With a bag full of freshly laundered clothes and feeling nicely relaxed from our first sub-zero hot tub experience, we set off to do some sight-seeing. Our first stop was the Gullfoss Waterfall. When we pulled up in the car park it was blowing a gale and the car was telling us it was minus 18C so we went the full, dual jacket, scarves and beanie set up. After the initial walk I opted out of the second longer one as my fingers, despite wearing thermal gloves, were freezing to the point I was in excruciating pain. My body was not built for the cold – my circulation must be atrocious. I waited in the comfort of the souvenir/cafe while Linda did the second part solo and apparently, nearly got blown off the cliff into the river when she slipped on the icy path! It was ridiculously windy. I entertained myself sat by the window watching everyone returning from their walk exhausted and stumbling as if returning from a three day expedition.
A short way down the road was the Strokkur and Haukadalslaug Hot Pot, the popular Geysers that erupt periodically. It reminded me of the time we went to see ‘Old Faithful’ at Yellowstone National Park. Every time you look down to adjust your camera or get distracted by something, the bloody thing goes off! It also has that strong Sulfur ‘fart’ smell that is reminiscent of Rotorua as well.
Strokkur Geyser
We made a right dog’s breakfast of our route planning. Maybe because I didn’t have a big fold out map! Our first couple of days were to the south east of Reykjavik but we wanted to see the lava caves which were to the north west of the island. So we had to do what I hate doing – back tracking! It was a long drive back towards Reykjavik and across a very long tunnel under the Greenland Sea towards Borgarnes where we stayed the night in a nice hotel that featured a hot tub and a sauna.
Where’s the road?
Another thing that caught me out about Iceland was the alcohol situation. I was expecting it to be expensive but I didn’t realize it would be so hard to get. We had become so used to Europe where you could buy grog from just about any corner store but in Iceland, it is only available from highly regulated government run liquor stores with limited opening hours. Prohibition had been in effect in Iceland from 1915. The ban on wine and spirits were lifted after just a few decades but the ban on beer lasted right up until the 1 March 1989! (and I love how they celebrate this date as ‘Beer Day’) So, after a long days drive, we felt we deserved a drink and found ourselves a liquor store.
We were disappointed, but not surprised, that there was no fridge in our hotel room so I filled the waste paper basket with snow and placed it outside to cool our drinks. Linda had ventured out late in the evening to see if she could see the lights. She was gone so long I went out to find her. She was busily snapping pictures of what looked like a normal black sky to me. “I can’t see anything,” I said. Linda explained that I had to look through the camera and showed me the screen where I could see a faint green streak. “Is that it?” I snapped. “We could have looked at it on the friggin internet instead of travelling all the way here if you can only see it thru the camera,” I moaned.
The lava cave tour the next morning was interesting and it was nice just to escape the blizzard conditions above. We all wore miner type helmets and were equipped with torches to decend deep into the cave. The lava field was formed over 1100 years ago, during the Viking age. I was expecting an appearance from ‘Hagar the Horrible’, but it didn’t happen so it was back in the car for the drive back to Borgarnes where we had booked an apartment this time, and cooked our own dinner.
Down to the cave 
Lava
After shoveling a huge layer of snow off the car early in the morning we headed back to the south coast to continue our trip in an easterly direction. We made it to our hotel which was a short distance to the Skogafoss waterfalls. After checking in we walked to the falls and, as it was a mild afternoon, we tackled the enormous staircase that took us near the top of the cliff that provided a great look at the falls, and a distant view of the coast line. When we returned to our room I reached out our window to retrieve a beer I had buried in the snow earlier and as I fished around I could feel a package. It took a bit of digging but when I brought it up I was ecstatic to see it was a full six pack of Stella Artois still in its shrink wrap! What a catch. Some unfortunate soul obviously had a similar idea to mine but forgot about their stash. Happy days!
Skogafoss falls 
View from the top
We started the next day with a hearty breakfast because our first stop for the day was going to be the infamous Reynisfjara beach to view the basalt rock formations. The most noticeable feature of the beach was the jet black coarse sand. It is also the site of the deadly ‘sneaker waves’. The waves were large, it is the Atlantic Ocean after all, but they were not really travelling up the beach very far, so we were beginning to think the whole ‘sneaker wave’ thing was a bit of over hype. That is of course until we heard some loud screaming and noticed everyone running towards the car park. I looked towards the water and saw a tsunami like wave approaching us. It didn’t appear aggressive but it was a no nonsense forward flow that started pushing me along. Linda was actually behind me and closer to dry land but she lost her footing and started tumbling in the whitewash like she was in the rinse cycle of a washing machine, all the time trying to hold her SLR camera as high above her head as she could. I managed to scoop her up but the damage had been done. Our snow boots were full of water and black sand. While I was more interested in changing into dry clothes Linda ran to the toilet to rinse and dry her camera but it was all in vain as it seemed its condition was terminal.
