This morning, we woke up to the sound of rain.  It had started raining in the night.  We had originally swapped our Ice Cave tour planned for today with the visit to Svartifoss which requires some hiking.  But Heimir says that rain and strong wind was forecasted today around the Svartifoss area and so hiking is not advisable.  Instead he suggested heading further east as it is suppose to be dry further east.  This worked for us as DBIL just recently found out about Vestrahorn and had asked Heimir about it when we arrived.  We had not added this to our itinerary initially as Vestrahotn is not a usual tourist destination and so we did not know about it when we were doing our initial planning.  It is mainly visited only by those interested in photography and included in photographic trips as it is very dramatic.

We headed east and while it was cloudy, it did not rain!  Moving east along the South coast of Iceland, along the Ring Road, is a bay with two headlands.  Looking like two horns, one is called Eystrahorn and the other  called Vestrahorn.  Eystrahorn is a mere 756 m, but made up of gabbro and granophyre and extremely steep,   It is one of the mountains in Iceland that cannot be climbed.  Landslides are almost a constant at Eystrahorn.  Unfortunately, it was very cloudy when we visited Eystrahorn and so I could not capture its peak and full grandeur.

We then headed further east and ended in the fishing town of Höfn.  It lies near Hornafjörður fjord.  When we got there around noon, the harbour was relatively empty as the fishing boats are mostly out at sea.  We found a nice little restaurant, Z Bistro, for lunch.

Z Bistro has a welcoming clean cut deco.  It was empty when we arrived.  The menu features lots  of seafood based choices.  Since Hofn is a fishing town, we all decided to have seafood.

DSis and I decided to have the fish and chips (ISK3850).  Oh, it was so good!  They used cod fish which was so fresh and smooth!  The fish serving was generous and the chips were just right.  Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

DH had the lobster sandwich (ISK2490).  The lobster was generous and up to today he raves about it being the best lobster sandwich he has had.  DBIL had the lobster pasta (ISK2490).  This creamy pasta served with garlic bread also received only compliments from him.  Again, lobster serving was generous.

Coffee here cost ISK300 per cup.

Z Bistro is a wonderful find in this small town of Hofn.  Food price is very reasonable and quality is excellent.  It was the best meal we had in our whole trip.  All of us agreed that after this fish and chips, we will be disappointed with all others.  Who says U.K. has the best fish and chips?  After having the one at Z Bistro,  all those that I tried in my U.K. trip last June, pale in comparison.

After lunch, we were off to Vestrahorn which is a further 12km east of Hofn.  Vestrahorn is a 454 meter high mountain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and part of the headland of Stokksnes. The shore features stunning lava dunes, that are constantly being shaped by the natural forces of water and wind. The site is not often visited by tourist groups but is very popular among photographers, because the overall look and scene changes constantly with season, weather, time of day.

Vestrahorn is also often called “Batman Mountain” as its two peaks resembles Batman’s emblem. This beautiful mountain with steep cliffs by a black sand beach and strong waves from the ocean produces a dramatic landscape.  It is truely an enigmatic sight.  We spend quite some time here just admiring this dramatic landscape.  It was truly captivating.  So glad that we have been able to squeeze this in unplanned.

By the time we got back to Gerdi Guesthouse, it was about 5pm.  This is the shortest day of our entire road trip.  The sky had cleared by now and I was able to capture the beautiful surroundings of Gerdi which was impossible that morning with the grey skies.

I was too tired from the last few days and rested in the room until dinner.

Dinner that night was at Gerdi’s restaurant again.  The menu was limited and I decided to go vegetarian and had the vegetarian stew and rice.   The rest had either the chicken chop or the lamb.  After my dismay experience with smoked lamb, I didn’t dare try anymore lamb on this trip! I hope you like reading Iceland Winter Adventure 2017 – Day 6 (East Iceland).

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Breakfast this morning is simple continental breakfast.  Spread was not anything great.  But they had baked beans and I was happy to find hot food.  But in this cold weather, by the time I took it to my table and started to eat, it was already getting cold ?. Not the fault of the hotel ?.

Originally we had planned to see several water falls including a fairly tiring hike up Svartifoss.  But as weather forecast for the next 2 days was rain, Heimir rearranged our itinerary so that we do our Ice Cave tour today.  If rain is heavy, the ice cave may get flooded and it won’t be fun to go on a glacier when it rains.

First stop this morning is a photoshop to see Eyjafjallajökull, the famous volcano that erupted in 2010 and halted air traffic in Europe.  We needed to head east to get to our Ice Cave tour so this is just a brief photostops since weather is good.  We will only watch the film about this eruption on our way back to Reykjavik.  We cannot linger as we need to move east and get to our ice cave tour booked at 2.30pm.

