Iceland Öxarárfoss

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  • Day 1

    Pronti, partenza...viaaa!

    April 18 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Primo viaggetto a 4, ci siamo svegliati a Dublino e in sole 2 ore ci siamo ritrovati... in Islanda!
    Ci ha accolti una bellissima giornata di sole splendente, una delle poche all'anno probabilmente, quindi siamo partiti di gran lena e, presa la macchina a noleggio, siamo subito andati a vedere la colata lavica del 1 Aprile, nella penisola di Rekyanes.
    Dopo un volo di drone, abbiamo allungato fino al parco nazionale che avremmo dovuto visitare domani... ma con un tempo così, come si fa a non approfittarne!
    Parco di Tingvellir, famoso per essere il ponte tra le due placche tettoniche americana/euro-asiatica e aver storicamente ospitato il parlamento.
    Oggi, ospita la residenza estiva del primo ministro, insieme a una bellissima chiesetta e una cascatella 🏞️🏞️
    Finita la camminata, tutti in macchina e si parte alla volta di Reykjavik, un po' stanchi e molto affamati... Ci siamo fermati a mangiare uno stufato di agnello in una "pentola" di pane... Non strepitoso come suona, ma ci ha riempiti la panciotta.
    Domani lasciamo la città e andiamo alla scoperta di geyser e cascate!
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  • Day 6

    Iceland golden circle tour with Hawk

    April 3 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 34 °F

    What a great day! Our guide, Hawk, was an extremely knowledgeable and friendly driver. We took in craters, geysers (which we found out are named for a place here in Iceland that is actually called Geysir and has now become synonymous with any pent-up hot water spring from the ground), waterfalls, greenhouses and more. The pictures explain some of this. By the way, thankfully, while it IS Cold outside, the wind was relatively calm and helped make it a manageable time for the entire day.... Even for the walk all the way around the crater. The tomato greenhouse was quite interesting, the bakery was magnificent, and overall it was just a fun time. Now I have to pick which pictures to include for today. Not an easy task. BTW, The photo of me straddling a deep trench is actually me straddling the Eurasia and American tectonic plates. It runs right through Iceland. Those two plates are moving away from each other and stretching Iceland out. Luckily it was slow enough that I didn't have to do the splits! HahahaRead more

  • Day 7

    Þingvellir National Park

    December 16, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    Thingvellir is the only place in the world where you can stand between two continental plates, in a distinctive geological landscape that changes every year. Þingvellir is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and where the first Parliament started in the 800s AD.Read more

  • Day 3

    Tag 3

    October 14, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C

    Ein Tagebuch aus dem Land des Eises
    Kapitel 1: Der Aufbruch
    Und es geschah am Morgen des 14. Oktobers, als die ersten Sonnenstrahlen die schlafenden Seelen weckten, dass ich, Carl, mich erhoben habe. Um die Stunde des Hahnes, als der Magen knurrte wie ein wilder Bär, stärkte ich mich mit irdischen Speisen. Der Tag versprach heiter zu werden, ein Geschenk des Himmels in diesem Land aus Eis und Feuer.
    Kapitel 2: Die Prüfungen des Fleisches
    Doch schon bald traten erste Prüfungen ein. Ein Mann namens Glaser, dessen Gemüt so stürmisch war wie die isländischen Winde, führte ein klägliches Schauspiel auf. Über lange Unterhosen und schwere Koffer jammerte er, als sei er zum Tode verurteilt. So begann der Tag, erfüllt von den Klagen eines Menschen, der das Schöne nicht zu sehen vermochte.
    Kapitel 3: Die Reise ins Herz der Insel
    Um die neunte Stunde machten wir uns auf den Weg zum sogenannten Goldenen Kreis. Unser erster Halt war ein Ort der Versorgung, wo der Glaser erneut seine Unzufriedenheit kundtat. Bald erreichten wir Thingvellir, einen Ort von großer historischer Bedeutung. Doch die vielen Menschen trübten die Schönheit dieses Ortes.
    Kapitel 4: Die Wunder der Natur
    Weiter ging es zu den Wasserfällen, wo das Wasser mit gewaltiger Kraft in die Tiefe stürzte. Ein Schauspiel, das das Herz mit Ehrfurcht erfüllte. Am Geysir bestaunten wir die Macht der Erde, die das Wasser in die Höhe schoss. Und am Gullfoss, dem mächtigen Wasserfall, spürten wir die Kälte des Nordens.
    Kapitel 5: Die Ruhe nach dem Sturm
    Am Abend fanden wir Unterschlupf in einem kleinen Haus. Gestärkt durch eine einfache Mahlzeit, wagten wir einen Blick in den Himmel. Und siehe da, trotz leichter Wolken zeigte sich uns ein Wunder: das Nordlicht, ein Tanz aus Farben, der uns an die Schönheit des Universums erinnerte.
    Kapitel 6: Betrachtungen
    An diesem Tag erlebte ich die Schönheit und die Härte dieser Insel. Ich sah die Wunder der Natur und die Schwächen der Menschen. Doch am Ende war es das Nordlicht, das mir zeigte, dass es auch in der Dunkelheit Licht gibt.
    Amen.
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  • Day 5

