Blogs from Iceland, Europe - page 92

Our first day's driver Matti left us yesterday and this morning we met Olie, our driver for the remainder of the trip. He would turn out to be wealth of information if one asked. A morning drive towards Myrdals-Jokull, the country's southernmost glacier, offered us views across the lava plains toward Hekla. This volcano was believed to be the entrance to hell, the name being one of several Icelandic words for that destination. At the entrance to Thorsmork, Valley of Thor, we stopped for a walk around and behind Seljalandsfoss. The suffix foss denotes a waterfall. After a drive through a flood plain up Thorsmork, including the first of many river fords, we stopped short of the end of the road, avoiding the campsites there, for a hike up a side canyon. The canyon floor was ... read more

Departed SeaTac Thursday afternoon on a direct Icelandair flight to Keflavik. Landed Friday morning and were met by Raggi, our guide for the next 10 days. As the rooms were not ready yet, we dropped our bags at the hotel and took off on a walking tour of old Reykjavik. After an afternoon of further sight seeing, shopping, napping we met up for a seafood dinner before heading off to an evening of adjusting to the new time zone.... read more

After breakfast it was on to Thingvellir National Park on the north shore of Thingvallavatn, Icelands' largest natural lake. The park is a UNESCO Heritage site as it where the seperation of the North American and European tectonic plates is measured. Here the plates are currently moving apart at 2 cm / year. The rift runs through the center of the country from southwest to northeast and is surrounded by a region of crust breaks. If anyone offers you a drink of pure glacier water be wary. Think of all the soil and rock that is dragged by glaciers. It takes years for the water to filter out the stuff the glacier carries. For example, water from the Langjokull glacier takes 25 years to make the 35 km trip to Tingvallavatn. Rain water can take 6 ... read more

We were off on the dot! Nine o'clock. Drove over to the other side of the Eyjafjord so pleased to have view over Akureyri. Then one of my dear passengers asked if the Christmas house was our next stop. Oh dear! I had forgotten about that so I was pleased he mentioned it there and then. Jólahúsið! That is such an interesting place to visit. The waterfall of the Gods is our next stop. I often wonder if my passengers will say: "Please, not more waterfalls! I guess our watwefalls are one of those things considered innumerable in this country. Myvatn, lovely nature and wonders. We walked in the pseudocraters, but the midges were not very friendly. This is the Lake of the midges so what do you expect? Dimmuborgir, viewpoints on the way, the earthbaths ... read more

We are now sitting in Iceland waiting for the flight to Halifax. Our holiday to Scotland has had too many highlights to describe. Visiting family and friends, attending an amazing wedding and finally being true tourists. Its hard to believe we fitted so much into 15 days, we managed to explore a lot of Scotland within this time and even a small part of England. We would like to Thank all our friends and family who were able to meet up with us and treated us to meals, presents and sweeties, it was so great to see you all. We hope everyone enjoyed reading the blog, we had a lot of fun exploring the old buildings and writing about our adventures. Just wait for the next big trip!!! Shane and Karla... read more