We moved on and got to Laufskálavarða.  Laufskálavarða is a lava ridge, surrounded by stone cairns (human-made pile/stack of stones), between the Hólmsá and Skálmá Rivers, close to the road north of Álftaver.  Historically, travellers crossing the desert of Mýrdalssandur for the first time would pile stones up to make a cairn, which was supposed to bring them good fortune on the journey.   The stacks of stones also serve as a road marker for these travellers.  The stone cairns look eerily like tombstones in Teh field.  This place kind of send a shiver down my spine. ????

Next we came to the vast Eldhraun lava field (“Fire Lava“), in the south of the Icelandic highlands. It was created in one of the greatest eruptions in recorded history and is of the largest of its kind in the world.   When we were there it was covered in snow.  In summer it is actually a green field covered in thick moss, this dressing the lava and wipes out all hard edges.  When we were there, with all the snow, it gave me a feeling that I was on moon or some deserted planet in the outer space……????.

We stopped by a diner at a gas station for lunch.  This is gas station, diner and convenience store all in one.  Heimir said that this is the main place to stop for lunch.  It was crowded when we got there and there was long queue.  Big bus your groups stop here too.  I suppose there really isn’t any other alternative around here.

I had a beef burger set (ISK1490) which came with fries and a soft drink.   The burger was excellent.  Beef patty was juicy, and the cheese was melted, yum yum!  The fries were so crisp!  DH decided to have the grilled salmon (ISK2850).  Yes, almost double the cost of my burger.  There are lots of different sides that you can pick.  DH chose pasta, salad and potato salad.  But we both agreed that my burger was better value and more yummy! ?

After lunch we went for our Ice Cave Tour on Vatnajokull glacier.  Heimir had arranged it with Blue Iceland.

It was about an almost 45mins drive on the glacier from the meeting point to the ice caves.  We joined a group of about 25 others.  We were driven to the caves in 2 4-wheel drive vehicles.  Everyone was given a helmet. Expect a bumpy ride here. It was an off-road safari through snowy landscape.  Beautiful but we had already had a private, fun and beautiful drive with Gunthur the day before so this did not impress.

Vatnajokull glacier is the largest glacier in Europe, 8.500 square kilometres in all.   When we got down the vehicle, we were given crampons.  These are specially from glacier walks and are sharper than the ones Heimir lent us.  We were first taken to Crystal Cave.  This is the blue cave.  The light has filtered through the glacier and produced this beautiful blue colour.  We were given ample time to explore the cave and take photos.  This cave is simply fascinating.

Next, we were driven on to Diamond Cave.  This cave has many beautiful icicles, thus its name.  It is a small cave.  Much smaller than Crystal Cave.

After Diamond Cave, we walked some 5 to10 minutes to Black Cave.  The sediments from the volcano ash are trapped inside the ice and thus gives it a black colour.  The black colour gives this cave a silky look.  The surface of the cave are covered in smooth curves.  Air trapped in the ice produces these curvatures.  It was beautiful!   Again we had lots of time to take photos.

Then it was another almost 45mins drive back,  Heimir was waiting for us at the car park.  But we did not leave immediately but rather walked to the glacier lagoon next to the car park.

It is a recent lagoon which came about as a result of warming climate.  Sea water flows into the lagoon at high tide bringing with it huge blocks of ice which are have broken off from the glacier, Breiðamerkurjökull, leaving large icebergs floating on the lagoon. The lagoon is not very wide but it is up to 250 meters deep which makes it the deepest lake in Iceland. Breiðamerkurjökull is an outlet of the Vatnajökull glacier.

After spending sometime at the lagoon, Heimir drove us to Crystal Beach.  Glacier ice are scattered all over the beach making the beach look like it was covered in crystals.  The white ice against the black beach creates a dramatic picture in the low evening light.

That night, we stayed at Gerdi Guesthouse.  This is the only place on the road trip where we stayed 2 nights.  Our room was as usua quite smal and it has a slante droid over our bed.  Difficult to sit up on the bed.  DH knocked his head once, but luckily the slated ceiling was like gypsum board so did not hurt.  Only complain here is that they did not provide shower gel.  Luckily I brought a small bottle in my toiletaries bag just in case.  Whew!  In fact some of the places did not have shampoo, though most have shower gel except here.  I had packed all these as I had expected the amenities to be limited.

Dinner that night was at Gerdi’s restaurant.  It is part of our package.  Again we could order what we wanted.  DSis and I decided to have a soup. It was a vegetable soup.  For  my main course, I had the chicken chop.  The other 3 had Cod and Arctic Char.  I can’t remember who had what.  Food was ok, not fantastic.  Menu was somewhat limited.

