Blogs from Iceland, Europe - page 8

This morning was earmarked as a rest day but as the weather is looking better for the side trip planned for tomorrow we decide to reverse the days. Although overcast today, it is not hammering with rain and there does not appear to be such a heavy black cloud over the mountain as we experienced yesterday! Our trip involves making our way back towards Egilsstadir, in fact almost all the way there, before taking a right hand turn down another ‘there and back only’ road for a mere 98km each way. Ian remarks that the van is now half full of fuel so we’d better fill the tank in Egilsstadir on our way back. Should we do it now? No, it will be fine for today. The road to Bakkagerdi looks fine - metalled and just ... read more

We’ve both had a decent nights sleep and Ian’s cold is feeling a bit better. Good job as there are no chemists open till Monday (the one in the last campsite close at noon on Friday) and we’ve discovered that they don’t sell cough medicine in supermarkets here! We decide to take advantage of the campsite shower before leaving. There is just one shower and one loo each for ladies and gents so there is a queue. No one is actually using the shower (I guess they don’t want to pay the hefty add-on shower fee) but they are using the room as it contains a basin. The wind is bitter so we all cram inside…no sign of social distancing here! Finally I get inside, only to find that my shampoo and soap have migrated to ... read more

Bei unserer Ankunft im Süden wurden wir stürmisch begrüßt: es waren Windgeschwindigkeiten von 75 km/h, in Böen bis 100 km/h angesagt, und die hat es auch gegeben. Weil wir bei diesem Sturm mit unserer rollenden Schrankwand nicht rumfahren wollten, sind wir 2 Nächte in Höfn geblieben. Und das war gut so: auch ohne zu fahren hat das Wohnmobil geschaukelt wie ein Schiff bei ordentlich Seegang in Kombination mit kabbeliger See, und die Wände haben auch genauso geknackt. Im Zelt wäre das echt ungemütlich gewesen. Das nächste Highlight waren die Gletscherlagunen Jökulsarlon und Fjallsarlon, in denen abgebrochene Teile der darüberliegenden Gletscher als Eisberge treiben. Teile davon wiederum werden als glänzende Eisskulpturen am Diamond Beach angeschwemmt. Was uns in Island echt auffällt, sind die Farben. Die Gegenden heben sich farblich stark voneinander ab. Die Gletscher sind (überwiege... read more

This morning we don’t have to get up too early because we are camping very close to our first two visits and we’re not travelling too far today either. We start at the Gullfoss Falls which are amazing. We start on the top viewing decks and then wander down to the lower deck, fully prepared for a good soaking but suitably clad in full waterproofs. Now we retrace our route back to Geysir…which we passed last night but we’re too tired and muddy to care. The bubbling cauldron here erupts about every five minutes…and sometimes there is a follow on blow. It’s a bit different every time. Some folk are climbing a steep hill to view from above but we don’t have the energy. We return to the van for an early lunch then make our ... read more

The bed in our hotel room has been very comfortable so we have both slept well and we don’t wake till the alarm sounds. It’s looking a bit grey outside but then it looked that way yesterday morning too. We enjoy a great breakfast before bringing our bags down ready for our campervan adventure! At 10 on the dot, Iris arrives to take us to collect our van. We are given the low down on all the dos and don’ts to ensure we won’t come back to a stack of parking and speeding fines. We are also warned about the dire consequences of driving through rivers or letting the wind (which is fearsome here) rip the van doors off! We are handed a tablet which is the sat nav system and also a communication device between ... read more