#Icesterlin Day 4

May 26th

We had a jam packed day driving back to Reykjavik. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we hurried to Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon to try and beat the tour buses.

Glacier Lagoon was really windy and cold but the beautiful of the lagoon almost made you forget the wind and cold, it definitely caused you not to think about it as much.

We stayed out there and explored up and down the lagoon watching tour groups starting to pile onto small boats to ride out into the lagoon. We watched birds hang out on the icy water and found a seal hanging out in the lagoon.

After our time at Glacier Lagoon, we had heard there was a "Diamond Beach" (Breidamerkursandur) right across the street. Since direction in Iceland were vague at best, we weren't sure how quickly we would be able to find it. We almost decided to move on without even looking when Eric & I decided to just quickly run over a sand dune.

Boy were we glad we ran over. It was beautiful. Black sand beaches, huge glaciers washed ashore and dozen more in the water riding the waves into the beach. It was just a cool experience and one that we spent time hanging out, catching waves and taking tons of pictures trying to capture the beauty of it all with little success.

It was time to get on the road to check out other wonders of Iceland and to make it back to Keflavik for our last night in Iceland. We drove for a few hours before we stopped for gas and a restroom stop and ended up finding lunch at the first place we found for miles.

Right behind the gas station was Kirkjugolf, it was a small area that had a unique rock formation. For years, people believe this was a site of a church and the rock formation was the remains of the floor. We could definitely understand why people believe it. It was really pretty and we were scared to walk on it as we wanted to preserve it for many others to be able to come see it.

About a mile away was the start of the Systrafoss hike. We figured this would be a quick, easy hike with a waterfall (Systrafoss) at the end. It was a little more intense then we anticipated but the views alone the way were well worth it.

Turf house at the base of the trail

The steps along the trail

At the top, we learned that Systrafoss had been dammed and there was no longer a waterfall to see. We were bummed but it was still a fun hike and beautiful view.

Loved the fables they told along the way

Our last waterfall on our list was Foss A Sidu. This was a little confusing to figure out the right waterfall on the side of the road. This waterfall was supposed to flow backwards. Apparently the location of the waterfall and the strength and direction of the wind would cause this waterfall to blow back up the mountain. Unfortunately, we were not able to witness the impressive feat. We weren't even able to get very close to the waterfall since may waterfalls are on personal property or you have to hike through personal property and they had signs prohibiting us from driving any closer.

We had seen a lot of waterfalls over the last 3 days and we were ready to see something a little different. There was a canyon not too far off the beaten path called Fjardrargljufar that we stopped at before making it back to Keflavik.

 

As we got closer to Keflavik, we decided that we would go check out the Blue Lagoon and hope to soak in the hot springs before hopping on an airplane in the morning. We couldn't think of a better way to send the last few hours in Iceland. Unfortunately, you can't just walk in and buy tickets to the Blue Lagoon so after some finagling, we were able to book a reservation online for later that night.

With a few hours before our reservation, we found an awesome place for dinner, Thai Keflavik. It was the perfect place with a throw back to last years trip with the four of us to Thailand.

The Blue Lagoon as the last stop in Iceland was perfect. It was so relaxing and we had a great time laughing, freezing, rubbing mud on our faces and people watching. It was fantastic.

After four days in Iceland, it was time to pack our bags and get ready for our next destination, Amsterdam.

#Icesterlin Day 3

May 25th

Today we packed up our bags to find adventure along the Ring Road. We made a quick stop at our favorite bakery for food on the road and off we went. 

We only had 300 different sites we wanted to stop at before we got it our final destination for the evening. The first one on the list that we got to was Seljalandsfoss. When we got there it was rainy and cold. This destination was Eric’s #1 place he wanted to go. He would give up the rest of the trip to get the perfect picture here. Needless to say the weather was not corroborating with his plans. He checked the weather and it looked like it would clear up in about 3 hours. After some discuss of how to tackle what to do with weather, timing and the rest of the day, I decided I was going to make the best of what was in front of us. I mean, really, I am in Iceland staring at an amazing waterfall from a car window. Rain or not, I was going to experience it up close and person. 

Seljalandsfoss is a waterfall you can walk all the way around and stand behind it. It was really cool and very wet but honestly, you couldn’t tell the difference between the rain water and the waterfall kick back. 

It wasn’t long before all 4 of us were out there being silly in the rain and the absurdity that we were in Iceland.