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The day finally came for our Iceland adventure road trip. The four of us, DSis, DBIL, DH and I, left Singapore on a Finnair flight bound for Helsinki on 28 Feb and arrived at Helsinki around 6am on 1 March.  DH and I had paid extra EUR50 per pax per SG-Hel flight for the extra leg room emergency exit seats.  It was really worth the extra money and  I was able to get some decent sleep.  It was a new Airbus 350 and the plane was pretty spacious with sufficient toilets.  We were next to the toilets and there were hardly any queue most of the time.  The toilet also did not have any unpleasant smell.  Kudos to Finnair!

My meal on board our flight from SG to Helsinki. Notice the space in front of me….

Our connecting flight to Reykjavik was at 2.20pm.  We thus had an opportunity to spend some time in Helsinki that morning.   Similarly on our return, we also had some more time to spend in Helsinki. I’ll write about our 2 short Helsinki interludes after I have completed my Iceland story.

We arrived Reykjavik on 1 March at 15.55pm.  It was a 3 hour flight from Helsinki, but Reykjavik is 2 hours behind Helsinki, and 6 hours behind Singapore.  We were greeted promptly by our guide, Heimir when we exited the secured area.

Before we left the airport, we went to the currency counter to change for some Icelandic Kroners.  We had brought Euros with us as we understand that bigger shops and restaurants accept Euros but will give change back in Kroners.  But we still felt it was better to change for some Kroners.  For the Kroners exchange, we had 2 choices.  To change for Kroners in cash or to have our Euros credited to a Currency Card which is a Visa Prepaid card, and use it to pay for our spendings.  Iceland like most of Northern Europe is a credit card country.  All shops, restaurants and even taxis accept card payment.  The advanatge of the currency card is that it can easily be encashed back in any major currency that you want at the airport before you leave.  So we went for it.  Much easier than carrying cash and coins around.  Exchange rate was EUR1 to ISK107.  That works out to be about ISK100 to SGD1.30 for us.

We wanted to get a local SIM card too.  But unfortunately was not able to find one at the airport and so Heimir brought us to a convenience store.  It seems you can only buy this at a convenience store.  We bought a local SIM card with 1GB data and 100 min local calls and 100 local SMSs.  We paid ISK2,990 for it.

Local prepaid SIM card

Then we headed into the city.  Heimir drove us around to give us an overview of the city before he dropped us at our hotel, 22 Hill Hotel.  He arranged to pick us up again the next morning at 9am to start our road trip.

We had a simple twin room. Not big.  Just enough space for the beds, bedside table and a desk and hanging rack for our clothes.  Bathroom had a shower cubicle, vanity and toilet bowl.  It was of adequate size.  The room and bathroom was clean.  Nothing luxurious and it is representative of the rooms for the rest of our stay.  Iceland does not really have international brand big names hotels, except one or two in Reykjavik.  They mainly have local hotels and guesthouses.

After settling down, we headed out to the bay before going for dinner.  The hotel was about 10 mins walk to the bay.  The roads had lots of snow as a few days before Iceland just experience one of its heaviest snowfall in history, 51cm in a day!  The highest snowfall of 55cm in a day was recorded in 1937.  The streets were covered in snow and some parts were icy.  First fall casualty of the trip was DH this evening.  ?????? Ok, all of us “fell” for it some time or the other over the course of this trip. 

The streets were beautiful under the evening light.

Along the way, we came across Hofoi House, the most famous building in Iceland.  It is the location for the 1986 summit meeting of presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbatsjov, a historical event that effectively marked the end of the Cold War. It was simply beautiful with its roof and surroundings covered in snow.

By the time we walked to the bay, the sun had set and we had missed the beautiful sunset.????  Further along the shore of the bay, we came to the Solfar Sculpture.  Solfar (meaning Sun Voyage)  is a sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason.  It is a dreamboat, an ode to the sun.  The evening lighting then was perfect for our photos!

By then it was around 8pm, so we headed up the shopping street in search of a restaurant for dinner.

We walked along the main shopping street in search of someplace to eat.  Menus were placed outside the restaurants and we ended up at Meze, a Turkish restaurant.  The food looked interesting and price seemed within range by Icelandic standards based on the several restaurants that we checked out.  DSis and I had the Lamb Shish Kebab (ISK3900) while DBIL and DH had the Mediterranean style Bacalao (ISK3900) which was a lightly salted cod with lime peel served with mash potatoes and salad.  The food were quite good.  DH had the local Viking beer (ISK1100) while DBIL had a stout (ISK1200).   Just to give you an idea, at the time we were there ISK100 was about SGD1.30 and EUR1 was about ISK107.

