Our Trip to Iceland – Part 3

So we’re on to part 3 of our Icelandic escapades, if this is the first that you’re reading about it – Where the hell have you been?! Thankfully, you can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here, if you need to catch up.

We pick up our tale at the start of the third day. It was grey and overcast but no heavy rain was forecast. This was great news as today would be one of driving out to various points of interest and then wandering around them, taking as many pictures as possible.

I said in a previous post that driving in Iceland is fantastic but it does have one drawback when compared to other locations. As you cast out from the city and start to head into the more rural areas, the landscape that you’re driving through is so ridiculously distracting that it becomes virtually impossible to keep your eyes on the road. Every corner that you turn or hill that you crest unveils some new extraordinary piece of scenery that leaves you gawping, open mouthed like some demented cod. The toughest challenge of the day would prove to be staring straight ahead at featureless asphalt as Cath exclaimed “Wow! That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!” again and again and again.

Our first destination was Skógafoss, a stunningly perfect waterfall about 150 km to the East of Reyjavik. From here we would work our way back to another falls, the infamous, ash spewing volcano, Eyjafjallajökull and Kerið, a volcanic crater.
Going somewhere in Iceland to see a waterfall is not a difficult task. The place is absolutely covered from top to bottom with places where water tumbles off a cliff face or down an assembly of boulders. It’s safe to say that, if you see any body of water in Iceland, it has at some point in its existence, fallen from one place to another in a loud and dramatic way. There are however, certain of these, that are more impressive and awe-inspiring than others – Skógafoss, is among that group.

Skógafoss

We pulled off of Route 1, the road that runs around the coast of the entire country and into the large car park that sits about 250m from the falls itself. The main attraction is clearly visible from here but rather than heading straight for the source of the clouds of spray that blew across us as we exited the car, we thought we’d head into the visitor centre first to grab a drink.
What we hadn’t noticed as we pulled up, was the fleet of tour coaches that had arrived minutes before us.

Eager to see the waterfall up close, we intended to pop in and out of the visitor centre quickly and without bother. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
The aforementioned tour coaches were packed to the rafters with grey-haired, elderly Europeans seemingly intent on taking as long as possible to achieve anything at all.
I have nothing against the elderly but there’s a time and a place and in their case the time had long since passed and the place was directly between us and the waterfall we had driven for 2 hours to see.
The fact that the visitor centre had a café had whipped the group into an astonishingly slow-moving frenzy causing them to fan out in all directions, covering all escape routes as they did so. They shuffled hither and thither, teetering constantly on the brink of losing their balance and smashing their fragile bones upon the tiled floor.
Apparently, the aging process causes the ability to choose between hot drinks to slow to a glacial rate. The only thing slower than the queue for the till was the queue for the toilet which only reduced in size when one of its members, seized up by inactivity, slumped against the wall and collapsed to the floor with a final puff of dry, menthol-scented breath.

After what seemed like days, we finally acquired our drinks and headed out into open air, far away from the swollen ankled masses who, I assume, are still there to this day.
The walk to the falls is an impressive one. You are surrounded by completely flat ground which is suddenly punctuated by the cliff face over which the waters of the Skógá river plummet. This only serves to highlight the grandeur of what is, at a height of 60m, one of the tallest falls in Iceland. It looks big as you walk up but it’s only once you’re right under it that its imposing scale is truly visible.
There is a steep path that runs up to the right of the waterfall itself which takes you to an excellent vantage point, not just for the falls but the river that leads to it as well as the coastline below.

After an hour or so of taking in the sights, we returned to the car park and set off for a quick stop-off to see the most famous and disruptive volcano in Iceland.

Eyjafjallajökull

Eyjafjallajökull, pronounced… um, well…let’s not worry about that, is a large volcano with a glacier that sits on top of it, completely covering the caldera (the bit where lava comes out).
It became the bane of newsreaders all over the world in 2010 when it suddenly erupted, sending a gigantic amount of volcanic ash hurtling several kilometres into the air. The huge cloud was judged to be a threat to air traffic and caused 6 days of pandemonium as flights were grounded and travellers left stranded.
Route 1 passes directly past the farm which sits at the foot of the volcano and in recent years, a museum has been built here to commemorate the one time that anyone mentioned Iceland in relation to international affairs.
We parked up at the small car park outside the farm and took in the view for a few minutes before heading on our way. It is possible to do tours of the glacier but on this occasion, we had a lot to see and the day was flying by at an alarming rate.

