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Published: August 5th 2010
Godafoss Waterfall
Alicia and the Godafoss waterfall; a miserable weather day to see the falls, but not a 3* fall anyway so no harm. It's nice enoughRatings explained:
'Bad times' - self explanatory
'Don't bother' - self explanatory
1* - worth a look
2* - Good Times
3* - Unmissable
+ - emphasis on the rating
This entry covers the North East, and East. You should notice the amazing contrasts in the sights we are seeing and Iceland is just like that; phenomenal natural scenery that is amazingly different and diverse.
We left Akureyi and headed to our first 'major' waterfall in Iceland (there's 2.7 billion waterfalls in Iceland, you see them everywhere): Godafoss (2*) was a short waterfall 12 metres high but 30m wide with a large rock in the middle splitting the fall into two distinct streams. In spite of the lousy weather we enjoyed the falls and spent a good half hour there trying our best to keep dry and warm and getting some photos.
Nick got his first chance to use his ND8 filter on the camera to slow the shutter speed down and make the waters in the photo look 'silky' it worked!
Next highlight was Husavik where we avoided the heavily hyped whale watching tours and instead popped into the 'Phallological' museum (1*) for a giggle. It was
Rock walls at Hljóðaklettar
This shot is a view of the kind of hexagonal shaped stones about a handbreadth wide on the stone wall, they're remarkable shapes to see in nature a museum of animal penises, the Sperm whale wins the contest on size with a 170cm, foot wide member, whilst the Walrus also turns in a surprisingly large entry, the polar bear was the biggest loser.... must be all that cold water!!
We couldn't help but think the chap who owns and runs the place was a weirdo; sorry old chap but you're surrounded by animal dicks all day and you're passionate about them.....
On our way to the Joskulsarglufur national park we made the big mistake of not counting to three.......
see Icelandic sheep ALWAYS travel in groups of three (yes really) and if you see two on one side of the road then there's every chance the third is on the other side and will be desperate to join his mates... so desperate they'll race out into the road with grim determination and we were lucky that the sheep that did this to us on this occasion was yellow-bellied and lily livered and so turned back at the last micro-second rather than become an impromptu hood ornament on our vehicle.
So anyway drivers in Iceland beware of sheep; we were always a lot more paranoid in future
A buckled rock roof- Kirksjan
This amazing rock formation is named as a church. If you look hard you can see Alicia in her black jacket in the entry, and get perspective of how large it is. when we saw a split group...
At the Josk. National park we were surprised to see some trees and shrubs but had low cloud and misting rain spoiling our pretty views and our chances of doing a hike. We still took in a few pretty sights in the park. The Botnstjörn pond (1*) at the end of a horse-shoe shaped canyon wasn't too bad but the real memorable site was the one hour walk at Hljóðaklettar (2*) here were impressive cliff and rock formations along the rushing river and particularly astounding lava formations in the rock walls. The lava had formed hexagonal blocks that were a little similar to the Giants Causeway in Ireland but were hanging off the rock wall, not on the ground underfoot.
We marvelled at the volcanic rock shapes and Alicia says she could see face shapes in the formations. Sadly light rain was misting down but we picked our way along a very rough and rocky trail to the Kirksjan (2*) again, it is a large cave with a buckled rock roof; the roof was shaped a little like a tent or church roof and was a very impressive bit of geology.
The last sites
Dettifoss - Powerful Water
The most powerful waterfall in Europe looks it too, this shot (in dismal light and weather) shows the huge wall of spray exploding out from the base of the fall in the park for us this day were some big-name Icelandic Waterfalls.
First up was Dettifoss (2*) the most powerful waterfall in Europe and it conveys tremendous power.
Not looking too tall at only 45 metres high and viewed from a canyon rim running even with the top; Dettifoss's roaring, plummeting water hits the bottom then explodes horizontally out in a huge, thick wall of spray from the base. There are no fences anyway to stop you walking up close or leaping into the torrent if you were stupid enough, you can really 'feel the mist' on your face at this and all Icelandic falls. Thankfully for us in this case the wind direction of the waterfall was sending the spray away from us.
Dettifoss is known for not being the prettiest waterfall since it's so powerful it tends to tear up a lot of dirt and rock and so in sunlight can look drab and grey/ brown but due to our miserable dull overcast skies and low cloud this wasn't an issue for us and we couldn't discern extra ugliness and quite liked it.
Next was a quick 10 minute walk upstream to Selfoss; we saw a tiny
Selfoss- Beautiful Waterfalls
My Selfoss photos make me weep bitter tears that they don't convey the amazing beauty of this long canyon of waterfalls on either side. Hopefully you can get a feeling of what Selfoss is about from this shot. black lava sand beach by the river edge on the way which was cool.