After dinner, we took a 10 min stroll back to the hotel to our much needed sleep after our long flight and long day.  On the way, we saw some cars covered in thick thick snow!  Wow!

A car covered in thick snow along the streets of Reykjavik

Next up:  Iceland Winter Adventure – Day 2 (Snaefellsnes Peninsula, the start of our Road Trip!)

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Pre-Trip Planning

The Northern Lights is all the rave these days and DH and I have been thinking of going to Northern Europe to catch it.  But somehow there doesn’t seem to be much in Finland or Norway except the lights and I always worry that if I can’t catch it, I’d have realty wasted the trouble and money for making that trip.  Then over a business lunch, a client told me about his trip to Iceland and I was wowed by his photos.  Such dramatic landscape and the chance to see the Northern lights too.  I raved about it to my sister (DSis) and her husband (DBIL) and we just decided that maybe we should just go for it.

So I got the contact of the Iceland local travel agent from my client and got in touch with Heimir of Touring Iceland.   We communicated through emails and Heimir worked out an itinerary for 8 days for us with 2 free days in Reykjavik.  We decided to add on several optional activities to our tour too:

1. Vatnshellir cave
2. Snow mobile ride on Langjökull
3. Ice cave

Total cost of the tour came up to ISK1.600,000 which worked out to be about SGD22,000 for the 4 of us.

We decided to go in March (1-12 March 2017) to still get the winter landscape but yet have longer daylight.    Better for photography.

Next came the airfare.  We decided to take Finnair as it was the shortest in flying time and with 2 long stopovers in Helsinki allowed us to take the oppportinity to explore Helsinki too.  We managed to get very good price for our economy class tickets at just less than SGD1,300 pp.  DH and I decided to fork out an additional EUR50 pp per journey for extra legroom seats for a more comfortable journey.

On our free days in Reykjavik, DBIL did some research and suggested a day trip to Westman Islands.  The other day was for us to go to the Blue Lagoon to enjoy the hot springs.  We booked the Westman Island tour with Eagle Air.  The Blue Lagoon required prebooking as well and we just booked direct on their website.  But we regretted booking it only 2 weeks before the day that we wanted to go.  We had only 8am morning slot or evening slots to choose from.  We went for the morning slot.  The massages were also fully booked by then.  So advice is to book much earlier if you want to go.

Another thing to make sure you have on a trip to Iceland, and especially a winter trip is good hiking shoes.  I got mine from Amazon which had lots of choices.  I picked a pair of Merrill winter hiking boots.  It had good groves and reviews on the internet was good.  A previous reviewer had also wore it on a winter trip to Iceland and had given a good review.  The different colors were priced differently.  I bought the dark brown park at USD79.80.  I would normally have picked a black pair but was not prepared to pay more just for the colour since I don’t think I’ll be using it much.  DH has a pair of winter hiking boots already which is also from Merrill.

Our winter hiking boots

These boots are great. During the trip, they stayed completely dry in snow, slush, mud etc. They also kept my feet warm and were easy to wash as the lower parts are all rubber-like material. The groves of the base were great and managed well even in thick snow. But on icy roads and glaciers, they still need added crampons.

DBIL bought DH and I a hiking stick each for the trip for Christmas!  ????. They proved useful on our hike up the slippery slope to see Svartifoss on that wet day!  He bought them from the China online merchant, Alibaba’s AliExpress.

Then we were the ready to go!

Overall, we had a great, albeit tiring 10 days trip.  We had great weather for the whole trip, which Heimir said was really unusual.   The scenery was amazing.  Such untouch wilderness.  Heimir was great.  He was professional and took pride in his work, adjusting our itinerary along the way according to the weather forecast and we got to see all that we had planned to see in the best weather condition possible for us.  Heimir was simply great!  Highly recommended.

We enjoyed our trip.  I hope your will enjoy reading my sharing in my upcoming posts!

K

Update 14 Dec 2017 : We just found out for Heimir’s wife, Pora, that he passed away in July during an emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain after a fall. It was barely 4 mths after he took us around his beautiful country. This came as a shock as Heimir is such an active and jolly man. Deepest condolences to Pora. Heimir, R.I.P. We’ll always remember you and your beautiful country!

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This morning the breakfast spread was not as good as 22 Hill Hotel.  But surprisingly, we found instant noodles at the breakfast buffet. So DSis and I decided to try it.  Taste was different from what we are used to, but probably will be ok for those craving Asian food.

