Iceland Roadtrip: North East Coast

Aug 19 - 21
Akureyri to Hrollaugsstadir

Before leaving Akureyri in the morning, I walked around the botanical gardens..which was full of old people admiring flowers.

Our first stop on the road was the year-round Christmas shop. It was positively adorable. The roof was covered in liquorice allsorts and santa's hat and robe were hanging out on the washing line. The shop was full of Christmas trinkets and had candy canes of every flavour. 

Up in a little tower they had the 'world's largest Advent calendar.' Again, adorable. Fairy tale characters were painted all around the little room, and advent boxes revealed Christmas stories about famous fairy tale characters.

Next we found another glorious waterfall! I just can't get enough of the waterfalls here! This one was huge. Godafoss waterfall. We climbed around the rocks, scouting out the best photo ops. I even dangled my feet over the edge of a cliff near the falls..so brave!

Our main destination for the day was Myvatn Lake. We spent the rest of the day exploring the lake and the area that surrounds it. The area is abudant with volcanoes and at every turn the scenery seems to change completely. First we walked around the Skútustadir psuedo craters. These were created when lava erupted from nearby volcanoes. Stunning views onto the lake from here.

We had a roam around Dimmuborgir, where there were many caves and unique lava rock formations.

Then we found Grjótagja cave...otherwise known as Jon Snow's sex cave. Shame I don't watch Game of Thrones though! It was such a cool cave. The water, at 43-46 degrees, was bright blue and crystal clear. After climbing around the inside of the cave we went up to the top, where it seems as if the earth has just been ripped apart.

Our last sight for the day was Hverir, an area full of hot springs and steaming hot rocks. It felt like we were walking around Mars! I've never seen anything like it before. Apparently the water is 200 degrees celcius and parts of the soil are up to 100 degrees!

We found ourselves an awesome campsite, right by the river. Just when we thought we were done with our camping dramas, a string snapped in our tent pole! How much more can go wrong?! We pulled part of the pole off, tied a knot in the remaining string and managed to make our tent stand up. Kind of. Good enough!

After dinner we were treated to the most ridiculously stunning sunset I have ever seen in my life. And sunsets in Iceland go on for hours. We saw every shade of pink and orange and even bright red, reflecting onto the river right in front of our tent.

The same sunset. Just half an hour apart. Seriously. So many different colours in the sky!

In the morning, before leaving the Myvatn area we stopped at Viti, a volcano crater with a bright blue lake in its centre.

We drove down a tediously long gravel road on a mission to find Dettifoss. Luckily, this waterfall was absolutely worth the horrendous drive. There was such an immense spray from all the water gushing down that it created a double rainbow.

Our lunch stop was pitiful. A little spot in the middle of nowhere, on top of a hill, where the wind blew the flame out of the stove every minute or two. After a fairly long drive, we had a little stop at an ex-glacier river. Now just a river. We needed something to break up that drive, though!

Eventually we found ourselves at Iceland's "most important forest"...which I thimk is a poor translation for "biggest." There aren't many trees in Iceland, so it was still pretty little! First we wandered through the forest until we reached the lake - boys needed their rock-throwing time.

Then we hiked up in the other direction and found a nice waterfall. The boys threw rocks again, competing to find the biggest one to drop into the pool at the bottom.

We stopped by another waterfall along the road, but had been told (highly exaggerated) tales that it would take us 4 hours to hike up and back. Given that it was already 6.30pm, we decided against it.

An amazingly helpful Icelandic man at the camp site that night dedicated a good hour or so to fixing our tent pole. These people are the best! He also informed us that we could probably do the waterfall hike in less than an hour. So we went back in the morning and started our hike surrounded by a bus-load of oldies. Luckily, most of them didn't make it all the way...so it wasn't too crowded at the top.

An impressive hike, and the rocks around the waterfall were layered with lava, making it look very unique.

While the rest of the day was largely just driving, it was easily one of the most scenic drives. We stopped a few times for photos. Two stand out spots. One for the epic views and rock stacks.

The other for an endless black sand beach surrounded by huge black mountains.

We also got our first peek at Vatnajökull glacier...the biggest one in Iceland!

The north east was a lot of driving, but easily worth it for the scenery. And next? The south coast, said to be the best bit..! Come at me, glaciers!

Iceland Roadtrip: North West Coast

Aug 16 - 18

Reykjavik to Akureyri 

Roadtripping is definitely the best way to see Icleand! The scenery is amazing and constantly changing. We've driven by mountains, volcanoes, stunning coastlines, big open plains and a ton of waterfalls.

Racheal, Taylor, Adam and I have hired a car and are heading clockwise around the ring road. The first leg, up along the western coast has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride of incredible places and ridiculous roadtrip dramas.

Driving north out of Reykjavik we quickly started to find the 'good stuff', often spotting places to spontaneously stop. The first one was a cute little waterfall. We climbed as close as possible and the boys enjoyed some quality rock-throwing time. Boys will be boys.