Selfoss (3*) is an astonishing long canyon of waterfalls, well over a dozen parallel falls 11 metres high plunging down canyon walls, some falls are on the near eastern side of the canyon but most on the Western side. Selfoss comes from a curve on the river leading into the canyon area and feeds at least 200 metres of side by side waterfalls.
Selfoss is both pretty and incredibly remarkable, you just can't believe that there's such a long strip of parallel falls; it's fabulous.
Around Selfoss walking through the soaking wet sands Alicia stepped into some particularly soaked sand that was like quicksand and she sank up to the top of her boots. In comical fashion she did the exact opposite of all known 'quicksand advice' and panicked frantically; we duly hauled her out in a short space of time and Alicia had to wash her boots and jeans bottoms of the 'quicksand'.
Our next day was a to be a tremendous contrast to all the greenery and waterfalls and beautiful lakes and coastline thus far; we were off to Lake Myvatn the notorious
Crater lake- Viti
The light was crappy due to the overcast skies but this crater was still very impressive. Note the huge plumes of steam rising all over fro the land in the background!
Volcanic region.
As we drove into the region the land became more barren and rugged in it's feel; Volcanic one might say....
Arriving in the area we were treated to the awful whiff of sulfur it the air (which smells awfully unpleasant like rotten eggs and requires avoiding where possible).
Our first memorable stop was..... Reyjkhalio tourist info where we had delicious choc dipped vanilla ice cream cones; they were huge and delicious; Iceland knows a thing or two about making choc-dipped icecream, they should rebrand the country to 'Icecreamland'.
The great thing about Myvatn is there's a lot of diverse volcanic sites all very close together.
First sight-seeing stop for the day was the volcanic crater Viti (2*) at Krafla; to get up there we had to drive past the Krafla geothermal power station which is a remarkable area with huge columns of white steam pouring out of the ground all over. It's a unique look, to see a green grassy volcanic valley full of billowing steam venting out of the ground seemingly at random. One mound in particular, shaped exactly like a volcano but only 10 feet high, was putting out a tremendous cloud of steam
Lava Landscape- Leirhnjukur 1
See the black lava landscape we walked through in this foreground, it was otherworldly. with a massive roaring noise that filled the whole valley.
The Viti crater was fairly impressive and crater-like, and filled with a small pool of aqua coloured water but the overcast skies meant we didn't have nice enough light to make it really pretty.
Next we went to nearby Leirhnjukur (2*) where we saw some small pools of bubbling mud but MUCH more impressively we were able to walk amongst some recent lava fields which were still all warped black lava rock, with steam still rising from some places the ground was so warm. The lava fields were in fascinating lava flow shapes; it was a totally different landscape of black rock and we loved walking amongst it; it felt like a very volcanic experience! We picked up some stones from the ground and they were suitably light due to all the holes in the rock due to gas. Also among the landscape were some small crevices and cracks in the earth; all in all an excellent walk in a lava field.
Next sight was the Hverir (2*) steam and mud pools near Mt Namafjall. It consisted of a white, orange, yellow, and red banded landscape with pools
Leirhnjukur Lava Landscape 2
I loved the contrast of this yellow against the black lava fields. of steaming water and mud and the whole area stinking strongly of sulfur. We had to hold a handkerchief to our face to breathe in some places or even pinch our nose shut the smell was so awful; the trick was to walk upwind of the sites and avoid the stench of sulfur altogether. The bubbling mud was boiling away quite furiously and Nick marveled at how hot it must be to make liquid mud boil like that. Some of the water pools were marked with signs as being 200C. There was another little volcano shaped mound here too spitting out loads of steam and noisy too. This area was the most out-of-this world and hostile with it's textured earthy colours, burning ground, clouds of steam, and foul sulfur gas.
Around Lake Myvatn (2*) we saw the pseudo craters (1*) there near Starkholstjorn which were worth a look, a pseudo crater is a small crater shaped grassy hill, they look like they're mini volcanos but they're not, they're depressions in the land of that shape.
The real star of the show however was the lake and general landscape in and around the lake at the south end which was
Lava fields walk
Alicia during our lava fields walk, note the steam rising from the land in the background, that's 'cause it's still quite hot in places! very pretty. We saw grassy islets and small craters and land formations in the lake and by the lake edge and the water was reflecting beautifully; we wish we'd had more time just to enjoy these sights. Unfortunately due to the time of year there were infinite sand flies about and they hovered in such dense clouds you had to run through them to avoid breathing them in; I was shaking my fist at the sky and demanding evolution deliver a natural predator to reduce their population immediately (yes really).