First stop this morning is the basalt island Súgandisey.  Climbing up the hill, we came to a lighthouse overlooking grand views across Breiðafjörður.  It was a windy climb up the hill.

Leaving Sugandisey, we headed to Deildartunguhver Thermal Spring.  Deildartunguhver is Europe’s most powerful hot spring. It provides 180 l/sec of 100°C hot water.  Standing here taking photos, we can clearly smell sulphur in the air.

Most of the water used for central heating in the towns of Borgarnes and Akranes is taken from Deildartunguhver. The hot water pipeline to Akranes is 64 km long, the longest in Iceland and the water is about 78 – 80 degrees when it reaches Akranes.

Next we headed to Hiraunfossar.  Hiraunfossar  is a series of waterfalls formed by rivulets streaming over a distance of about 900 metres out of the Hallmundarhraun, a lava field which flowed from an eruption of one of the volcanoes lying under the glacier Langjökull. The waterfalls pour into the river from ledges of less porous rock in the lava.  So what we saw was water literally gushing out of the rocks with no surface river feeding it.  It was such an unusual waterfall.  Really beautiful.

A short walk  upstream from Hraunfossar, there is another waterfall called Barnafoss or Children’s waterfall.  From its name, I had thought that I was going to see a small water fall.  But no, it was a waterfall with fast and strong gushing flow.

The name actualy comes from an accident that had happened here. On a Christmas years back, a family living in a nearby farm headed to church leaving 2 kids at home. When they came home, the kids were missing. There was a natural bridge over the waterfall and the two children had apparently fell to their deaths crossing the river on the bridge. Afterwards, the grief-struck mother had the bridge destroyed. The sad story almost gave this place an eerie feel. It left a shiver up my spine.

It was quite difficult to find a place to eat. As it was winter, some restaurants were close. We ended up at a bakery cafe at Borgarnes. I had a vegetable soup with bread (ISK850), an eclair (ISK420) and a juice (ISK300). DH had a smoked salmon sandwich. DH threw away the receipt before I could stop him, so sorry, I can’t remember the price ??.

On this trip, the drive along the way was fantastic.  After lunch we were again driving by vast snow covered fields backed by impressive mountains when we saw horses.  Heimir stopped the car to let us get some pictures of these horses.  These small and short horses have long hair and are beautiful animals. They make such a beautiful picture against the snowy background.

The Icelandic horse is a breed of horse developed in Iceland. Although the horses are small, at times pony-sized, they are referred as horses. Icelandic horses are long-lived and hardy. In Iceland, they have few diseases; Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return.

We carried on with our drive after this short photo stop, and got to Þingvellir National Park, the Birthplace of a Nation and a Unesco World Heritage Site.  Þingvellir National Park is one of the 3 main stops along the popular tourist route touted as the Golden Circle, a 300 kilometres route looping from Reykjavík into the southern uplands of Iceland and back.  The other 2 stops are Gullfoss and Geysir which we will see the next day.

Situated on the northern shore of lake Þingvallavatn, Þingvellir is the oldest existing parliament in the world.  Chieftains first assembled there in 930 AD, making it effectively the first Parliament in the world.  It was chosen for its central position convenient for the chieftains from the various villages to gather.  Þingvellir has for this reason been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Besides being a location of historical significance, Þingvellir is also protected as a national park due to its unique geology and natural features.   The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.

Almannagjá is a canyon formed between the North American and the Eurasian tectonic plate, a visual representation of continental drift.  This place brings to life what I had studied years back in my A levels Geography.  It is really a life size text book of geology.

After Þingvellir, we headed to our hotel for the night.  Our hotel that night was Vatnsholt, a Guesthouse/B&B near Sellfoss town. Peacefully situated by Lake Villingarholt, Vatnsholt is housed in a renovated farmhouse.  With vast farm land surrounding it, when we arrived late that evening, it literally looked like it was in the middle of nowhere.

Vatnsholt offers rooms with private or shared facilities.  We had rooms with private facilities which are actually cabins away from the main farmhouse where the restaurant and guest lounge is located.  So we had to really dress up and trot in the snow to get to the main farmhouse for our meals.  It was no fun though since it was really cold that night ??????.

Despite having to trot in the snow to get to the restaurant, I still liked the idea of staying in a standalone little cabin.  So cool!  The cabins were well heated.  The interior was small, just enough space for a bed and a small bathroom.  But it was adequate and clean.  Very cosy.  The window in the cabin was full length and looked into the vest open never ending fields where we could see the horses.  During the day, guests can arrange for horse riding.

