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Published: September 22nd 2016
Godafoss
...stunning...After a great introduction to Iceland in Reykjavik it was now time to go mobile and see some more of the island...the Ring Road circumnavigates the entire country, and our objective was to make the loop and check out as much as we could along the way...
We had originally planned on just renting a car and doing the trip, staying at hotels/cottages or whatever other accommodations we could find, but after seeing the costs of hotels the Lovely K came up with a brilliant idea: what about a camper van? Hmm, okay! Did some digging and found some companies that rented them, and after comparing costs the small vans weren't all that much more expensive than a car...plus the campsites were $30 instead of $200+ a night for us Canucks...settled on Go Campers after reading some reviews, great outfit...
Picked up the van, got pointed in the right direction and we were off on our seven day odyssey...it didn't take long before we had cleared the edge of town and caught our first glimpses of the beautiful landscape that unfolded before our eyes...The scenery in Iceland is stunning, and while it has a volcanic foundation to it all
The Lovely K...
...with Viki, as the van became affectionately known... it varies at times subtly and at others dramatically...we found it hard to capture the true essence in photos, and trust me you are going to read all sorts of superlatives in this and the following blogs in an attempt to convey what we saw and experienced...just a warning...haha...
Okay, back to the road...this is the way to go in my opinion; the traffic is very light, and there are plenty of vantage points to stop at to get pics, do little hikes or see something really cool...while we had places and activities to see and do the number one thing for me was the drive: to try and get a first hand impression of the land and the people and to just soak in all we could...it really was visual overload at times; every sweeping corner you would round would present you with another awe-inspiring image, and these just went on and on and on...warned you about the superlatives...😉
It was a great drive, approximately 400 kms I think (the longest segment of our journey) before we arrived at our first stop, the second largest town of Akureyri...we hadn't left ourselves much time here, this was basically
First stop...
...on the Ring Road, cool vantage point... a pit stop on the way to Husavik but we did manage to check out the main street and stop for a bite to eat before heading off to the campground...while having had great weather in Reykjavik and for most of the drive the clouds now moved in and the rain started, something you just have to get used to here as the rain is frequent (as we would discover during the rest of the tour...). Located the campsite on the outskirts of town and settled in for our first night on the road...
The van was cool; not very big but served its purpose just fine and pretty dang comfortable...we camp in a tent at home, so it was certainly nice to pull into the site and not have to set one up, just move our packs to the front seats and good to go...we opted for a van without heat thinking we should be fine at this time of year but in hindsight we maybe should have spent a bit more to get the heated one; the Lovely K was cold now and then but the big thing is it's damp pretty much all of the time,
meaning nothing dries if it gets wet...and things will get wet...haha...
Woke to no rain and our first road coffees (van came with basic supplies including a small single burner...discovered there were no mugs, so mason jars we had picked up with some groceries the night before would double as both coffee mugs and wine glasses...old school!). Greeted by a roving gang(?) of ducks looking for breakfast before packing up and heading on to our next destination: Husavik.
A northern town off the Ring Road, Husavik is renowned for its whale watching which was something we were both looking forward to...wasn't a long drive either, today's mileage would be under 200 kms which was just fine...decided to hit our first waterfall on the way as well, the mighty Godafoss...
As castles are to Scotland, churches are to many places in the world, waterfalls are to Iceland; they are everywhere! Some just narrow streams of water pouring down the mountains, others giant gushers pounding the landscapes, and everything in between...all quite beautiful in their own right...
So made it to Godafoss and began our exploration...the thing we noticed and appreciated as we made our way around the
View from the Top
Somewhere in Borgarfjordur... country is that all of the major waterfalls and attractions are free to visit, which to me is really cool...infrastructure is great, always a proper parking lot and pathways, a super-relaxed way to see these impressive sites...
Godafoss means "Waterfall of the Gods", and was apparently named that after the "law speaker" of the time decided the country would be a Christian nation (around the year 1000), and on his way home from the assembly threw all his pagan carvings of the Norse gods into the waterfall...while not as high as some of the other ones we would see, each had their own unique qualities and frankly this was one of my favourites...
Back in the van and off to Husavik...small harbour town in the north, very pretty but it was now overcast, drizzling and a little chilly to say the least, still lots of charm though...settled on a whale watching tour for later that afternoon and it was now time for some serious seafood soup to warm the bones!
Checked out the Whale Museum after lunch which was actually pretty cool before it was time for the main event: Whale Watching...met the boat and got suited
Firing up the coffee...
...the morning routine...(KC) up in giant red suits that were designed to keep the cold out and be buoyant in case you ended up overboard, then another long raincoat over top for the waterproofing...looked and felt like the Michelin Man, but would soon discover that these were beyond necessary...
Mentioned it was drizzling and a little chilly, well when we cleared the harbour the full force of the North Atlantic winds hit us, wow...we were warned that there were rough seas that day, and they certainly weren't kidding...the boat pitched what seemed like 45 degrees in either direction, making for "hold-on-for-dear-life" conditions aboard the boat...didn't take long before the first person was depositing their lunch into the sea, and this poor soul would not be the last (I'm guessing almost half the 19 people on board were affected, fortunately we made out fine...).
After about an hour of pitching and yawing we made it to an area popular with the whales, and shortly thereafter saw our first one, a humpback! Really cool, watching their backs and small dorsal fins break the surface of the water was beautiful, and over the course of the next hour we were to see a total
of five different whales (all humpback).
Time to head back, and now I was to discover the hiking boots that I thought were waterproof were not cutting it as the cold seas poured across the deck...once back on land I was soaked to the knees, so after a quick change in the parking lot we made a bee-line to the nearest restaurant to warm ourselves up....place is called Gamli Baukur, right in the harbour, nice spot and the food is great...did the trick!
Night 2 in the van was uneventful as we sipped some wine and soaked in all the adventures of the day...
(Some photos copyright of Karen C., denoted by (KC)...used with kind permission)
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Iceland by camper van
A good choice. We thought about doing that but didn't. It certainly gives you lots of freedom to be near nature. Waterfalls and more waterfalls, each with their own unique beauty. The big ones are grand but we liked many of the smaller ones. Keep these fabulous blogs coming.