Cacheing in on Reykjavik

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Arriving back in Reykjavik I find that Oskar's assertion that when it's sunny in the north it's the opposite in the south of Iceland is actually true - today at least - as Reykjavik is pretty overcast and a slight flurry of snow is falling as I step outside the domestic airport. But what the hell, I'd planned to do a spot of geocaching around the shoreline footpath and over towards the Perlan on a massive roundabout route back to my hostel, so that's what I set off to do despite the less than perfect weather for it.

I have to throw on all my layers and pull my scarf up over my face as the wind is bitingly cold on this exposed walk. But thankfully the snow stops and the sun breaks through the clouds and there's even a bit of blue sky. There are some pretty swanky, modern houses along this stretch of the coastline, and in the summer it must be a glorious place to live, but now it seems pretty deserted. A few hardy joggers and cyclists pass me by but for the most part I'm alone. I hear the familiar croak of a raven and spot it hopping about in amongst the rocks. The tide has gone out leaving seaweed and tasty morsels that he's gobbling up. As I look more closely I see smaller birds pecking about in the seaweed, some sort of plover maybe and there's a few oyster catchers plus some cormorants airing their wings. I keep moving towards the first geocache - it's too cold to stop for long. The cache is hidden in the corner of a wall right in front of one of the posh sea view houses so I hope there's no-one looking out wondering what I'm up to. I eventually find it and add a bit of Norfolk squit in my log entry 'Blahst boi thas nippy!'. I carry on further round the curve of the shore line and come to the manufactured beach area I'd heard about. The cunning Icelanders have utilised some thermal heat to warm up a section of dammed off sea water making it possible for them to enjoy a dip in the sea during the summer. Today it's deserted but I make use of the oversized deckchairs and enjoy another spot of sunshine. But this isn't a day to stay still for too long, it's freezing, so I head on inland towards the Perlan, glinting in the sun like some enormous silver spaceship.

As my gps counts down the metres towards my next cache I see the amazing sight of tall trees towering above me - pines! It's so unusual to see tall trees in Iceland that I take a few comedy photos - mock horror style. I find the geocache pretty easily but it's a bit of a soggy loggy so I have to take a photo as proof of my find instead of my usual 'friedagaric' and a picture of a spotty fungus. Instead of taking the main path up to the Perlan I'm drawn in by a cool wooden framed boardwalk affair that turns out to be the start of a trim track through the wooded hillside. I have fun misusing the stations in ways the designers were certainly not intending when they put their ideas down on paper. A sit ups contraption becomes a cosy bed for example! I suddenly realise how much my knees and ankles are aching from all the walking I've been doing over the last few days so cut short my meanderings and go straight up to the massive Perlan building at the top of the hill.

Perlan

Inside this massive domed building, actually sited on top of water tanks, I find there's a staircase winding its way up towards a restaurant and an outside viewing area that encompasses the whole building. I decide I've earned a proper lunch, well more like tea as it's late in the afternoon by now, so I grab myself an all you can eat, help yourself to seconds salad and an artery busting cheese cake. It's lovely to be just sitting and relaxing inside in the warm. I see that a couple near me have clocked the get yourself seconds of soup and are getting a sneaky two for the price of one deal. With such expensive prices for food and drink in Iceland I don't blame them. The sun is out again so I steal myself out into the cold and take a look at the view from the top of the Perlan on the walkway. It's a brilliant outlook towards the centre of Reykjavik with the omnipresent iconic Hallsgrimkirkja always helping me get my bearings.

Time to head back on the long walk back to my hostel, but there's just one more geocache to find. I love having this sneaky little past time that takes me to such interesting places. It gives me confidence to head off along paths that I might not otherwise venture along and I find all sorts of quirky places I might never have realised existed without the gps leading me. My poor legs are so knackered as I finally get down into Reykjavik proper and it's great to get back to the familiarity of the Reykjavik Downtown Hostel and my favourite dorm room. I have quite a bit of time before my next attempt at seeing the northern lights that I'd re-booked for this evening so collapse onto my bed and listen to the Irish girl next to me talking ten to the dozen about - well everything really.

Northern Lights

So it's all pretty hopeful as we set off towards Thingvellir national park area, the chosen dark spot for this trip. I get the same funny spiel from the guide and wonder how he manages to keep it sounding fresh repeating the same stuff night after night after night. We all rush eagerly out of the bus hoping to be lucky tonight and so the long wait begins. I've learnt my lesson this time and have so many layers on I can hardly walk - Michelin man personified. After a while it becomes obvious nothings happening and we all sadly get back on the coach to make our way back to Reykjavik. About 10 minutes later the driver suddenly pulls over and then finds a turn off to head down. It seems a first glimmer of northern lights have been spotted and we all get excited again. And suddenly there is a faint glimmer which spreads to an arc shape across the sky. It's just a pale grey colour to the naked eye but seeing the photographs taken by those with proper DSLR cameras shows this up as neon green! One of the guides is taking photos for us all so I take the advise to put my compact camera in my pocket and just enjoy the display. I can always get some of his photos off their facebook page later. I have to say I'm not really that impressed. It's not the spectacular display I'd thought it would be. I can barely make out the dim grey shapes in the sky. Yes I can see that it's the northern lights but it's not what I was expecting at all. The photos coming out with such vivid colours seem a kind of con in a way, even if they are pretty amazing. Eventually we get back in the coach and when I'm dropped off at my hostel I crawl into my bunk as quietly as I can so as not to wake the others. Success, I've seen the northern lights, but surely they are better than that sometimes? Would I get another chance to find out? Three days left but only IF the conditions are predicting a much higher likelihood for aurora activity.

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