Day 15 – Day 19 (Mon to Thursday)
We had an early Breakfast before
heading off the ship to start our Reykjavik adventure. We were
waiting at the dock for a taxi but after waiting about 15 min and
getting slightly cold we headed into the city to a hotel to find one
there. Not long and we had been booked into the Hilton. We decided
to grab the Hop on Hop off bus to give us the layout of the city and
give us an idea what to do for our first day. We went around once
and then got off at a gorgeous church and had a look inside ( nice
and warm) and then took the elevator up to the 8th level
of the spire to look at the city from every side. Next we walked into
the main shopping area!!! After two weeks without shops I was
ready.....Evan groaned!! lol
We had lunch at a cafe that was the
oldest one established 1956ish. Nice burgers, but they love
everything half cooked......
We then continued strolling through the
streets and to the old harbour and then got the Hop on Hop off bus to
the shopping centre near our hotel to pick up some nibble things for
dinner as none of us was really hungry after our big lunch.
Walked back to the hotel and met at
Terri and Greg's room for eats and then an early night as we all had
to be up at 5am for our next adventure.
Tuesday
Alarm goes off at 5am.....Got ready for
our day trip to Akureyri. We got a taxi to the Domestic Airport at
6am. Our flight was 7.15am. The flight was only 40 min. So we
arrived about 8am. We were met by our guide. Travelled a bit further
and picked up to girls from Paris who were joining us for the day.
We headed up to the Gooafoss falls
which was used in the film Prometheous at the beginning of the film.
Amazing falls and the amount of water coming down is astonishing!!
These falls were named after the pagan idols thrown into them a 1000
years ago. Quite picturesque as well. We had a walk to the Cafe and
had a really hot and wonderful Cappuccino and Hot chocolate.
Next on our list was Lake Myvatn, where
there is the largest Bird sanctuary. These many species breed
amongst the mystical blend of lush vegetation and lava spires. Then
we went to Dimmuborgir, our guide took us through this amazing walk.
Showing us the Trolls ( lava formations) we were told that if we
ventured off the tracks we would be eaten....amongst the snow this
was a fantastic fantasy place....so magical.
We came across two of the Santa Claus
being interviewed for a children show. There are 13 Santa Clause’s
and they all represent something different and come out 13 days over
Christmas. Its a very different and unique festive tradition.
We had a fantastic lunch at a local
cafe. Evan Terri and Greg had soup and I had chips, surprise
surprise......Followed by the most amazing Chocolate cake with
caramel through it...Terri and Evan helped to eat it as it was a very
large serving.
Back on the bus and we headed to a cave
that was used for privacy for couples to make babies....inside this
cave was a thermal pool and the temperature was approx 42 degrees...a
faint sulphur smell. Onwards to Hverarond, Sulphur mud pots. We
went passed these to see the Volcano but there was too much snow and
the driver didn’t want to get stuck so we turned around and went
back to the mud pots. They we very smelly but standing behind them
was extremely warm. Our boots got very dirty from the mud so
everyone was cleaning them in the snow before we got back on the bus.
Our next stop was Myvatn Nature Baths. Thermal pool that was
outside and it was fantastic. The only down side was having to
shower and then stepping outside to walk to the pool with very cool
air blowing on you. But after doing the Arctic dip this was
nothing!!
We spent quite awhile in here and then
came along a huge Asian bus load and we decided to vacate and have
showers before they took over the change rooms.
Enjoyed a drink before getting back on
the bus to make our way back to town to get our flight back to
Reykjavik. We were a bit early, so the driver went to see if we
could get an earlier flight instead of having to wait around for 1 ½
hours. We could which was fantastic. A beautiful day and loads of
wonderful memories in the mind that is already overloading. We had
dinner at a local restaurant nearby to the hotel and then bed. We
were all knackered!!
Wednesday
Breakfast at 7am. Afterwards Evan
Terri and I went for a walk to the Botanical gardens not far from the
hotel. It was a balmy 0.5 degree. When we got there Terri was very
excited to see frost on the grass. She hasn’t seen it this thick
before. She even did a frost angel!! So nice to be excited by the
simple things in life. We wrote our names on a table in the
frost.....At least this graffiti will disappear!
We walked back to the hotel and we came
across a sculpture park....so very nice ones in there.
We got the hotel bus to the city centre
to start our day of just wondering and shopping.....:)
Greg and Evan went and did their thing
and Terri and I shopped. Its so relaxed here and no one pressures
you or is in your face. Love it. I think I bought half of Iceland.
And only 1 thing for me.