Dinner that evening was at Vatnsholt’s restaurant at its rustic farmhouse.  The farmhouse also house a guest lounge with pool table and table soccer.

Again we could order what we wanted.  Among the four of us, each couple decided to have an app and dessert to share on top of our main course.  I had a coke while the guys had their beers.  DSis just wanted water.

We were served bread.  Then came our app.  DH and I had a soup, but DSis and DBIL shared smoked salmon and toast.

For our main course, DH and DSis had the chicken chop while DBIL and I had the smoked lamb.  Wow…did we make a mistake!  The smoked lamb I actually a cold cut.  The smell was strange to us.  Not at all like the smell of smoked meat that we are used too.  DBIL and I both finished our sides but did it finish our lamb.  Heimir wasn’t around when we placed our order.   When he notice that we did not finish our lamb, he was not surprise and said he will tell us about smoke lamb the next day.  Boy, with his cheeky smile, we knew it was going to be something…..hahaha.  The next day, he told us that the Icelandic smoked lamb was smoked over a fire burned with dried horse manure!  Ok, that explains it ????

Dessert was normal apple crumble. Whew!

After dinner, it was past 10pm and we headed back yo our cabin.  It was really cold that night at -7degrees and with the wind, it felt much colder.  I took my shower and went straight to bed, but as it was a clear sky, DH went outside the cabin periodically to check if he could see the lights.  Nothing came on and so he went to bed at 12 midnight too.  Heimir told us the next morning that the lights came on at 12.30am! ??

This was the coldest day of our entire trip.  The rest of the days, temperature ranged from -4 to 2degrees.  But it was windy and so most times felt much colder because of wind chill factor.

Next up: Iceland Winter Adventure 2017 – Day 4 (The Golden Circle)

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Breakfast this morning was at the restaurant in the farmhouse.  We trotted there in our warm clothing.   It was a beautiful morning and was no longer as cold as the night before.

Besides the usual bread and cold cut, they serves waffles.  The hot waffles was so inviting in the cold morning.

We started this morning with a visit to Faxi Waterfall.  Located on the Golden Circle, Faxi Waterfall is a beautiful and dynamic waterfall.  It is similar to the famous Gullfoss but is only one level instead of Gullfoss’ two level falls.

After Faxi Waterfall, we headed off to Strokkur.  Strokkur lies in the same Haukadalur valley as The Great Geysir which rank among the top geysers in the world alongside the Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park.  Strokkur and Geysir are in fact only about 50m apart.

Eruptions at Geysir during its time can hurl boiling water up to 70 metres in the air. However, it has been inactive since 1935.  Although Geysir is now inactive, its surrounding area is still geothermically active.  Strokkur sprouts every 10mins or so.  Strokkur’s white column of boiling water can reach 30m high.

We hung around to see several eruptions.  No two eruptions are the same.  Some are smaller.  Sometimes it’s a big one immediately followed by a small one.  

We headed next to Gullfoss.  We did not visit the waterfall yet but instead went to the restaurant next to it for an early lunch as we had a 12.30pm jeep ride to catch followed by a 2.30pm snowmobile ride. Gullfoss café serves local Icelandic common food choices.  The restaurant has full length windows that provide a great view of Gullfoss.

At the recommendations of Heimir, I decided to go for the clear lamb soup (ISK1950) which is served with bread rolls.  The soup had generous chunks of lamb, potatoes and carrots.  They make a very substantial meal with bread.  You can take as much bread and butter as you like.  I love the bread rolls.  Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  DH did not fancy clear lamb soup and decided to have a creamy mushroom soup (ISK1550) also served with bread.  I had a taste of the mushroom soup and it was very good.  And yes, it is very expensive for just soup and bread ??.

After lunch, our jeep ride was waiting for us at the car park outside the restaurant.  Heimir had arranged his friend, Gunthur, to give us a fun ride on Langjokull glacier on his cool jeep.  Imagine monster truck with smaller wheels!  Gunthur drove us through undulating slopes on the glacier.  A regular vehicle would never have been able to climb those snowy hills.  He even stopped at 2 stops to give us an opportunity to get down, fool around and take great photos.  It was great fun!  Gunthur was a great guy.  See him standing on the roof of his truck to post for me in my photo below!

After of keep ride tour of the glacier, Gunthur dropped us at our snowmobile ride station to wait for our ride.  We were lucky that it was only 4 of us on this tour.  We saw the previous group before us had more 15-20 people or so!  

We dressed up in full body snow suits, put on a balaclava and a helmet and goggles over it.  They also provide ski gloves.  

