Iceland

Whale and Puffin, Yummy!

One of the great aspects of travelling, is food. No matter where you go in the World, there’s always several types of food, you just won’t get at home. So last night we went to a very fancy restaurant and while not a planned choice, we could not pass up the chance to eat some whale and puffin, or rather, “I” could not pass up the chance.

So, what did they taste like, well, fishy from the whale and a gamey flavor from the puffin, both very nice if I do say so.

So earlier that day we went for our walking tour of Reykjavik. While very cold, it was dry and only slightly overcast. Our guide was very nice and made the walk very interesting, including pointing out some good places to eat, drink and find a really good coffee. After out guided walk we explored a lot more of the city, the Harbour area, which is the “up and coming” part of the city, the amazing Opera House and had a very long walk along by the sea front.

Our last day was another long road trip, the weather was very indifferent as the day went by, sometimes the sun would show itself briefly but a lot of the time it was cloudy. The highlight of the day was a trip to the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. A torrent of a waterfall rising up to over 100 meters, the fun part, you can walk in behind it, – and yes, you get pretty wet, so wet gear and good boots were essential. Along with several other attractions, more waterfalls, the famous dark sand beaches and glaciers, it was a fantastic day, finishing up in the Secret Lagoon.

Our last meal was also a local secret, pointed out by out walking guide the day before. A very quirky bar, serving pizza, made in it’s award winning restaurant downstairs. Gourmet food and pizza from the same kitchen, the pizza was excellent.

So that is pretty much that, Iceland was truly amazing, a great outdoorsy vacation, well worth a visit. As always, I hope you all enjoyed reading the blog, until next time, bye for now.

C&J

Akureyri to Reykjavik

Our last night in Akureyri was once again spent chasing lights. We grabbed a bite to eat and soon after met up with our tour guide. The conditions were much better than the previous night, next to no wind, but it was a little cloudy.

We headed much further out of town at least a 45 minute drive before stopping up near a river and waterfall. We all got out of the mini bus and walked a few minutes before setting up base of operations for the evening, camera tripods mostly 😏. We waited and waited, but after just over an hour, it had become too cloudy and it was time to move on to an other location.

Heading back towards Akureyri we stopped at a mountain pass and our driver pulled over on to an iced over parking area. We all got out again, but now we were walking on ice, it was funny watching everyone sliding around in almost complete darkness. Our guide insisted we move towards the snow, which was almost two foot deep. So there we are, up to our knees in snow, staring into a cloudy sky, freezing cold – waiting.

I’d like to be able to say that all this effort was worth it, but unfortunately, there was no light show. It’ll have to wait for an other time.

The following morning we packed up, grabbed some breakfast and hit the road for the five hour drive to Reykjavik. Once on the outskirts of Akureyri the road continues up into the mountains. It was a clear morning, sun shining and still loads of snow cover all around. It’s this part of Iceland where scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed.

With a few stops for photographs and one for lunch we arrived into a very overcast and wet Reykjavik. It was also rush hour so the traffic was busy. We eventually got to where we were staying and after checking in we hit the town.

Reykjavik is much bigger than expected which was evident on the drive in and the city centre. Despite its size it’s a very walkable place with most of the bars, cafes, restaurants and shops all very close together. For a drink we went into the Lebowski bar, themed after the movie The Big Lebowski. For dinner we just grabbed a casual bite to eat in another bar.

The following morning it was time to hit the road. We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed off, our plan for the day was to drive the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle incorporates a multitude of attractions ranging from mountains, waterfalls, geysers, sinkholes etc. Two of the main highlights were the Pingvellir national park and Geysir.

Pingvellir is where the tectonic plates of North America and Europe meet. Very interesting to walk through and on a side note it’s where the Vikings set up the worlds first democratic parliament 🤓. Geysir as the name suggests is an area dotted with dozens of hot gushers and geothermal pools, too hot to bathe in though. One of the main geysers shoots boiling hot water up to 30 meters in the air every 10 minutes or so, it’s pretty impressive. There’s also a decent choice of restaurants here where we had lunch

Despite the rain it was a very enjoyable day although the drive back to Reykjavik was very slow due to very thick fog and heavy rain.

We pushed the boat out a little for dinner and had a very nice meal in one of the fancier places in town 😉. We also came across a very cool bar called Vinyl where we stopped for a drink.

So today, we’re doing a walking tour of Reykjavik which kicks off at 10:00 and lasts about 3 hours. The plan after is perhaps visit the Harbour area of the city and later if it’s a nice evening maybe go looking for those lights……again 🙄.

J

Chasing Lights…….The Northern Ones

One of the most elusive and must see natural attractions when it comes to travelling are the Aura Borealis and people travel from all over the world to the hotspots to catch a glimpse.

Last night we headed out on our Northern Lights tour. Our guide was confident we’d have a viewing despite the storm, full moon and complete cloud cover. We headed about 6km west out of Akureyri but turned back and headed in an easterly direction. We stopped at a favourite viewing spot of our guide but after about half an hour, nothing and got back in our mini bus.

Continuing further out of town he brought us to a fermenting shed, which are used to ferment shark, a strange delicacy they eat over here, it was just a side trip while we waited for the clouds to clear.

Over one hour later standing out in 80km winds, in the wilds of the countryside, nothing. It was time to give up and head back to Akureyri – and try again.

So today we wandered around and took in a few more sites before picking up our hire car. After lunch we went on a road trip and with no plan to begin with we just headed off admiring the amazing scenery. After spinning around for a few hours we headed towards the Godafoss waterfall, just one of the many amazing sites scattered throughout the country.

So tonight, we’re off hunting the Northern Lights again…….lets hope we have more luck this time.

J

Land of Fire and Ice

Cab, bus, flight, bus, bus, flight and finally a cab, we arrived into Akureyri in the north of Iceland. As we arrived late evening there was just enough time to drop the bags and head out to grab a bite to eat and a drink or two. It’s delightfully mild and nowhere near as cold as we had expected, it’s hovering around 1C. We went to a place called Akureyri Backpackers, yes the local hostel for dinner, they do local and international cuisine and the place has a good vibe and as you’d expect, it’s busy, as it is Friday evening.

Akureyri is small with a population of less than 18,000 but it offers a great base for tours and sightseeing. However our main reason for making the journey here is skiing and Akureyri is the best place in Iceland to ski.

While it pales in comparison to the Austrian Alps it still has a few good runs with rental gear available and lessons if you like. While we did get to do a little skiing, the resort had to close due to really bad weather and we were informed it would not improve anytime today.

Tonight, we’re on a tour to “hopefully” see the northern lights. It can be hit or miss and it’s all dependent on the weather, which is still very stormy. With the tour we’re going on if you do not get a viewing tonight, they give you a voucher to go again, which we will tomorrow evening if need be.

Akureyri is indeed very small, there’s about 3 hotels, a few guest houses and the hostel. There are however a few nice coffee shops, restaurants and a few shops and gift stores. The scenery however is very spectacular surrounded by amazing snow capped mountains and it has Iceland’s biggest fjord.

J