Day 3 - Highlands

Today we are driving to the highlands - this is a MUST!  If you ever come to Iceland, do NOT cheap

out on your vehicle! You need to make sure you rent a 4x4 so you can drive the F-roads.  If not, you will miss this precious gem - the most beautiful thing I’ve seen so far - I can’t even explain it.  There were tears from being overwhelmed, and tears from fear.  Let me explain…

We made our way to Lan…. To do so, you need to go on “F-roads” - our version of off roading I guess.  The roads are very narrow - two cars don’t really fit… you may or may not have to drive through rivers, huge puddles, tons of pot holes - you get the point.  The road, as treacherous as it is, offers the most beautiful views! Every twist and turn is more beautiful than the last.  

At one point, we stopped to view this beautiful volcano crater - breathtaking is what it was! 

After I’d say 2 or 3 hours of this, we finally arrived to where we were going.  Mountains all around us - hiking trails galore - a real hiker’s paradise!  

Off we went hiking… We started off it looked like we were on a different planet.  The lava rock formation is something else! We ended up in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains of different colours, met a few people on the way… We decide to take the green trail, then red, then white.  Well let me tell you… it was one hard hike!  Up, up, up, it never seemed to end!  We did make it to the top of the first mountain and found out we were not done climbing… but what else were we going to do? Turn back around? No way!  So up, up and up we went.  We made it to the top of the second mountain - and boy was it worth all that hard work!  Again, even more beautiful than when we began!  Didn’t think it was possible!  Down, down down we went, seeing fumaroles, craters with green water, rock formations out of this world. 

When we finished our hike, we went for a dip in the river that was supposed to be hot -well, it wasn’t really… but oh well, nice anyways.

It was time to leave this beautiful paradise and make our way to Vik.  We get on the F-road and keep going.  We had a choice to make - go back the same way - which added over an hour, or go south… South we went.  Oh my God!  I was a scared shitless a few times!  The curbs, the blind hills, the rivers I had to cross!!!  I had to cross at least 20 rivers - some shallow, some deep enough that the water came up over the hood to the windshield - scary!  I kept telling myself - don’t let go of the gas, don’t let go of the gas!   (will add a video shortly)

After another harrowing drive, we made it to our campsite near Vik at 11:30 - It’s not even dark out!  Time to pitch our tent and go to bed… not before admiring where we were!  We were surrounded  by mountains!  A tiny little valley amongst giants… Wow, just wow!  The pictures don’t give it any justice… 

It was quite the day!  Full of adrenaline - I’m hoping tomorrow will be a little calmer! 

Well, my laptop is dying, no where to plug it in... will add photos as soon as I can! 

Iceland - Day 2 - Wow! Simply WOW!

What a fantastic day we had!  It was filled with excitement - from spelunking in a lava tube cave to hiking and floating in a hot river to snorkelling in frozen water between tectonic plates! What a day!




Iceland's vegetation is sparse - not one tree in site for ages then all of a sudden a little "forest" of pine trees - I'm guessing they were planted there.  Suddenly, you see a "field" of "grass", then nothing but moss again.  It's kind of odd really.  Beautiful but odd.

So, back to our day!  It started with a drive to the lava tube caves - Raufarholshellir (try saying that 10 times - never mind - try saying that correctly!!).  This was absolutely breathtaking!  You enter the cave to the most beautiful view!  I can't explain it, you have to see it.  Remember that pictures don't always convey the beauty of things... There were these holes in the ceiling of the cave that brought in some light - just breathtaking.  Walking in a bit further, there was snow, then later butterflies, yes, you read correctly - butterflies!  After the butterflies, there was no more light -none whatsoever!  Pitch black, complete darkness - get what I'm saying here?  Thankfully we were prepared and had headlamps and flashlights - into the darkness we went.  In the dark we found ice that looked like glamorous diamonds.  The cave was 1.5 km long - we didn't venture in that far as is was quite difficult and to tell you the truth, a bit scary!  Imagine falling in there and breaking an ankle? How the heck would you ever get out?  You wouldn't!

After this exciting adventure, we made our way to Valley of Reykjadalur - a 3.5 kilometer up a mountain side, down another, seeing beautiful waterfalls, boiling pots, fumeroles and ending up at a river where you could lounge in the hot water - How fun!  We then walk back the 3.5 km to the car and moved on.  This was a beautiful but difficult height - up, up, up... phew! Glad we are in shape - or so I thought!  I won't be going up MT Everest anytime soon...

We ended our day with some snorkelling in freezing water - but the most amazing snorkelling!  In between two tectonic plates -the european and the american plates.  Now how cool is that?!  We wore dry suits - which keep you dry - not warm!  Hands and face were really cold as they come in contact with water - but man! What an experience!

Tomorrow we leave this area to go and explore another.  I can't wait!  Oh yes, we saw birds today - northern wheatear, red-necked phalarope, heard a red throated loon to name a few.

Day 1 - Reykjavik and around

We landed safely in Iceland at 5:15 am - pretty uneventful flight.  The stewardesses were just as pretty as the plane - dressed in pink -perfect buns, perfect makeup.  I don't know if they were nice as I
did sleep most of the way - I was asleep before we had left the tarmac in Montreal!  Wasn't a great sleep, but sleep nonetheless.