    The Happy Accident

    October 9, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ -3 °C

    Today we made a five hour Pitstop because we had three bald tyres on our car. Unexpected ice, snow and temperatures meant we were not going to be safe to complete our itinerary. It was a scary trip back driving on snow and ice (watch the video), but Lava Rentals came good, giving us new studded tyres and a one day refund.
    What this deviation allowed, was a trip to the Blue Lagoon and a chance to get some great lava video to accompany Fiona’s new song Lava and Snow. A happy accident!
    We arrived at our next destination and the photos say everything! Stunning!!!
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  • Day 3

    Day 3, ION Adventure Hotel

    October 7, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    Today we drove from Reykjavik through the National park to our hotel located next to a dormant (but active - not sure how that works 🤨) volcano and also a Geothermal power plant.
    We stopped for a walk and climbed a mountain - it was freezing, maybe 2 degrees. When we arrived at the Motel and were greeted with champagne and followed that up with a short nap (jet lag hit) and then a spa.
    Dinner was lovely and we saw the Northern Lights!!!!! The bar was fabulous and we settled in with dessert cocktails.
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  • Day 4

    Silfra Snorkelling

    September 15, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    We arrived in Oslo so were finally able to look through the GoPro SD card from our Silfra Snorkel. The Silfra fissure is in between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates (although the gap is actually 7kms so we could never touch two plates at once). The water travels underground from a glacier and only surfaces at Silfra which makes it a constant temperature of 2-3 degrees Celsius all year. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and is considered some of the clearest water in the world. Even though the photos are very impressive, even they don’t do the experience justice!Read more

  • Day 4

    Day 3: Silfra snorkelling and Glymur

    September 15, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    So, might have been one our best days ever. Started the day doing our Silfra snorkel at 9am in 2 degree water with amazing weather and sun for clear snorkel visibility! (Photos to come later) it was unbelievable… hard to put in words how clear the water was and turquoise underneath. The snorkel was so tranquil, viewing tectonic rocks, deep fissures, lots of algae and getting to taste the pure glacial water which was the nicest water we’ve both ever had. We ended up getting convinced to use dry suits, just as well because it was absolutely freezing. Due to Iesha’s bad circulation (which is what we’ve pinned it down to be) she felt very dizzy and nauseous walking out of the snorkel and her hands were so numb. I eventually felt better after warming up and some sugar from the hot chocolates we were given but otherwise it was pretty bad :( We have made a big decision due to weather forecasts to change our trip and do the ring road clockwise rather than anti clockwise so we started to drive north west today for our first big hike at Glymur Waterfall. It is Iceland’s tallest waterfall sitting at 300m high and we climbed all the way to the top (it was actually quite tiring). The pictures don’t even do the scenery and views justice. We were in awe the whole time. All up it took us 3 hours to hike there and back, and we finished around sunset, tired and with very wet shoes from our failed river crossing. In our drive to our campsite we saw our first wild mountain sheep crossing the road in front of us!Read more

  • Day 3

    First day camping

    September 14, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    First official day in Iceland was special! We collected our camper and checked it all for a while. We then began driving around the quiet streets and took turns at driving. Felt weird at first for us both but Eth (as he was driving for the rest of the day) already got the hang of being on the other side of the road very quickly. From there we took off and went to the grocery store. We had no game plan going in so we were in there for way too long, but we met a really lovely American couple who were finishing their trip and gave us some of their leftover food and items which was helpful. We then drive to Thingvellir National park (about an hour drive) and did the small hike to see the site and explored the area (called Almannagjá) where we saw our first waterfall (Öxaráfoss). We had the best day with the best weather; clear skies, sunny and everything is still so pretty and green which is crazy! The scenery was so so gorgeous. We read about some dark history, explaining that back in the day this place would be where they executed people by drowning them in the rapids or hanging from some of the rocks….Pretty grim once you look at the beautiful water and then read what had happened there. We then drove to our campsite had a very average dinner and settled in for the night.Read more

  • Day 3

    Golden Circle(ish)

    September 1, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Waterfalls, geysirs, and caves, oh my!!!
    What a busy day! Perfect last-minute practice for next week (with close to 15 km walked... and hundreds driven). We stopped counting waterfalls (I'm sure that's a song)... here are the highlights!
    Thingvellir National Park - we walked between the tectonic plates, 2 very powerful waterfalls (one that was flooding the viewing platform!)
    Strokkur Geysir - I laughed when all the tourists - including me - said 'ahhhh', so missed the money shot.
    Gullfoss Waterfall
    ....where the Selfoss are we?...
    Seljalandsfoss Waterfall - spectacular! You can walk behind this one and get a bit of a shower! Walking a bit further, and you're treated to an amazing falls in a cavern.
    Fence of Bras... because, why not?!
    Steinahellir Caves - DO NOT pick the mystical ferns.
    Drangshlioll ruins
    Skodafoss Waterfall - I believe this is the one from Game of Thrones.
    Vik - quaint fishing village, with amazing traditional Icelandic fish stew (plokkfiskier) that I had to try (because that's all could serve as the power in the whole town went out right after we ordered)... and the black sand beach... then a long drive back to town!
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