Day 8 – and goodbyes

NB you need to start reading this from the bottom !

Our final day with the party (boohoo!) – we drove along the southern coast with a couple of stops and walks before heading up to Rejkyavik where we were dropped off at our hotel and said goodbye to our guide and fellow tourists. We had an extra night here – well most of a night as we were up at 4.00am for short taxi ride to the bus station and then out to the airport.

This was a great holiday that more than lived up to our expectations.

…. and finally it started to rain!

Day 7 – testing the bus to destruction?

On this the last full day proper of the tour we drove up the Porsmork valley (something like that – I dont have the right Icelandic letters and accents!) The itinerary describes it as a “rough track” – rough? we kept looking back to see what bits must have fallen off the bus! Added to that we had to cross numerous large streams we figured the bus would never emerge from.

Our destination was a lagoon formed at the end of a melting glacier 

Then it was back along the valley to the Seljalandsfoss waterfall where, donning our waterproofs, we ventured round behind the cascade. 

Day 6 – In Reykjavik

I have to say we were not greatly impressed with this city – its not exactly like Barcelona for example – so perhaps just as well we only had a couple of hours to look round since we had opted for the whale-watching trip. Actually it was more of a whale-glimpsing trip – I think I got a brief sight of three altogether but the dolphins were more obliging and we saw a basking shark too. It was fun when the whale-spotter announced a sighting and everybody charged over to that side of the ship as if trying to capsize it.

We did spend some time looking for souvenirs but everything seemed ridiculously expensive so we didnt end up with much, deciding to wait for the duty free shop at the airport.

 Day 5 – our bus climbs like a mountain goat

Today we travelled over “vast glacial outwash plains ( says the tour itinerary) and first visited another spectacular waterfall called Skogafoss – just look at the cute rainbow !!!

 

Since the weather was so nice we all agreed to give the folk museum a miss (hurrah!) and set off for this really high piece of headland. I’m still not sure how a mini-bus could get up such a steep track. Then we were at the top of these cliffs where the idea was to peer over the edge looking for puffins and not tumbling to certain death.  Hmmmm – puffins – nice birds but then we live only forty minutes south of the Farne Islands in Northumberland where there are thousands of them so decided to play safe.

Next it was off to the Myrdalsjokull glacier up this long rough winding track. One of our party had opted for a skidoo ride so we ate our lunch and took a hike further up the hillside

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Day 4 – should it be this warm ?

…. well apparently not – we had warm sunny weather all week – Oh lucky us!

Today we journeyed along the rugged southern coast stopping to climb the odd volcano ( one is an odd number) and wander round a geothermal area where steam bubbles up between rocks. The stink was truly awful – deep breath, hold your nose and run in parts.

Later we arrived at the famous Blue Lagoon which is a sort of tourist by-product of a geothermal power station. Its a huge outdoor pool in which the water varies in different areas from pleasantly warm to “I think I’m cooking”. There are tubs of white mud which people (OK, me included) were smearing on their skin. apparently it’s supposed to make you look ten years younger. Strange then that it seemed most popular with teenage girls. Anyway the wife said that didn’t work for me.

Iceland2006 › Create New Post — WordPress

Iceland2006 › Create New Post — WordPress

Iceland2006 › Create New Post — WordPress

Day 3  – Did I mention the smell ?

….. of the hot water! This comes from geothermal springs and smells of hydrogen sulphide (bad eggs!) You almost need to hold your breath when you shower. Oh I forgot to mention that at the end of day 2 some of us opted to go swimming in a local outdoor pool.

Anyway, onto the bus and off past Mt Heckla and across barren volcanic desert to where an ancient farm buried under volcanic ash has been excavated (personally I found this as fascinating as a Tony Blair speech but each to their own). From here a walk across the countryside took us to a beautiful waterfall.

After lunch we visited a replica of the aforementioned farmhouse ….

…. and then to a beautiful church

Iceland2006 › Create New Post — WordPress

Iceland2006 › Create New Post — WordPress

Day 2 (continued)

… so being a complete numbskull I failed to upload the pics I wanted so here goes ….. 

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Iceland2006 › Create New Post — WordPress

Day 2 – Gullfos and geysers

On the bus and off we went first to the site of the ancient Icelandic parliament. This was cool but not nearly as impressive as our next stop which was at the magnificent Gullfoss waterfall. It was quite windy and the spray got us pretty wet as we approached the raging torrent. We ate our picnic packed lunch. This we made for ourselves each day before we set out – sliced bread and an array of sandwich contents including cheese, egg, ham, salads (and best of all – Hellmans mayo !). Trausti would have thermoses of hot water with which to make tea, coffee or hot chocolate together with apples and yogurts.

Next it was on to the geysers – the water spouting ones, that is ! These were spectacular. The original Geysir is pretty dormant now but there was one called Strokkur which gushed every few minutes.

Iceland – Southern Countryside Tour

Day 1 – The tedious journey out. 

This is all about the great holiday we (wife and I) had in Iceland with Discover the World in August 2006.

www.discover-the-world.co.uk

We flew out from Glasgow having driven up from NE England the previous day and stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn. The travel day was VERY tedious – because of the security issues we had to get over to the airport  hours before the flight. Huge queues at security. On arrival at Keflavik airport we got on the Flybus which took us to Rekyavik Bus Terminal. Here we were scheduled for a two hour wait but this spun out to three hours because of a late flight. Finally we all got together – all nine of us! – three from England, two Americans and four Portugese – plus our tour guide Trausti.

A few words here about Trausti – this guy is amazing and a real credit to the company – he is cheerful and friendly – tactful in dealing with the group and the needs and abilities of its members – he has an amazing fund of knowledge covering every bird, every flower, every aspect of the geology, every date and fact in the history of Iceland. He could answer our every question save one – he didn’t know why a number was painted on the tarmac of a road!!

 OK, back to the first day. After about an hours drive we arrived at our guest house where we were based for the week in ensuite rooms in comfortable chalets. Then it was over to the dining room to meet our hosts and enjoy the first of Lisa’s wonderful meals.

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