We woke up in our gorgeous, tiny house to a very pretty sunrise so that started the day well. After packing and checking out, we headed into town for a coffee and a wander before hitting the road for a 4h40 drive back to Reykjavik. Not something either of us were looking forward to, but it had to be done.
Surprisingly, it flew by… Not much to really report and it’s surprising just how quickly you become accustomed to waterfalls, enormous snow-capped mountains, massive fjords and dormant volcanoes. We of course took more photos…
The coolest part of the trip was going under a fjord via a 6km tunnel. For 6kms, you’re basically either going down, or going back up. It goes down to 165m below sea level which is quite a depth. It’s also Iceland’s only toll road.
Our apartment tonight is another AirBnb place and it’s really spacious compared to our last few spots.
Amazing start to the day – the breakfast was provided as part of the accommodation arrangement and everything was grown on site. Home made pancakes/jam/porridge/flat bread as well as local orange juice, cheese & yoghurt plus a thermos of freshly brewed coffee. Just outstanding!
Our breakfast – took a doggy bag for half of it!
Today’s driving was a bit more intense – 3h40 or so, but we had read that there wasn’t much to see as a lot was barren ground. And they weren’t wrong… once we hit the top of the moutains, the temperature plummetted and at one stage it was 0 degrees outside the car. Honestly, if a movie was made there and the plot was set on Mars, you wouldn’t have to do any CGI, it’s so unusual and there’s nothing for miles!
The same terrain stretched on for ages. Nothing grows, no sheep or anything
It did mean that we could actually get some of the kms done without interruption for once, so that was good. But with about 1h20 left to go, we came across more geo-thermal activity. Again, more ammunition this is actually a movie set with boiling mud pools, steam everywhere and what appeared to be a new civiliation, which is actually their energy capture set up which uses the geo-thermal energy for their electricity and heating of their water.
The geo-thermal spring – impressive but mighty stinkyGood option I guess – why bury it if you don’t have to?A warm shower in literally the middle of nowhere
Fun fact: all their hot water for their houses comes from a central spot. It’s heated, sent through the pipes right to the shower/hot water tap. No need for hot water systems! It’s also pumped underneath major roads so they don’t ice up. Clever!
It was freezing today, bit of rain + wind and 3 degrees, but we came across naturally warm bathing pools, similar to the well known “Blue Lagoon”, but these were natural whereas the Blue Lagoon is man-made. We hired everything, including bathers (that was weird, but they were clean) and braved the icy temperatures and plunged into the icy blue water. 38 degrees and beautiful!
The natural thermal baths at Myvatn
Our accommodation for tonight is this incredibly cute, well thoughout new “tiny house” which faces an enormous lake and snow-capped mountains. It’s ridiculous how pretty this area is and this house is just perfect for it.
The view from inside our tiny houseSo well thought through! Tiny, but spaciousLooking through the 3rd window downstairsA photo I stole from Air BnB showing how they look
We didn’t have wifi last night, so this is a day late…
We only had a 1h39 drive from our fishing village to our new temporary home – so we took the opportunity to check out the fishing village further as well as take far too many stops and oggle the scenery on the way. It was designed as a bit of a rest day so we took advantage of it.
However, 5 minutes after Glen exclaimed he was keen for some off-the-beaten track adventure, Glen decided it’d be a good idea to try and find a driving track to the “pyramid mountain”. That involved driving through what looked like a bit of grass. That grass was basically floating in water and loose dirt, which quickly turned into mud and quicker yet, I had us bogged. Well off the main road, no-one around and I’m shitting myself. I got out of the car, had Soph get in the driver’s seat while I went to attempt to push it out. What I hadn’t tried before then was using the “Lock” features of the 4WD. With Soph’s steady foot, she was able to reverse us out of the bog as I thankfully looked on without having to push and praying to the local Gods that we were away!
Our destination was an organic farm B&B just near Egilsstaoir in east Iceland. It was a pretty awesome experience – we were in the middle of basically nowhere on a large working farm where there was no wifi, no phone reception for internet data at least, no music and no tv. It was the quietest place we’ve been to in who knows how long. It was also the smallest! Here’s some photos of what we saw on our way and at the B&B:
Our cabin in the fishing village, DjupivogurGot pretty cold over night!Djupivogur – possibly the cutest town we’ve ever seen!Full-on fishing villageAfter getting boggedOne of many waterfalls – you can get so close!Another waterfall!What we’d just climbedOur home for the night! That front room was the bedroom, kitchen & seating!Old church next door – had a wander through the graveyardThe Icelandics love a church!Like everything here, it was left open and it was warm insideThe farm – VallanesInside the greenhouse
2nd day on the Ring Road and it’s just wall-to-wall scenery. Today we did about 3.5hrs of driving from the south to the east. There’s lots to write about, but I’ll condense it to the highlights in photos:
Crashed DC-30 plane in the middle of nowhereSwollen river – police, camera crews – the whole bit!Friendly Icelandic horse – decent background!Feed barn for sheep in winter (I think?) – super low entranceThere’s hundreds of waterfalls, but this was particularly pretty with a beautiful house in frontWe hiked in to get a closer look at one of the glaciars. So impressive close up!Melting glacial icebergsGlacial lake with bobbing icebergs before heading out to seaAbandoned building as the sun setsMountains and glacier reflected in the still waterChasing the Northern Lights – 3/4 moon with a hint of greenWe saw them! Northern Lights over snow capped mountains. Just magic!More pronounced here. We purposely didn’t photograph the best one – we just watched and took it in.
The Northern Lights were an unexpected treat… Our accommodation is in the East of Iceland and in a small fishing village. Yesterday was our first day without much rain and lots of sunshine so with a clear sky, we ventured out. Lots of wishful thinking and “is that them?” and in the space of about 20 minutes, they revealed themselves. Just incredible!
It’s easy to get caught up in just going to places to take a photo of it and forget to actually take it in. Soph mentioned that yesterday and she’s right – it did feel like it became a bit of a photography contest. So we made a concerted effort to forget the camera as the lightshow presented itself and just take it in, be in the moment. The photos above are the after affects. Hopefully we’ll have lots more opportunity to take a photo of it in its full glory!
It’s probably the highlight of the trip so far – absolutely pumped we got to see them!!
Reykjavik has a very active street art scene, particularly around the downtown area. We had a great time hunting some down – some were in more prominent areas than others.
It will be interesting to see if this is continued to other parts of Iceland. Will keep an eye out!