We had 2 guides.  One to lead the way and the second to bring up the rear.  DSis and I decided to ride pillion.  So as we were only taking 2 snowmobiles, we practically had one guide to each of us!  But believe me, really, riding pillion was no fun.????  I literally hung on to my dear life as DH speed after the guide.  ????? DSis commented on the same.  The next day, both our arms were aching so badly due to the strain from having to hang on tight to the side rail!  So my advice, drive your own snowmobile!

Our snowmobile tour was suppose to be for 1 hour.  But the guys were doing so well that the guides gave us an extended tour and extended our ride by 20mins! Yay!

After our snowmobile ride, Gunthur drove us back to the Gullfoss car park where we met up with Heimir again.  We then went on to explore Gullfoss.

Gullfoss (translated as “Golden Falls”) is one of the 3 main sites on the Golden Route.   Gullfoss is in the river Hvítá which has its origin in the glacier lake Hvítávatn at Lángjökull glacier about 40km north of Gullfoss.  The water of Gullfoss is brownish from the sediments that the glacial ice has carved off the earth so when the sun shines on it, it has a golden colour.  

Gullfoss is a unique waterfall. It has two distinct drops in succession at right angles to each other while spanning the entire width of the Hvítá River. 

We left Gullfoss and headed our hotel, Hotel Hvolsvöllur.  The room at Hotel Hvolsvöllur is larger than at the other hotels.  This is probably the biggest room we had for the whole trip.  Room was simple and clean.  The hotel actually has an outdoor hot tub too.  It was just outside our room on the ground floor but the snow outside was so thick we couldn’t bring ourselves to try it.

We settled our stuff in our room and Heimir brought us out for dinner.  We went to a restaurant just round the corner from the hotel.

Eldstó Art Café is an artistic café where all tableware are handmade on the premises by the owners.  Their pottery are glazed with volcanic glaze, made from pumice and other volcanic substances from Mount Hekla and clay from Búðardalur.   

Their creations which are for sale are displayed in shelves all over the cafe. There is also a small gallery next to the cafe. This is a pretty and cosy little place.

For dinner, I decided to have the fish and chips.  DH and DSis had the pan-fried Arctic Char with cream based white wine sauce.  Arctic Char is a seawater trout.  Arctic char is a cold-water fish native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters.   DBIL had the baked cod in creamy white wine sauce.  I like my fish and chips.  I love the chips in Iceland.  So crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  I persuaded DSis to share a sundae with me for dessert ??.  It was overall a good dinner.  Nice environment and good food.

After dinner, we decided to go Northern Lights chasing.  The weather forecast has predicted cloudy and wet weather for the next few days so we figured that this may be the last day we have a chance to see those lights again.

We went to 2 to 3 spots but did not have any luck so Heimir decided to drive further.  He wanted so much for us to see something that night as it could be our last chance.  Finally, we were not disappointed. At close to 12 midnight, we saw dancing lights over head.  They were amazing, moving fast and had different colours.  We could capture them in green and pink.  It was such a show!

We called it a night at around 12.30am.  

Next up: Iceland Winter Adventure 2017 – Day 5 (South Coast & Vatnajokull)

The post Iceland Winter Adventure 2017 – Day 4 (The Golden Circle) appeared first on Mums Travels.

We had a good continental breakfast that morning at 22 Hill Hotel.  I especially enjoyed its pate.  First time I tried pickled herring here.  It was with honey mustard sauce which took away any strong smell.  Never expect that I’ll like this.

Heimir picked us up promptly at 9am this morning.  We had some problem with the SIM card we bought the day before and Heimir brought us to the SIMINN shop to get it changed.  Then we headed west for Snaefellsnes Peninsula, the jem of West Iceland.  First stop that morning was at a small but pretty church in Borg A Myrum, a farm and church estate.  This church was built in the 1800s.

Opposite the church is a twentieth-century sculpture by the sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson commemorating Egill, an Icelandic poet whose family was the original settlers here.

We went on further west and arrive at Gerouburg Basalt Columns.  An impressive wall of beautiful basalt columns, forming geometric patterns in the cliffs.  In front of this volcanic lava wall of columns is a vast lava field.

Lunch was at a small restaurant along the way called Rjukandi Kaffi.  DH decided to have the meat balls (ISK2500) while I went for the seafood soup and bread (ISK2300).  The seafood soup had lots of ingredients.  I was still getting used to the cold then and all I wanted was a hot soup.  The soup was very filling but taste wise just ok.  I had a coke (ISK380) too.

After lunch, we headed to Ytri-Tunga Beach which has a seal colony.  The best time to see the seals is June – July.  When we were there the seals were far out on some of the tocks in the sea rather than on the beach.  Couldn’t capture them in my photo.

