Green lands in Iceland: Day 4 & 5

Although the tour company we used had good tours, I wanted something special for us, even though it was a long 14 hours on a bus. Upon leaving town, we passed by some charming villages and farms that were effected by Eyjafjallajökull where last year’s eruptions took place. All the lands looked scorched as a thick layer of black ash ash had covered nearly everything in its wake. Our first stop was a farm that we got out to take pictures from I even recognized from the news since it was so dramatic how close the farms cling to these active volcanoes. The surrounding little waterfalls of the glacial melt from Eyjafjallajökull where cascading down from the high cliffs, but due to the high wind, they stream changed mid fall and was lost in the breeze as a spray of water.

A few minutes down the road we stopped at the Skógafoss waterfall which still had thick black sand choking the steam of water coming down off the high cliffs. Ben was able to walk right up to it and the mist encircled him. I wish I had had the camera since the white mist enveloped him, and a few minutes later he reappeared. Just as we were getting back on the bus the sun made a 30 second debut just to snap that one sunny photo.

Just before we reach the lagoon we pass Iceland’s biggest volcano, Öræfajökull glacier which has the highest peak of the island, Hvannadalshnjúkur (2110 m). The mist rolled off of it in such a haunting way with the weather changing constantly from rain, to hail, to cloudy, to a little tiny bit of sunshine and then back to rain. It took us nearly an hour to cross the moss clad Eldhraun lava field past Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The green moss had nearly obscured the sharp jagged edges of the black lava rock. It was nearly a metre thick in some places.

We crossed a mile long bridge that only had a trickle of water below it, since the glaciers move around so much, they can never truly predict where the water will runoff at. We pasted wreckage of a bridge that had once been there, but taken out in the ’96 eruption. It was a metal mangled mess. Their bridges are all very temporary looking since they are destroyed so often. The big stop for the day was at Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, nearly on the other side of the country, that started to form in the early nineteen twenties and is getting bigger every year. Huge blocks of ice that had broken off Europe’s biggest glacier, Vatnajökull, would float out into the lagoon and then out to the ocean only a kilometer away. It was stunning to see the sun come out just as we arrived and shone brightly on the icebergs. Since it was unbelievably windy, most of the icebergs had already floated out, but there were a fair few. The wind was so gusty that Ben and I could lean into it at nearly a 45 degree angle and it would hold us up. I jumped into the wind and it blew me a few extra feet which was a bit unnerving, so I did not do that again. For anyone that has not seen a glacier or an iceberg floating past you, it is something that you have to add to your ‘Do before I Die’ list.

As we boarded the bus the sun disappeared, and started to rain, so once again, the sun may have been absent most of our trip, but it came out when we most needed it. With the tourist season not quite kicked off, and it being Easter Sunday, we were able to make a very cool unscheduled stop at Svínafellsjökul glacial snout where we climbed up the mountain side to get a better look. We may not have been able to walk on the glacier, but to be within a few metres was pretty cool.

Along the road back, we stopped in the coastal hamlet of Vík in Mýrdalur valley which is the southernmost village in Iceland with beautiful black sanded beaches. This was the first time either of us had been on black sand. We had a quick meal of their yummy Icelandic meat soup again so we could have time to wander the beaches. It is said to be bad luck to take anything from the island, so I made sure to not collect any rocks or shells. The waves coming in off the ocean were huge, and we really had to keep our eye on the waves coming in. The waves were thunderous as they crashed against Reynisdrangar, the basalt sea stacks at the base of the mountain Reynisfjall. The small church on the hill was the highest building in town, where the reckon when the next volcano goes, and the glaciers melt causing a large flood, everyone would be safe at the church, so they have eruption drills for the whole town to run up there.

As we headed back to Reykjavík we stopped in the centre of the lava field and built our cairn for good luck. I always like a bit of extra good luck. As the sun was setting we had one last stop at Skaftafell National Park. At the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, we could have walked behind it, but even with Ben covered head to toe in Gortex (a walking advertisement for Columbia) he decided not to get that wet since he was drenched just standing close to it. Plus it was getting dark, and it was a very narrow path, and I used my little bit of common sense and figured he should not walk on the wet, mossy path. With the sun setting so late and rising so early, our long tour was nearly all in daylight!

On our last and final day, we had another lazy morning, packed up, enjoyed our large breakkie and headed to the Blue Lagoon on the coach. It is a man-made oasis in the lava field that is the leftover water from their steam turbines. The salt would corrode the pipes if they were to store it for heat like they do with other magma heated water. An employee of the steam plant one day decided to bathe in the warm water that bubbled up into the lava fields, and eventually realized it was good for his psoriasis. Thus, the Blue Lagoon was born. The salt has coated the rock with a thick white crust, so most of it is quite smooth, but there were a few rough patches our feeties would find. The mineral-rich water and silica mud mask left my skin feeling like a million bucks. With the constant new streams of water coming in, you had to move around to find the warm patches, and I found some hot ones. I love it when the water is nearly warm enough to scald my skin off. After a few hours of soaking in the water, it was time to finally head to the airport where we were bumped up to first class. May not have gotten the first class treatment, but the roomyness and comfort were a once in a lifetime experience as well!