Blogs from Iceland, Europe

8 Dagen naar IJsland 8-15 november 2023 IJsland staat al een poosje op ons verlanglijstje, maar we zaten steeds te dubben, wanneer dan, wat is de beste tijd enzovoort. Tot Bert kort geleden bij de ANWB een leuke winterreis zag en toen was de knoop snel doorgehakt! Dit is wat ons te wachten staat: 8-daagse winterrondreis IJsland - IJskoud de beste In het buitenaardse IJsland vecht de ijskoude winter tegen de explosieve hitte van de aarde. Ga in een landschap vol littekens van geologisch geweld op zoek naar het noorderlicht, kijk uit op de gletsjers en verken de natuurpracht in de Golden Circle regio. Ontdek het zuiden van IJsland en het schiereiland Snæfellsnes Geniet van spectaculaire watervallen, geisers en lavastranden Inclusief vluchten met Icelandair en huurauto De extreme natuur van vulkanisch IJsl... read more

Layovers for me are an absolute travel hack, especially after my latest birthday that puts me under the category “Early-Bird Special.” Gone are the days of enduring long-haul flights to get to my final destination. Now, I strategically insert a mandatory stopover within my itineraries. Places like Hong Kong, Dubai, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Johannesburg. By doing that, I can wholly attest, my travel sanity stays intact. I don't want to be one of those people who lose their shit at 40,000 feet and try, to get off the plane. I’ve come close. Only, because my fellow flying monkeys do real assholey things. Like exist. So, according to my calculations, direct flights from Paris to Vancouver are 9.5 hours long. My maximum tolerance for seats in economy, around 7 hours. So, I could take an Ativan and ... read more

Winds have dropped so we are good to go for Reykjavík. Over the mountains on gravel again but a really scenic drive. Got into the burbs of Reykjavík and decided to go and do one of their tourist attractions before I took the van back to its home. This place is called “Perlan” and it represents Iceland’s fire, ice and water. Very impressive building and the displays were also very impressive. Into an ice cave at one stage. Froze my bits off. But worth the experience. Out and off up our hotel where I will drop the girls with all the luggage and go out to the airport to drop the van off. Tiny little streets in Reykjavík so had to be extra cautious with mirrors and street widths. Dropped off ok then I set off. ... read more

Wiped the water off the inside of the windscreen this morning. Rang the Motorhome people who said to just come in and we will see what we can do about fixing the stuck step. Found our way there and went inside. Man asked if I was here to pick up a car. No, we have a step issue. Hmm, he has a look then goes to get a colleague who might know more. He has a look. Hmm. Now I know that they have no clue. 1st guy makes a call then comes back and says the mechanic is available and I need to go to him which is just around the corner. The mechanics look at it. Hmm. One starts playing trying to push it back in while the other offers ideas (ignored). Finally there ... read more

Early start disappeared after we called the grand kids and spent 35 minutes chatting with them. Time well spent though. Heading back on ourselves a little to visit Dettifoss waterfall. Rain and more rain today. Temperature as we left was 4 degrees with a piercing wind blowing. And blow it did… Turned off highway 1 to a secondary road which turned out to be much better than the main highway - and a lot less traffic. Arrived at the car park for Dettifoss and waterproofed as much as we could. To no avail. The rain was coming from all angles but we were here and kept going. We had a 1 km walk through pretty inhospitable country. Rocks everywhere but the track was well defined and maintained. Waterfall was huge / supposedly the strongest volume of ... read more