We had time before our scheduled lava cave tour so we went for a stroll along the beautiful coast at Armarstapi.  Arnarstapi was an important trading post in the past and had a much bigger population than it has now.

Columnar basalt, ravines and grottoes surround the Arnarstapi pier.  The walk along the coastline brings us to magnificent lava formations. The seaside and the cliffs between Arnastapi and Hellnar have been made a Natural Reserve in 1979.

The seaside and the cliffs between Arnastapi and Hellna

A sculpture of Bardur Snaefellsas by Ragnar Kjartansson stands by the beach at Arnarstapi.

The view of Kirkjufell or Church Mountain over the frozen lake was beautiful.

Kirkjufell or Church Mountain

Then it was time to head for our Journey to Centre of the Earth tour.  It is a 45mins guided tour of Vatnshellir Cave.  This 8000 year old lava tube reaches over 200 meters and goes 35 meters below the surface.

We were provided with helmets and flashlights for this tour and you need to be able to climb 2-3 floors  up and down spiral stairs like the one in my photo below, and walk uneven grounds on this tour.  Temperature in the cave is a constant 1 degree Celsius.  It was an interesting tour.

After our Journey to the Centre of the Earth, we went to Djúpalónssandur.  It is a black lava pearl beach, with a series of rocks of mysterious forms emerging from the ocean.  It was once home to sixty fishing boats and one of the most prolific fishing villages on the Snæfellsnes peninsula but today the bay is uninhibited.   The pebbles here were smooth and round and black colour, unlike grey pebbles found in pebble beaches in other parts of the world, due to their volcanic origins.  Beautiful!  The path to the beach here was very very slippery.  3 fall casualties here, DSis (twice), DBIL and I ??????.  

Last stop of the day before headed to our hotel is the famous Kirkjufell.  Kirkjufell (Church mountain) is a 463m high mountain on the north coast of Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula, near the town of Grundarfjörður.  Its isolated position jutting out into the sea makes it a focal point for tourists and seamen alike.  The mountain has 3 waterfalls beside it.  Kirkjufellfoss is not high, but together with the mountain forms a beautiful picture.  It is also a favourite spot for photographers.  When we got there many photographers already had their tripods set up.  Heimir says that he is not surprise if they are camping there at the perfect spot to wait for the Northern Lights that night!

From the car park, it is a climb to the top to get to the perfect spot to see the waterfalls and mountain.  On this occasion the slope was very icy and Heimir suggested that we put on crampons.  Heimir had provided us each with a set of crampons to be used during this trip.  It was really thoughtful of him and those crampons were lifesavers!  The view of the waterfalls and the mountain was breathtaking!

After this very very long day, we finally headed to our hotel for check in.  By then it was close to 7pm.  The Hotel Framnes has simple and basic rooms.  We had a twin room.  Clean and adequate but nothing fancy.

We settled our luggages in our hotel and headed out for dinner at 8pm.   Dinners during our road trip are included in our tour package with Heimir.  Heimir took us to a lovely restaurant, Bjargarsteinn Mathús.  It is a new restaurant in a quaint, old building on the seaside. It has a warm and cost atmosphere  with a magnificent view of Mt. Kirkjufell and the beautiful fjord of Grundarfjörður.  We were able to order anything we wanted from the menu.  We each ordered a main course.  But we were so tired, I can’t remember what we had.  Fortunately I did remember to take the photos.

We were three quarters of the way into our dinner when Heimir decided to go out to check the sky for the Northern Lights.  It was a clear sky evening and Heimir came back to say that the lights have appeared.  We were so excited, we finished our dinner quickly and headed out.  With the restaurant and nearby building lights, we couldn’t get any good views.  So Heimir decided to drive us out where there’s less light pollution.

We finally settled ourselves at a place with a clear view of church mountain and yet away from street lights.  And wow!  Were we rewarded with fantastic views of the lights!  It was really cold that night but oh so worth it!  DH helped me set a long exposure on my SonyRX100 and I tried to steady my hands as best I could.  My photos did not turn out as well as the one he took with his sophisticated camera and tripod, but I think they were good too ??????!

The lights position changed over the course of the hour and it was truely amazing.  It was such a wonderful start to our vacation.  I had been psychoing myself not to be disappointed if we don’t see the Northern Lights during this trip as many people have told me that the unpredictable weather of Iceland makes it difficult to see the lights and many people don’t.  So seeing it on our first night was really wonderful.  Anything after this will be a bonus, I told myself.

We finally left around 11pm and got back to our hotel for a well deserved sleep after a long night and an extremely long day!

Next up: Day 3 – West Iceland & Þingvellir

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