Being the middle group to be collected we were towards the back of the small bus and a very kind gentleman gave up his seat so that I didn’t have to sit in the back row.
Our lovely guide/driver, Michaela, was incredibly enthusiastic and informative. She apologised for the fact that we would have to drive for around 1 3/4 hours to get to the first stop but in the end I didn’t mind because the countryside was just amazing. Iceland’s volcanic and glacial past and present is so very evident even from views of the mountains from the city and much more so once we left the city. Steep sided mountains, almost treeless plains, odd shaped hills jutting up in the middle of flat plains are all clear evidence of glaciers. However, it was driving through the lava fields from past volcanic eruptions that I found fascinating. According to Michaela, you can’t walk on these areas as they are 1. fragile and you might fall through, and 2. they are covered in what they call volcanic moss. This moss takes 10 to 100 years to grow and is this glorious green colour. It can withstand ice, wind, rain etc but step on it and it may never recover. Hence the significant fines if you do so. I tried to get a picture of these fields but had to do so through the window of the bus and I wasn’t overly successful.
First stop was the Skogafoss Waterfall which apparently featured in the TV series - Game of Thrones. It was beautiful and clogged with tourists. For those with too much energy, there was a walk/steps to the top to get a different view. We had some time here for those who wanted to do the climb. Just as we were getting ready to leave the heavens opened and those last back were wet.
Next stop was the Solhetmajokull glacier. This glacier has receded nearly 800 metres in the last 10 years when it once reached the area where the car park is now. One of the key features of this glacier are the ribbons of volcanic ash layered in it which give scientists a reasonable record of the timing of eruptions in Iceland. From here we went to Reynisfjara or the Black Sand Beach. Given that virtually all the soils I have seen here are black, a white sand beach might be more uncommon. However, this one was certainly beautiful and treacherous with a young girl having drowned there in recent times. A key feature of the beach were basalt columns right at the edge of the shoreline formed in past volcanic eruptions. We were warned not to go into the water or even turn our back on it. At the far end of the bay were some great archways in a small peninsula jutting into the sea. This was also our lunch stop and I had a salad but the serve was huge and I couldn’t finish it. We did a quick stop at Vik i Myrdal Village- not too sure why but apparently it’s a coastal village not actually on the coast!
Our final stop was another waterfall - Seljalandsfoss Waterfall- where the big attraction (apart from its beauty) was the fact that there was a cave where you could walk behind the water and get rather wet. The heavens opened just as we arrived which put a dampener on things. There were a series of waterfalls for people to see if they wanted to.
The journey back to Reykjavik was quiet and we arrived back at the hotel 10 hours after we left. I decided to have dinner in the hotel’s beer garden bar (think 29 different beers) and ended up eating with Pam and Ben from the tour that day - Ben was rather kind gentleman who gave me his seat - and paid $85 for 2 beers and a burger and chips.Baca selengkapnya