The next stop was a much bigger waterfall. We climbed all the way up, on some slippery mud and unstable rocks. I did fear death as we slid back down the rocks, attempting to get down again. But the view was immense!

Not long after that, we found a canyon. A canyon with a really cool story. It is said that a half-troll half-man being lived nearby with his daughters. One day, his nephew, Rauofeldar, pushed his eldest daughter onto an iceberg and she drifted off to Greenland, somehow unharmed. The half-troll man was so angry that he pushed his nephew into the canyon, which is now named after him (Rauofeldar) but he was never seen again. We went a little bit inside the canyon, beautiful but crazy windy!

In the town of Arnarstapi we meandered along the stunning coastline, admiring the unique rock formations and huge cliffs. We also found several holes, where the ocean water was bashing around, rapidly rising and falling. One little seagull was floating around in one of the holes, looking like he was either having a wicked time or possibly drowning!

There was also a random giant made from rocks!

On our way to the campsite we got more stunning coastline views before the weather turned on us. We did get a lovely rainbow, the first of many. We arrived at the campsite just in time for a proper downpour. We found shelter to cook dinner and sit out the rain. Eventually, the rain stopped and we attempted to put up the tent. We failed. Thank you, wind. The second attempt was slightly better. We got it up! And then just as we were all in the tent, about to go to sleep, it collapsed in on us. Thank you again, wind. Eventually we somehow got the tent back up and had a terrible sleep.

We had hoped the tent fiasco would be the first and last of our dramas. However, day two had rather nasty car suprises in store for us. 

But first...

Just down the road from our campsite, we stopped to have a look at the Kirkjufell mountain and nearby waterfall. Despite the dark skies, it was an absolutely stunning spot.

We found another waterfall soon after, tucked away from the road, surrounded by beautiful grassy mountains.

When we stopped for lunch, we discovered we had a flat tyre. Luckily, we were across the road from a mechanic! He pulled a nail out of the tyre and quickly fixed it up for us (But wait...the tyre fiasco isn't over yet...)

Our next stop was Deildartunguhver hot spring - the biggest hot spring in Europe. The water, at 100 degrees celcius, was bubbling away and emitting huge amounts of steam.

Onto more waterfalls! Hranfossar was incredibly impressive. It's like a river with endless waterfalls coming out of its sides! Barnafoss, a much smaller waterfall further up the river was less epic, and had a rather sad story behind it. In Icelandic, the name means "Children's Waterfall" named so because two children are said two have disappeared, presumbly drowned, here hundreds of years ago.

Next we found a big ol' crater to climb! Grabrok crater. An impressive crater...but by the time we got to the top it started to rain.

So we hopped back in the car and set out to find our campsite. When we were part way there, in the middle of nowhere, the tyre that had been 'fixed' earlier that same day...popped! Huge rip all the way round. Completely ruined. We called for assistance but were told it would be 3-4 hours as they had to send someone from Reykjavik. It was already 7pm and rather cold. Eventually we decided that our best bet was to seek refuge at a nearby farm - the only house or building in sight. Luckily, the family that answered the door were amazing. Elin, Ingvar and their three children kindly let us sit in the warmth of their house while we figured out what to do. When it became apparent that the car would not be fixed until morning, they offered for us to stay in their campervan for the night. They drove us to and from our car, twice, to collect our belongings and helped us to communicate with the mechanics, tow truck driver and everyone else involved in fixing the car. Without their help we would have not only been stranded, but we would've also spent a whole lot more money getting our tyre fixed.

Beyond excited about cooking and eating in the warmth of this beautiful home!

While we were there, we chatted away with Elin and Ingvar about Icelandic culture and they explained how their dairy farm runs. Elin also runs a textile company that sells stunning cushion covers, which we adored. I only wish we'd had the time to go look in her shop and buy some! We could not have been more greateful for their kindness, and it just further proves our theory that all Icelanders are lovely people!

In the morning, after our tyre was finally and properly fixed, we were back on the ring road. Our first stop was Holar, a town that seems to have attracted many bishops over the years. We picked up a very informative leaflet that guided us around the tiny village, walking first up to a viewpoint to see the mountains. 

Then we walked by beautiful old buildings, including a stunning church and a turf-roof house.

The rest of the day day was mostly driving, with a few stops to admire the beautiful coastline. At one point, we saw a unique black sand beach with islands out in the distance. Needing to stretch our legs, Taylor and I raced down to the shore. He beat me. But only just, I swear...

We arrived in Akureyri late in the afternoon, with plenty of time to set up our tent, cook dinner and roam around town. I absolutely loved Akureyri. It's just got this incredible charm about it. Very typical Icelandic buildings, all in immaculate condition. Quirky shops, lots of bars and restaurants, some funky street art, mountains and all this set upon the beautiful fjord.

Before heading to bed, I walked up to a viewpoint to enjoy the pinks and oranges of the sky while the sun went down behind the mountains.

The roadtrip continues... East we go!