Rangárþing Eystra

Today we had a slightly earlier start as we headed back west for our 10am glacier hike at Solheimajokull Glacier.

We arrived at base camp and were kitted up with waterproof pants, a harness, crampons (ice spikes for shoes) and an ice axe. We met our guide, Sophie, and were off to climb the Solheimajokull glacier! She taught us how to walk in our cramptoms - basically you stomp your feet into the ground and do high knee walking - basically, Daniel (who loves to stomp his feet even when walking "quietly") was born for this!! When you go downhill, you have to lean backwards and bend your knees which feels quite strange. We got used to this though and spent a good 2.5hrs around the glacier exploring.

One of our first stops was at a stream to drink some nice cool fresh glacial running water! The way this is done is by putting an ice axe across the stream and then planking on it and having a drink (refer to photos!)

During the hike, we learnt a lot about the different appearances of the glacier throughout the hike. For example, we learnt about the black volcanic ash (from the nearby two volcanoes which are are due to erupt at any time) which when it is lightly spread makes the glacier melt faster but in other parts where it forms in large clumps/mountains/peaks/"trolls" (as per the name given by the Icelandic people), it slows down the melting process and preserves the ice. Ash also sits in the crevices of the ice and it was really cool to see the crevices of various sizes. Once a peak is formed, the wind/rain will move the ash into the new crevices and the process repeats itself. We were also able to inspect ‘sinkholes'/'moulins' (windmill in french) in the glacier. In a couple of areas, Sophie used an ice screw and hooking our harnesses onto a rope so we could walk right up to the edge of some of the moulins to try and see to the bottom - very cool! It felt like we were in a different planet and the conditions changed so quickly while we were up there (for example, one minute it was so misty you couldn't see down to the lake and the next it was clear). Gab also tried some volcanic clay on her face as a quick face mask which can also be found up the top!

After we finished descending the glacier back to base camp and taking off our gear, we headed back to the campervan. After a quick sandwich lunch, we headed off for our next adventure of the day which started 10 minutes down the road.

An hour later, it was time for quad biking! We met our tour guide, were shown how to use the bikes (not that we really needed the brakes!) and were off! We definitely tested the meaning of ‘All Terrain Vehicle’ as we drive across gravel, grass, sand, paved roads and even some river crossings, all whilst hitting a top speed of around 70kmph. We made a few stops along the way including a plane wreck on a black sand beach which has been there since the 1970s, with the plane being built/used around the time of WWII (it was a US Air Force plane - the US have a base in Iceland). Our guide also taught us a bit about living in Iceland and his adventures across Iceland (he was born and bred in Iceland and he says although many Icelandic people leave at some point, they always come back!) After all our adventures and lots of fun, we then made our way back to the tour office and headed off to camp.

Tonight, we camped on the ‘golden circle’, which is the main tourist ring road in Iceland. We tried to get into some natural hot springs which were a short drive from the camp site, however the wait was too long so we went to camp for a hot shower and played some cards.
(Note: need GoPro footage)Read more