Blogs from Southwest, Iceland, Europe - page 15

Thursday 2 March 2017 After a fantastic 2 weeks in Norway on the MS Spitsbergen we attempted to fly to Iceland on a 6.10pm flight that was heading to Copenhagen before connecting with a flight to Reykjavik. The flight was delayed 2hrs in Bergen and we missed our connecting flight forcing us to stay in Copenhagen for the night (at the expense of SAS fortunately). Stayed overnight at the Hilton Hotel (the one at the airport). Very comfortable place and was within walking distance of the airport. All under cover too, so we did not have to brave the sub 0 temperatures in Denmark. We changed some Australian currency in Denmark into Iceland Kroner. THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE! Without thinking about it, we lost money on the change into Danish Kroner (DKK) then lost more ... read more

This is a Thanksgiving we will never forget. In the morning Katie returned to the Golden Circle to snorkel Silfra, a 200ft deep rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and the rest of us went cruising the bay for whales. Afterwards, we headed to the infamous Blue Lagoon to celebrate Thanksgiving. National Geographic ranks the Blue Lagoon as one of the top 25 wonders of the world. This geothermal spa is in the middle of a lava field and a perfect way to warm up after a chilly morning. And so with a drink in hand and a silica mud mask on our face, we toasted to our wonder friends and family we are so lucky to know and love.... read more

We are headed out to the land of the Vikings, Elves, Trolls, and yes land of the Wildlings too! Iceland is the Game of Thrones filming location for the regions North of the Seven Kingdoms…”beyond the wall”. It is a land full of glaciers, hot springs, icy rivers, northern lights, and explosive volcanoes. National Geographic ranked Iceland’s Blue Lagoon as one of the top 25 Wonders of the World! Our adventure is packed tight with visits to lava fields, black sand beaches, waterfalls, ice caves, snorkeling between the earth’s tectonic plates, snowmobiling on glaciers, sipping cocktails in the hot springs, and midnight sky gazing hunting for the elusive Northern Lights.... read more

Riding day for Helen: up early for two and a half hours and many kilometres in the sole company of the amiable Louise. The ride went down to and along an empty black-sand beach (they all are, here), and on her ready mare Rekna Helen quickly gained proficiency in the tolt, the so-called fifth gait, which looks a bit like a disrupted pacer’s gait, or maybe a quadruped Jared Tallent. I took the chance to wander out among the horses for a bit of in-paddock photography. The lack of sunshine for the camera is a continuing frustration: almost every photo taken so far has been in cloudy conditions, thus understating a country where the landscape often dresses in surprising colours. Yesterday’s wind had eased, though, which was a blessing. In the afternoon I took it easy ... read more

Day 7, our last full day exploring the Ring Road...hard to believe we have almost come full circle, but the mileage signs to Reykjavik are the first indications we are nearing the end of the road trip... Enough of that though, still a full day ahead; after grudgingly leaving our warm and comfy cabin we were on the road for a day of waterfalls and the famous Golden Circle attractions of Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir National Park... First leg of today's journey would be all waterfalls: Skogafoss, Seljalandsfoss and Gljufurarbui...Skogafoss was up first; an impressive 62 meter high waterfall that was really cool, and on the cover of the latest Lonely Planet I think...there is a long staircase leading up to a spot near the top of the falls, but we opted to just make our ... read more