Land of fire and ice

So after filling doggy bags of free food from the Gatwick lounge (thanks Val & Al!), we boarded our icelandair flight. The entrance to the plane was signed by the Iceland women's football team. The safety video was amusing, with artistic licence given to use the nature of Iceland to explain the procedures, such as jumping off a cliff in to a lake to simulate going down the emergency exit slide! The sky was clear as we looked out through the window, glancing over the alien landscape as we came in to land. Once on the ground, several buses with landscapes and auroras pasted across their exterior darted across, ferrying passengers. We made our way to collect our hire car - from our old aygo to a new, left-hand drive! Hugo was first up, and after familiarising ourselves with the controls and learning that cars in Iceland must always have headlights on, we set off towards Reykjavik. Even the dustbin lorry had a nautral landscape on its side! Our hostel had a sea view but was very unassuming from the outside. Inside was a quirky, industrial interior complete with a bar selling pints for £11! We dumped our bags in our top bunks in our 16 bed dorm, ate our leftovers we had packed from the UK and then headed to the seafront. We visited the harpa concert hall, an impressive architectural building made from panels of glass. Next we walked up to the new-age looking church, hallgrimskirkja, and enjoyed a panoramic view from the top, with the evening sun reflecting on the brightly coloured corrugated rooves. The skyline of Reykjavik was punctuated with cranes; a city expanding and developing. Shop windows contained fashionable outdoor clothing (including arctic Fox scarves!), and creative graffiti lined the walls. Back at KEX hostel we joined the crowds in the bar to listen to a live jazz band. After checking the aurora forecast, we headed outside to look north, hoping to see a colourful sky amidst the stars. As we walked along the seafront, unsure whether our minds were playing tricks on us, we noticed a few 'cloudlike' patches and noticed a few other silhouettes also pointing in the same direction. These patches came and went, however the city's lights made it difficult to see any vivid colours. In a last ditch attempt we drove down to the lighthouse, where many cars had also gathered, but unfortunately we were not to be treated to a full display. The one photo does depict some green shades, though! Next morning we were up to begin the drive of the golden circle, the well-trodden tourist path around some of the natural wonders of Iceland. First was Thingvellir national park, where we walked in the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates! Photos from the park showed a good aurora display the previous evening. Time for me to get behind the wheel! The roads were great to practise on, although there were the odd unmarked gravel patches or speed bumps. We arrived in to the busy car park of the Strokkur Geysir. Steam rose from the ground and the smell of sulphur drifted towards us (the smell reappeared throughout the route, with Hugo making some unwelcome accusations as to the source of the odour)! As we gathered around the geysir, along with all the other tourists, an explosion of water burst in to the sky. We sat to have our picnic, absorbed by the spectacle shooting in to the air every few minutes. Next stop was the Gullfoss waterfall. As we neared the car park, a glacier came in to view on the horizon; it's scale difficult to believe, dwarfing the mountains in front of it. In the other direction was a thunderous waterfall with a rainbow beaming across. The weather was glorious and made the scenery more amazing. We walked out to the outcrop, sprayed in water droplets, and admired the awe of the water thundering downstream, enough to fill 6 shipping containers every second! Reluctantly we left, heading off to Kerid crater, spotting a couple in wedding attire coming back from a photo shoot. We walked around the crater, staring down in to the blue water at the bottom, in contrast to the red, earthy ground. On the way to our last stop we passed a geothermal plant and as we were passing several Icelandic horses, Fleetwood Mac played on the radio, with images of the moonwalking pony from that advert crossing our minds! We made our way to Nautholsvik beach, a local hot spring hangout frequented by many Icelanders (the men are very rugged looking!) We headed in to the changing rooms and it was then that the communal showers at the hostel made sense. Icelandic people are very 'free', and I did an awkward British towel dance to change in to my costume (Hugo had no second thoughts about stripping off)! The stone tub overlooks the sea, and we witnessed several natives dipping in the chilly water donning their neoprene shoes and gloves before walking over to the hot tub! After a relaxing soak, we headed back to the hostel to decide on where to eat out. We chose a place selling only two soups that come in bowls made from bread. A hearty meal to fill us up! Exhausted after a busy day, we hit the sack (accompanied by a choir of snorers!) This morning we checked out of the hostel and went to explore the old harbour. Lots of nice seafood places but all out of our budget! We did get a free sample of what i think was rye bread with prawns at a bakery! We chose to look around the aurora museum, watching several time lapse videos and reading about the various beliefs of various nations about the lights. For example, that pregnant icelandic women looking at the aurora could give birth to cross-eyed children or that the northern lights were souls of the dead playing football using the skull of a walrus as a ball?! Afterwards we tucked in to an Icelandic hotdog, not too disimilar from a German wurst. Most of the other tourists we came across were German. To round off our time in Iceland we hunted down a cinnamon bun from the Braud & Co bakery - soo tasty and totally worth the £4 each! Back to the airport we went and on to Canada!Read more