Next we went to Dimmuborgir (1*) a place known for lava formations, there were mainly rocky black pinnacles of varying heights and one or two impressive natural arches. They were all made of a dark basalt rock; but as we were pressed for time and underwhelmed by the beauty of the twisted Dimm. landscape we set off for our final 'volcanic' activity of the day a nice swim in the Myvatn thermal bath. On the way there near Dimm. We saw a very perfectly formed large volcanic crater which you can walk around the rim of; it couldn't have been shaped more stereotypically as a volcano crater if it
Steaming lands
In the foreground lava fields, in the background steam pouring out of the land, no wonder there's a geothermal power plant right there. had been hand crafted and was an old volcano we believe.
We got to the the natural Myvatn thermal baths (2*) about 5pm and Nick was dismayed to find the moderate sulfur smells were quite pervasive; we were sick of that bloody smell by this time in the day!
Iceland is famous for it's natural hot thermal baths and this was the best in the north; at all baths it's mandatory to shower naked before entering the pool; circumstances can therefore lead you to standing very close to a large bunch of naked people in close proximity which we found a bit different!
We entered the milky blue steaming water and found the bottom of the pool was mainly made up of small smooth pebbles. Some parts of the pool were hotter than others, one section so hot that we didn't stay too long at all and escaped to milder warm water. The sun was out and shining down on the pool and we found a part of the pool with the least sulfur smelling air and relaxed for a good hour in the soothing waters and chatted. Many locals appeared to be there as well as tourists.
We
Lava crevices
Grass forming over the lava fields warped contours bid fond farewell to the North and headed East; after 150km of the most boring and forgettable landscape in Iceland coming East from Lake Myvatn we enjoyed spectacular sights of high mountain lakes and ponds and low clouds and then had stunning views coming down out of the hills into the fjord at Seydisfjordur. Sadly there was nowhere to stop so the stunning views of the low clouds and mist above the lovely fjord and little town could not be captured.
We found ourselves in a town with only 3 eateries, 2 had 'run out of food' and one had stopped serving. The serving girl in the last place felt so sorry for us she made us ham & cheese toasted sandwiches and saved us from hunger; we were especially grateful and Alicia kindly returned to their establishment to selflessly eat a strawberry ice cream choc-dipped cone the next day and prop up their business.
At our accommodation we were supposed to share a dorm with only 2 top bunks left in a dorm of six (which would have sucked), but the dormitory gods smiled upon us (or maybe it's because we're so horrible) but the host found us a
Boiling mud & Steam lands
Hverir where the smell of sulfur will kill you in a heartbeat. Pretty landscape and fascinating boiling pools of water and mud. room all to ourselves and we left the other four people in peace, good times.
The town of Seydisfjordur (2*) is a tiny place at the end of a narrow fjord with steep green mountains rising on all sides above and behind the town, as well as on either side of the fjord that leads out to the sea.
It's a picturesque place with colourful weather worn buildings and many thin waterfalls lining the steep mountain sides and if it weren't for the local industry and harbour shaving a little beauty off the town it would be a 3*+ for beauty alone. Nick found the weather worn coloured buildings and particularly an old boat drydocked on the land very picturesque.
We enjoyed a stop at the excellent little Gudufoss waterfall (2*) and it's fellow streams and waterfalls on the way out of Seydisfjordur that was very peaceful as no-one else was about.
The weather then promptly closed in to give us the second worst spell of weather of our whole Iceland trip with heavy overcast skies, lowish clouds, and a little mist to obscure views. This was a bloody shame as our east coast trip was all about driving
Hot grounds ahead!
More of the Hverir burning, steaming pools. the fjords to see the landscape and coast and it was severely hampered by the god-awful weather.
We therefore had a 'ring of kerry' type impression of the east Fjords of Iceland, we suspect they're very pretty but can't be too sure as the weather was so poor. Alicia napped while Nick drove and noted a few very pretty old buildings, some decent looking hills shrouded with low cloud, and a remarkable mud flat that was steaming - presumably because it was hot! We headed through Hofn where we generously awarded the 'most boring town in Iceland award' and bought some cheap and nasty gloves and beanies (warm hats) and finished our East of Iceland travels. We stopped in the South East at a small farm accommodation called Laejurhus, across the road from our next night accommodation Vagnnstaddir.
Thus ends the second entry of wonderful Iceland, those of you missing my rants and random segues I promise to find some before we depart Iceland.
The next Iceland entry will give you 'bang for your buck' with the big hitting South East and South West of Iceland with some 3* attractions. I'm now publishing this from Russia, we are
Boiling lands
This shot shows steam rising from just about everywhere, the hot pool in front and especially from the natural mounds and the Krafla power plant area. staying in St Petersburg and it's been very pretty and not too intimidating so far. Even the most hardened old bastard softens under a barrage of please and thankyous in badly spoken Russian from us so the people aren't too bad!
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Mum&Dad G
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Iceland 2
Incredible photos Nick Loved your descriptions So glad the weather wasn't too bad most of the time XX