Iceland 2008

Only when you leave Reykjavik do you realise that massive multi-lane American-style interchanges, traffic lights and a choice of filling stations are the exception rather than the rule in Iceland.  Once off the main road, the traffic quickly peters out, and roundabouts are to be driven around at approach speed, rather than slowed down for.  Bizzarely, pulling over to the side of the road becomes more hazardous as there is either a deep ditch waiting to swallow your vehicle, or the roadside itself is littered with volcanic rocks of various sizes, just waiting to  catch you out.  Not we ran over one of course...

It’s difficult to pick, or choose a ‘defining’ road shot to sum up the trip.  However, due to the amount of miles covered and viewpoint from the 4 x 4 that I enjoyed, this would most likely be it:

Long, straight empty road with snow-capped ridges in the distance...

Seeing this immediately gave me the impression of isolation.  We were miles away from anything resembling a village, let alone a town or place of significant population.  At the same time it was calming with only the wind to be heard...

Once of the trip’s highlights (for me) took place on the second day - a visit to Iceland’s highest waterfalls, Skógafoss.  The water drops 60m / 196ft into a narrow gorge below.  Needless to say, the noise is pretty impressive!  Refreshingly, there’s nothing more than a token rope fence to stop you getting closer if you so choose. 

The rainbow’s real (there’s also a very faint second one to the right of the first), and the two small specks on the left-hand edge of the snow are people - just to give it all some scale.

Down on the ice things were naturally slippery, and getting the shots in was made difficult by the sheer amount of spray coming off the falls.  If you’ve found the two people in the first picture, this shot was taken in the little ‘hole’ just above and to their right.

The light had already started to fade - the days aren’t long during the winter months - and I had just enough time after getting the previous shot to turn ninety degrees to the right and grab this “Fire & Ice” sunset.  Only a couple of minutes separate the two shots, and it’s one of my favourites from the trip.

A somewhat “windy” day made this climb up Seljalandsfoss waterfall difficult, as the lack of things to grab hold of made for very cautious progress when perched low down on the bank.  The effort was clearly worth it though, with our arrival coinciding with the sun starting to go down!

To get here we had to climb over a barbed-wire fence - made easier by the thoughtful provision of a permanent wooden ladder, but made harder by the wind trying its best to blow us from the exposed ridge!

I dared not go venture any closer to the edge at this point!  Retreat and descent seemed a much more appealing prospect.  The calm waters at the bottom of the waterfall (to the left of the picture) are the location of the next shot.

Back down to almost sea level to catch the sun’s last moments.  The waterfall itself was behind me in this shot  In spite of the wind and chill that went with it, the land surrounding the falls wasn’t frozen.  Compare this with the first picture on the previous page.  Same general location, little (if any) wind, but pretty iced up.  What a difference two days makes!

We were very lucky again with the weather on our final full day - the sun burst through the clouds  and we were actually able to find somewhere to pull over.  The ruggedness of the scenery and stone walls contrasted the surprisingly soft and springy nature of the grass and moss that we walked on.  Behind us the North Atlantic was crashing onto a beach

Another highlight was a visit to the Blue Lagoon.  Consisting of filtered sea water heated by the nearby geothermal power station, you bathe and ‘swim’ outdoors in water heated to 40 degress celcius, whilst exposed to the elements at the same time!  You walk into the complex with all your cold weather gear, and walk out the other side with nothing more on than your bathing costume.  Yes, the very short walk (dash) from the changing room to the lagoon itself could well be described as chilly, but it’s worth it.  Grabbing this shot of a solitary figure beneath a brooding, moody sky and steam rising from the waters rounded the visit off nicely!