We all agreed that we would go check out a few other things in the area and make a return trip later in the day to Seljalandsfoss if the weather took a turn for the better. So we set off in the car again. 

Iceland is such a beautiful country and it wasn’t uncommon for us to randomly stop the car to take pictures. So when we can across a really tall waterfall, we had to stop for a few pictures. This might have been one of the most memorable  moments of the trip and one that can not easily be expressed in words. As we all were watching/looking/experiencing this waterfall and this beautiful landscape in front of us David Crowder’s “He Loves Us” started playing through the car radio. The fact that we were standing in Iceland, staring at God’s creation and having the opportunity while being reminded that “He Loves Us” was a humbling experience and one that I hope stays with me for a really long time. The waterfall picture isn’t impressive, but it will always be a visual reminder of that special moment. 

After we gathered ourselves from that experience, we made our way to Skogafoss. As we were approached Skogafoss we learned they had a visitor center of sorts called Skogasafn skogar museum. Since the weather was still pretty dreary, we went to check it out. Unfortunately, it was a little pricey for our taste but we took a few pictures of the turf houses and headed to Skogafoss. 

It was still rainy but it had lightened up a little so we headed back out into the rain to experience Skogafoss. 

We were able to hike to the top of the waterfall and from the top, even through the clouds, it was an impressive view of the countryside.

At one of the stops to get to the top, there was a face in the rock that is looking back at the waterfall. The face in the rock is total nature made and so fascinating. 

Once you got to the top, we hopped a fence and could keep hiking for as far as we could see. We did go over to explore a little but decided to head back to the car after a short hike.

We were starting to get hungry and there was one place to eat that we had seen all day, Gamla Fjosid. Thankfully our guide books talked really highly of it, not that we had many options. 

The restaurant was pretty much in a restored barn, it was a pretty cool venue but we came pretty close to backing out when we stepped out of the car and it stunk like cow poo. It wasn’t very appetizing but we stuck it out and it didn’t disappoint. 

The weather didn’t look promising after lunch and it was starting to get to the moment of truth with heading back to Seljalandsfoss and hitting the road for other destinations down the road. We decided we would head back even though  the weather apps were still showing rain.

As we got back, there was finally a break in the clouds and the rain started to lighten up. It was really pretty. We spent some more time exploring the area while Eric worked really hard to get the absolute perfect picture. While he did that, we ran around exploring like little kids. 

Up a path a little ways, there was a secondary waterfall, Gljufrafoss, hidden behind very large rocks. The younger crowd climbed boulders and used chairs to pull themselves up very compromising places to get a look at the waterfall while others simply walked through other boulders into an opening to see the impressive waterfall. Of course, we had to do both.

Top view from the top of a rickety ladder

Entrance to the bottom of the waterfall

The bottom of the waterfall

After we finished up at Seljalandsfoss, we continued our trip east along Route 1. Our next big stop was the Solheimasandur plane wreck. I was SUPER excited for this part of the trip. I was so excited that I started to run to the plane. But it was a LONG way to the plane and we even questioned if we were going the right way despite all the other people making the trek as well.  

Once we got to the crash site, it was absolutely worth the hike out here. For a few minutes, Jed and I had a crash site all to ourselves to take it all in and try and capture it with our cameras. 

It felt like we were on a movie set and there was something so surreal. It was a very memorable moment and another Iceland destination not to miss. 

By the time we got back to the car, we were starving so we quickly ate our sandwiches we got from the Bakery in the morning and off we went. We were very thankful we thought ahead since we haven't seen food in some time. As we headed down the road, we made a split decision to swing by Dyrholaey. Since it was puffin mating season, we didn't think they would let us in but we didn't run into any issues.

The area was beautiful and we spent some time walking around and taking it all in. We even found a few puffin in the distance!

We made our way to Reynisdrangar. This area was so neat and different. It was a black sand beach with these very unique cliffs. We spent some time walking around the beach, taking pictures on and of the cliffs and ended up in a little shop/restaurant, Svarta Fjaran, before we hopped back in the car to finish the drive to our hotel.

Audrey & I powered through to our final destination with the guys asleep in the back. We had a great time laughing, talking and enjoying the beauty around us. It never really got super dark on the drive even though it was past midnight when we got to our hotel, Hali County Hotel and it was bright enough for us to get a quick look at our first and very exciting destination in the morning.