We had lunch at an English pub. Then
we walked to the Volcano shop and watched a 40 min video of two
Volcano incidents. One was 1973 on a Island south of Reykjavik. It
buried whole homes. The second bit was on Eyjafjallajokull the one
that erupted in 2010 stopping all of Europe. They have a saying here
“We don't have much cash but we do have lots of ash”. Amazing
and frightening to watch. Apparently if the volcano erupts they all
go and watch it instead of staying away....go figure!! Greg was
getting a bit itchy and didn’t want to shop...so we compromised and
Evan and Greg went off to the Micro bar and Terri and I went to a
Museum that was very different. It was a museum about Animal
Penis's. It was very well done and not seedy but how someone can
wake up one day and say “ I think I will collect animal Penis's”
is beyond me!! And there is a Vagina museum in Rotadam apparently...
We walked back to meet the boys at the
bar enjoying the 3 hour happy hour with beer for about $4.50 a half
litre and bumped into one of the ladies from our Gap adventure and
talked with her before going all together for dinner at a Fish place
at the old wharf. They served Lobster soup and also on the menu was
Whale and other fish and seafood. I wasn’t hungry which was a good
thing as there was nothing for me to eat apart from bread. Terri and
Evan tried a bit of the whale but neither was that keen.....even
though they said it was ok. We got a taxi back to the hotel as we
had another big day for us all.
Thursday
We had breakfast and were ready in the
lobby just before 8.30am as we were going our separate ways. Terri
and Greg were off to do some Arctic truck 4x4 driving and sightseeing
and Evan and I were off to see the Golden Circle and Snowmobile
driving.
Got dropped off to the office, received
our tickets and then waited for the driver. He was a bit late and
when I saw the truck I thought how the heck was I going to get into
it!! I said as much to the driver and he said like this and dropped
to his knee and said here you go!! I said what a gentleman.....by
this stage he lowered a step! Phew....
We picked up a couple more passengers
and we were off. 1st stop was Pingvallavatn. This is the
best spot to see the two tectonic plates of Iceland. One is the
American and the other Euroasian. It separates at a rate of 2cm a
year unless they have an earthquake and then its 4cm. It was a very
pretty spot and so picturesque. And it was such a lovely day weather
wise. We spent about 35 min here.
Off to the next item which was the
Geysir's. Truly something you could watch all day. We were given
the safety talk about staying on the path and not going over the
ropes as the water is 80-100 degrees. So what do we see as we walk
up to the 1st one? 2 Asian's climbing over the rope and
standing right next to one of the Geysirs to have photo's when at any
moment it could go up and burn them horrifically!! I tell you some
people have no brains. We didn’t have long to wait for our first
explosion. Totally awesome...it goes down and then forms a bubble
upwards and then you can see the water through the middle coming up
and then WOOOOOOOSHHHHH!!! There she blows sky high 30 metres.
After 25 minutes back to the truck and
onto Gullfoss for the most amazing waterfall. The amount of water
coming down this is mind boggling. And the mist was everywhere.
Iceland is really not short of fresh water. The water from here
joins another and just heads out to the ocean. We had lunch here
for about 30 mins. We then got back on the truck to make our way to
where we needed to get suited up for our snowmobile riding. We where
joined by another group of about 8. So we needed to get onto a
bigger bus. The drive on was very rough and the area leading up to
the glacier was like from another planet. So rocky and baron. I can
see why Iceland is starting to be used for so many movie's and TV
Shows....its a very versatile country. When we arrived , our
guide/driver explained more safety and how to drive the mobile. Evan
was 1st to drive. I sat behind him. We were to follow
our guide on the same path he took. As this time of the year the
glacier is very dangerous with water holes and crevasses under the
snow. It was very bumpy as a passenger. We had to keep a fair
distance behind the person in front of us. The girl in front was
bunny hopping and all over the place. She stopped a bit further up
and two of us over took her at 35km/h. We stopped not far from here
for about 5 min and then it was my go!! Its hard to steer when it
wants to go and follow the tracks made by others. And it slides
quite a bit so I think I would like to try this more snow and less
ice. I had a smile on my face the whole way. Evan only got scarred
once by me as he thought I was going to tip us off. Maybe I got a
bit carried away with the speed....:)
½ hour later back on the bus and back
to un-suit and then on our way back to Reykjavik. We only had one
stop back and that was to see a small crater, there were three there
but we only had time to see the one. We got back to the hotel about
7pm and feeling very tired. But we decided that Iceland would
definitely be somewhere to come back again to. Had our last dinner
with Terri and Greg as they head back home tomorrow (Friday). Said
good bye and started doing our blogs....we have fallen behind.
Next is the UK experience and seeing
our son Jason, Brother Paul and Family, Jade and meeting her
boyfriend, Cousin Natalie ( once she finishes sunning herself in
Barcelona), Duncan and my lovely Scrabble Ladies.
No comments:
Post a Comment