Despite our haste, what we saw within a few minutes of departing the farm stopped us in our tracks and left us searching desperately for anywhere that we could dump the car to go and get a closer look.
As we drove, we looked out to the left to the sea and saw a patch of water so still, so utterly unwrinkled that it was like gazing across some vast mirror, perfectly reflecting everything out to the distant horizon.
We pulled over in a small driveway and got out to wander, almost mesmerised to the waters edge. I have no idea how many pictures we took over the next 15 minutes but it was far too many. Certainly more than any right-minded people have ever photographed water before, but the view was simply spellbinding.

Seljalandsfoss

The next stop on our whirlwind tour of the southern coast was Seljalandsfoss, yet another picturesque waterfall situated just off of Route 1 which must be one of the least dull roads that you could ever find yourself on.

We pulled in to the small car park as close to a tiny coffee hut as we could get. Despite the fact that we were in September, a cold wind had started to blow through and we were in need of hot coffee to warm our frozen bones.
Also huddled round the coffee hut were a group of around twenty Scottish people, dressed to the nines, men in kilts, who were obviously assembling for a wedding that was to take place behind the waterfall.
There is a path that follows a wide circle around the front of the falls and then skirts its way along the bottom of the cliff face behind the flow of water. It was windy, cold and the air was full of a frozen spray that soaked you to the core but I cannot imagine a more romantic place to get married.
The hardy Scots assembled underneath the falls as we were getting ready to leave and despite their grimacing as they braced against the wind, you could see that they were revelling in having the ceremony in such a gorgeous location.

Kerið

Our final stop on our way home for the night was at Kerið, a 3,000 year old volcanic crater lake about 60km to the east of Reykjavik. The crater was formed when the volcano that had been in that location had exhausted its magma supply and collapsed in on itself.
This is the only place that we went in Iceland that charged any sort of entrance fee but at a miniscule 400ISK (about £2.90) it was well worth it. It seemed that the thought of spending the price of a coffee to see an interesting natural phenomenon had kept people away though as when we arrived there was only one other car in the car park.

Once you’ve paid the fee, you’re free to wander around the outside of the crater as well as take the path down into the crater itself leading you all the way to the waters edge. Due to the high mineral content of the water, it has an extremely vivid colour which sits in contrast to the red of the crater, creating a quite striking view.

We were, by now, exhausted and hungry and more than ready for a return to Reykjavik. Our day wasn’t done yet though, once back at the hotel we prepared ourselves for a meal out at one of Reykjavik’s best restaurants.

Perlan

Perlan (the pearl), is both the name of the building and the revolving restaurant that it houses. The building itself used to be a very ornate set of water storage tanks but has since been converted into a museum, gift shop and, on the top floor, a restaurant. The building sits on top of a hill just outside the main body of the city giving excellent views of the main sights of the town as well as out to sea. We were lucky enough to get there just as the sun was setting over the Atlantic. This was the perfect vantage point to watch it.
Having made our way there, we made our way up in the lift and exited into the reception area of the restaurant. It was very plush with a central cocktail bar and piano encircled by the revolving seating area around the outside. The food and service were excellent and to be able to eat in such an iconic and comfortable environment was a real treat after our day of exploration.
Although a bit pricy and maybe a little stuffy and traditional for younger visitors, it is well worth a visit if you’re in the area.
The restaurant itself has since changed hands and is now called ‘Út í bláinn’.

Phew! What a day! It felt like we saw so much in such a short space of time. That’s one of the things about Iceland that we came to appreciate. There are so many things to see and all of them are in easy reach if you have your own means of getting about.
Believe it or not, our next day was even more eventful so please watch out for part 4 as our time in Iceland draws to a spectacular close.