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Published: January 24th 2017
So... It was another beautiful summer morning, and I was at work!
*Ping*, another email. It was from Easyjet, so of course I
had to check it out. They'd released the flights for the next spring, was there anywhere we'd like to go? Oooooh Iceland! I wondered how expensive they'd be over the February half term, then we might get to see the northern lights too.
Holy crap, they were really cheap. My heartbeat steadily increased. I quickly fired off some messages to make sure we'd be free for that time, double checked the dates, oh wait I'd got the wrong week. The flight prices for the actual half term were double! My mood worsened considerably and I resigned myself to the fact that we wouldn't be heading to Iceland any time soon.
All afternoon though, I was still thinking about it. So, in the evening when I had a spare moment, armed with the correct dates, I hit the flight search engines. It actually didn't take long at all, I'd managed to get flights with Icelandair, a much better airline than Easyjet (you don't have to pay for extras), for only marginally more than the Easyjet flights
with the wrong dates. Excellent, we were going to Iceland!!!
Fast forward 7 months and we were at the airport, excited as hell. We had booked an Airbnb for the duration of our stay, a lovely cabin, in the middle of the golden circle. We also had booked a four wheel drive car to get us around the whole time as according to the reviews it's not unusual to get snowed in at the cabin. The flight was a fairly short three hours and the kids even got a complimentary meal which was unexpected. We only got free drinks, but that was good enough.
We landed mid afternoon, picked up the car and straight away headed to the
Blue Lagoon, probably one of Iceland's biggest tourist attractions. We headed to the Blue Lagoon first as it's quite close to the airport and was sort of on the way to the cabin. We'd actually pre-booked our visit too, it can get busy and 'sell-out' and we wanted to make sure we didn't miss out. They give you an hours time slot and we managed to time it perfectly. There was a bit of a queue to get in but it
didn't take long till we were checked in and heading to the changing area.
The Blue Lagoon is definitely unique and breathtakingly beautiful but you are sharing the experience with crowds of people. The changing area was packed but we managed to find ourselves some free lockers, get showered and get in our swimmers quickly and head outside to find Faye. We’d read up on the etiquette of hot spring bathing in Iceland before arriving so we knew that you shower naked
before putting on your swimming costume, then make your way to the pool. Almost everyone of course ignored this, god forbid someone should see their nakedness…
We did the usual and swam around feeling the different temperatures, we enjoyed the face masks and bought drinks from the poolside bar, all while soaking up the experience.
We slowly started making our way towards the back where the crowds thinned so the boys could clamber out onto the surrounding board walks and launch themselves into the water, as kids like to do. Thankfully towards the back there was space to play, so we let them get on with it. That was when we noticed a pool on
the other side of the boardwalk with no one in it at all, so we crossed over into it and got to enjoy the space all to ourselves for a while without a single other person in sight. After about 10-15 minutes one of the attendants came over and in his impeccably polite and easy going way (very typical of Icelandic people we would learn) told us that the area was closed but we could enjoy it for a few more moments if we'd like before moving back to the main lagoon. When we left we noticed there was a sign at the entrance, but we would have no chance of seeing it as we went around the back.
We stayed in the Blue Lagoon for maybe a couple of hours. The sun had set and it was well and truly night before making our way back to the crowded changing rooms ready for the drive to the cabin. Although crowded, the Blue Lagoon definitely deserves its status as a major tourist attraction, it definitely ranks highly among my travel experiences.
The drive to the cabin was slow going as it had started to snow quite heavily and
there was no street lighting on any of the roads we'd decided to take. It was that cool driving though, where it's pitch black and it feels like you're traveling at warp speed though space with the stars streaking past. We only stopped once to visit an open minimarket on the way to pick up supplies and were quickly reminded about how expensive it was here, especially compared to our usual travels around Asia.
The cabin, as advertised, really was quite secluded. The closest other building was probably 100m away. The reason we'd decided to stay somewhere like that rather than a hotel in Reykjavik was that we wanted to maximise our chances of seeing the northern lights. Out in the middle of nowhere, the cabin was surrounded completely by darkness with no light pollution at all (other than the moon, which sadly was almost full, but there's not much that can be done about that). It also had a hot tub, which was kept at a beautifully warm 40 degrees, the plan being to sit in it all night watching the skies. And that's pretty much what we did! As soon as we were settled, we stripped off
to our birthday suits, braved the brief moment in sub zero temperatures, and wallowed in the beautifully hot water. According to Iceland's aurora forecast the first night would be the best night for us to try and see the northern lights as there was high solar activity, and broken cloud.
