Blogs from Vík, South, Iceland, Europe - page 4

So today I begin my 2-day trip to the south of Iceland with EXTREME Iceland. I'm hoping the tour company's name provides the exciting trip it seems to promise. I've been looking forward to this trip more than any other so expectations are high. I'm picked up at my hotel and taken to Extreme Iceland's base where Bjorn our tour leader for the trip is waiting for us in a minibus that quickly fills up with people among whom are lots of excitable young Chinese girls! As we set off we have problems with Bjorn's headset mike - he's on his own so needs to be driver and guide as he's going along so this is kinda important equipment. We even have to go back to base to sort it out which isn't a good start, ... read more

Another day, another hotel, but we are slowly making our way back towards Reykjavík. We woke this morning to rain, but not to be put off we headed out to the glacial lake Jökulársón where the glacier slowly breaks up into icebergs and they float out to sea. We went out to see the main glacier on a zodiac boat which was fantastic. No seats – you just perch on the inflatable edge and hang on to rope handles. Although we were layered up and they dressed us up in survival suits and life jackets, it was still cold with the rain and spray but the views were fantastic. Because it is warm the tops of the icebergs slowly melt away and then they flip over and the undersides are bright turquoise, the tops are mixtures ... read more

Day 2 in Iceland along the SE Coast We woke to a day which was overcast but some sun was shining on the glacier. There was the occasional shower of rain through the day. First we drove along the south-east coast to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, where large icebergs float around. We chose to go on an hour's zodiac cruise on the lagoon. We had half an hour to wait for the trip so ducked into the little cafe and had some mushroom soup - beautiful as it was very cold outside and very light rain. To go on the zodiac, we were kitted out with waterproof overalls in which we felt like sumo wrestlers but was very warm out in the speed boat with them on. It was amazing to see all the different shapes and ... read more

To the South and it's Pouring! Today's adventure started at 9am, sightseeing and touring around the south shore of Iceland. An hour and a half from Reykjavík, our first stop was the Skógafoss waterfall. Huge and stunning with a massive spray, neither of us have ever seen a waterfall so big. It is 82 feet wide and has a 200 foot drop. The skies are grey, lots of rain and wind, low clouds with seabirds flying high and roosting in the cliffs. A great first stop! We realized after our first stop that we were going to be totally wet all day. Torrential arctic sheets of freezing rain that soaks you to the bone in 30 seconds mixed with 30 mph winds made for a complicated sightseeing tour. Our next stop was a black sand beach ... read more

Iceland’s main artery is a ring road that loops around the edge of the entire country. The buses are sporadic and expensive and we liked the idea of having our own car, free to stop as long as we like, wherever we like, camping whenever we were tired. However, hiring a car proved a little more difficult than we anticipated. Getting out of Thorsmork (where we finished our hike) was difficult in itself. We payed a lot of money to get onto a bus that looked more like an old battered loaf of bread sitting very high above extreme tyres. But the reason for this soon became apparent as we went cross country across the giant rocks of a dry river bed. We had to cross what remained of the river at one point, which was ... read more