Tempting fate 
Run
We drove ourselves to the nearest hotel and chanced a ‘walk in’. It turned out to be a good choice and the staff were outstanding, being sympathetic to our misfortune allowing us to check in early and offering to dry out our soggy boots (I’m sure we weren’t the first guests to arrive looking like a couple of drowned rats) At least I had a Stella to wash the sand down with.
We didn’t capture the incident on the day but if you want an idea of how this beach catches people out, take a look at this YouTube link.
All dried out the next morning we traveled further west to the Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon where Linda wanted to do a tour of the glacier caves. I wasn’t excited about paying to effectively walk in a deep freezer. I was happy to walk around the lagoon watching the icebergs float through and ultimately into the ocean. Linda joined a small group and climbed on what looked like a 4WD on steroids to trek through deep snow to the glacier caves. They were late returning but fortunately there was an enclosed kiosk where I waited and overdosed on caffeine. Apparently they had become bogged in the deep snow in the middle of nowhere and were stranded until they were towed out by another passing tour group. Linda enjoyed the caves regardless even though she was only able to photograph it on her phone!
Off we go
Ice Cave 
Woo Hoo
After 40mins of waiting in the middle of nowhere, we finally got rescued (although there were a few moments where we thought it was all going to go wrong!)
Before we left the area we drove to the beach to have a close look at the icebergs that washed up on the sand. Linda, understandably, was a little gun shy at first but the sight of the clear glass like rocks on the beach was mesmerizing. Absolutely amazing and like nothing we had seen before.
Floating to the sea 
Just a bit older than me!
We began the drive back towards Reykjavik and just as I felt we had done enough driving for the day we noticed a truck on the road ahead. I was difficult to see as we had the late afternoon sun in our eyes but it appeared to be stationary. To the left of the truck, off the road was a car on its roof with its lights still on. We passed the truck slowly and cautiously and I noticed the license plates of the upturned car were local and not those of a rental car. We had seen a number of cars off the road in our travels but all of them had rental plates. This had really put the shits up me as I thought “if a local can go off on a straight bit of road, there’s a better chance of me going off”. Once passed the truck we noticed the occupants of the overturned car were safely in the truck and the driver indicated that all was ok so we continued on our way and eventually enjoyed a nice meal in the restaurant of our hotel in Kirkjubaejarklaustur.
Our second last night’s stay was a cabin in a campground just out of Selfoss. Most accommodation houses ask when we are checking in, if we want to be woken if the Northern Lights appeared. We got a knock on our door at about 11PM, it was the proprietor telling us there was a good light show. So we rugged up and went outside. It was, I must confess, the best, clearest, most colourful viewing we had experienced in the time we were there. I admitted it was truly amazing, and took back my earlier criticism. There was a young guy there that had traveled from the United States for a two night stay and got to view the spectacular show with us – how lucky was he!?
Sadly the best pics I could get on my phone
For our last night we had booked a hotel near the airport so we could visit the ‘Blue Lagoon’, the popular thermal pools that people travel to from all around the world- some just making the short trip from the airport to have a soak and not go anywhere else in Iceland. It was another of those overpriced attractions I was not excited about getting involved in but I was convinced that you can’t visit Iceland without going to the Blue Lagoon. It certainly was a massive complex and it was crowded. We chose not to tick the deluxe option which provided robes and sandals because they wanted stupid money for it on top of what I thought was an offensive entrance fee but when we entered there was a pile of fresh robes and a box of sandals that everyone seemed to be helping themselves too, so we did as well! I guess they figure that everyone opts for the deluxe package! It was an enjoyable evening anyway, drinking at the swim up bar while soaking in hot water and relaxing in the steam room.
Blue Lagoon 
Cheers!
A good way to end our time in Iceland and rest before our flight back to Paris.
People ask us about how we get our house sits. This is the main website we use. https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF147238/
If you use the link above you will also get a discount on membership.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
Enjoy.