It was quite a while before we noticed something. A straight band of pale white had formed stretching form horizon to horizon, looking somewhat like a aircraft contrail. Over time it got brighter and brighter until it was almost completely white. We kept watching it but were convinced that we were just witnessing the moon reflecting off a cloud front Then the edges became less defined and started to waver, with a greenish tinge. At that point we knew that we were definitely seeing the lights, but the best was yet to come. Very suddenly the 'line' of light broke apart and filled the sky with all the swirling and flickering patterns you associate with the phenomenon. Some of the swirls were moving very quickly, some much slower and they ranged in colours from white/grey, greens and even short flashes of swirling red. This intense burst of activity lasted
maybe 5 minutes before settling into a slower, almost rhythmic swirling, much fainter, mostly grey/white with a slight tinge of green. This then lasted for ages.
Of course, during this time we were in the hot tub, naked. I did quickly venture out to grab my camera, taking some hand held shots but the photos are laughably terrible. The temperature was so cold that my hair was freezing on my head so you can imagine how long you could brave those conditions naked and dripping wet. I did take some photos a while later when I'd had the chance to dry off, get dressed, wrap up warm and wade through the snow to set up a tripod, by then though the display was much weaker. They're nice shots but don't come anywhere near close to representing what we witnessed for those five minutes, which was truly breathtaking and everything I'd hoped the lights would be.
Over the following days we pretty much followed the well trodden path and visited the sights closest to where we were. Not before a morning soak in the hot tub though. We also got to jump out the tub and roll around in
the freshly fallen powdery snow, before jumping back into the tub. The boys joined us, which was a surprise and they found the whole experience hilarious. Rolling in snow naked, then jumping in a hot tub probably isn't high on anyone's bucket list, but it should be. The sensation is bizarre and Gabe clearly liked it as he kept on doing it, laughing the whole time.
We took a drive down the coast stopping and exploring the areas around Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss, which are two truly incredible waterfalls. You can walk up to the top of Skogafoss which then gives you amazing views over the falls to the coast. We then continued on, stopping at the town of Vik for something to eat and a visit to the black sand beach. The beach was interesting enough but the weather was starting to turn, the wind was strong and it was freezing cold so we made the few hour journey back to the cabin to make dinner and sit in the tub for the rest of the evening watching the skies.
We visited Þingvellir national park and then made the drive over to Geysir and Gulfoss, which was an
amazing day, three amazing sights. Sadly at the time of year we went you can't get too close to Gulfoss, but it certainly was impressive even from a distance.
The landscape in Iceland is incredible, especially covered in snow, driving around was an absolute pleasure. One memorable experience that day was stopping for a bite to eat on the drive at a
farm restaurant . The restaurant and barn are the same building, so you can see the cows while your eating, with only a wall with massive glass windows separating you from them. Great meal in a very interesting setting.
After Gulfoss we decided to try out one of Iceland's other hot springs and took the short drive to Flúðir, to bath in the
Secret Lagoon, Icelands oldest swimming pool. It was a bit more rustic than the Blue Lagoon and much less busy. It also had photos on the wall explaining exactly how to prepare for hot spring bathing in Iceland but still a lot of people ignored it. When we got to the pool it looked great as most people were along the front edge, leaving the middle and back completely empty. It turns out this is
because that’s where the spring water enters and it flows in at close to 100°C, you couldn’t spend too long in the middle and you certainly couldn’t venture too far towards the back. We probably only spent an hour in this pool, it was just too hot, even sitting outside in the icy cold air wasn't enough to cool us down. It was well worth the visit though, way more rustic than the Blue Lagoon and way less people.
We also spent a day exploring Reykjavik, but found it rather uninspiring. When compared to the surrounding countryside it just can't compete. It was worth a walk around and we had an amazing lunch of local fish and roast potatoes, albeit very pricey. We did manage to pick up a massive piece of Arctic Char though at one of the supermarkets to cook up back at the cabin which was more than reasonably priced. We also visited
Whales of Iceland, which is an exhibition of the whales that can be found in Icelandic waters, including life size plastic replicas of each. It was okay, the kids enjoyed it for a short while, but it was expensive considering how quickly you can work
your way around it.
Before we left Iceland we decided to continue our hot spring enjoyment and visited
Laugarvatn Fontana. As as we got there at opening time we had the entire complex to ourselves for about 15 minutes before more people started filtering in. It's set at the side of a lake and the view from the springs was spectacular. There was the usual assortment of pools at varying temperatures and natural steam rooms set above the hot springs, some of which were far to hot for me to enjoy. They even provide shoes for you, if you want to enjoy the icy cold waters of the lake, which of course I had to try. It was so cold it took my breath away, but good for a laugh regardless.
And that was our final experience of Iceland, other than the blizzard on the drive back to the airport. The snow came down so thick that they closed the road behind us and we barely made it out. Shame really, missing our flight and being stuck in that Incredible country for a bit longer wouldn't have been too bad.
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Yvonne Watts
non-member comment
Michaeldavidjohnson Icelands Blog.
Lovely to read one of your blogs again Michael. Great writing and photos. Cannot wait for your Canadian blog next.