Woke up to see that it wasn't dark outside - kind of odd to look at your clock, see that it's 11:00pm and it's still light.  Not like broad daylight, but the sky is blue, the horizon a beautiful red, pink and orange.  Wake up again at midnight and it looks like it's noon! Bright sunshine!  So weird!

We did a few things today - left the airport and made our way to get our car - a 2 minute shuttle ride - waited for the shuttle for about 15 minutes - it would've been faster to walk!  Our car is a white Chevrolet Captiva.  Some sort of SUV.

We made our way to the hotel, thinking we could get our room, have a nap before starting our adventure... no luck so we drove to the Bridge Between Continents.  It's a small footbridge that spans between the two tectonic plates.  The plates slowly separate but I'm pretty sure we don't have to start worrying just yet.  There wasn't much to do here - except walk the 100 meters to the bridge, cross the bridge and come back.  You could also walk underneath and pretend you were holding it in the air.  It was freezing and raining so this was a 10 minute outing.  On to the next thing!

We drove to Reykjavik and visited this Grotta - a lighthouse where there were tons of Arctic terns - Sophie was in paradise! The birds were pretty ticked off and were "attacking" us - a little scary if you ask me!  Their chicks are old enough to fly away - they are just lazy... We also saw some oyster catchers, common red shanks and some other shore birds as well.  Pretty place.  You have to watch the tide though- you could be stuck at the lighthouse until the tide comes down again... that would not be fun!

After walking around this nature reserve, we made our way to a beautiful church called Hallgrimskirkja - a Lutheran church.  It is beautiful!  Very plain, but gorgeous!

We had booked a tour to visit an island and see puffins.  Well, let's just say that if you've never seen a puffin, I guess you could be satisfied.  If you saw puffins in Newfoundland, this was a total bust.  There were not that many puffins, and you saw them from far away.  I guess we can say we went for a boat ride!  We did see puffins, gulls, one cormorant, and fulmars.  I was a little disappointed but whatever.

For lunch we ate lamb soup and bread in a quaint little place called Cafe Babalu.  Lunch was quite yummy but expensive at 16.00$ a bowl!!!  Ouch!

So far Iceland is a pretty desolate place.  Black lava rock everywhere.  Moss is growing in some places, no trees.

The highlight of the day was the Blue Lagoon - Geothermal bath... Ahhh that felt wonderful after a very long day!  Will add photos tomorrow. Time for bed - early rise tomorrow...

The Big Day!

The big day has finally arrived!  Had a great night sleep and I'm ready to go! We are all packed up - a few little last minute things left to do and that's it.

Since we are talking from Montreal, we will stop in Hawkesbury to have lunch with Remi's parents.  We then will make our way to the airport where we will wait until 7:00 to board our plane.  So excited!!

Iceland here we come!  

Packing!

What to bring, what to bring?  Sophie and I share a suitcase - which means we have to be picky about what we are bringing.

• Hiking pants - check! 
• Sweater - Check! 
• Underwear - Check!
• Socks - Check!
• Running clothes - Check!
• Warm clothes - Check!
• Swimsuit - Check! 
• Tooth bush and the such - Check!

We also have some camping things - flashlights (why? it's never even dark...), towels, headlamps (again - why?) bowls and spoons, empty water bottles...

A bit of snacking type food - granola bars, cliff bars...

Trying to figure out how to make it all fit!  I have to go back and roll everything... argh.

Less than a week left!

I just want to pack and go!  The heat in Ottawa this week is just unbearable - even for me! Thank goodness for air conditioning and a pool! If only it wasn't so humid... oh well - can't complain too much - winter will be here before we know it and there we really will be complaining!

A co-worker of mine is in Iceland right now and I just want to join her!  her short posts make it seem absolutely fantastic!  I'm glad her posts are very short as to not give me too much - just enough to boost the excitement!  She has a wonderful blog -she's a much better writer than I am!  Check it out - Steph the Wayward Pilgrim.  I can't wait to read about her experience!

I'm thinking of what to pack - layers - long-johns, pants, long sleeve shirts, I doubt I will need shorts, thick socks for after the snorkeling in freezing water, what else, what else?  I intend on buying an Icelandic wool sweater while I'm there.

Enough blabbering... I'm off to go daydream some more!

13 Days to Go!

Our great Icelandic adventure is about to start - only 13 days to go!   An adventure it will be! Camping for most of the time there - hopefully we will have great weather!  Planning is complete! Still trying to find out if credit card company provides insurance for the car rental or if we will have to purchase that as well... which would truly suck...

I have been looking at what is offered in terms of running in Iceland... interestingly enough - tons of trails and running groups yet no races - other than a marathon or two... which I say no thank you!  So for running... we will be running for pleasure, enjoying the scenery.  Here is a site with running info in case you ever go and want to learn more... Running Iceland

Then there is the food... those of you who know me well will know that this is a bit of a stressor for me... since I don't eat much of anything... I don't particularly like fish or seafood (Iceland is an island - I'm sure there will be plenty of fish to eat!), anything I would deem weird (that means: odd colour, odd smell, odd texture , you get the picture), anything out of the ordinary... I will be bringing granola bars so I at least have that to eat...

Here are two sites that were helpful in giving me an idea - will I starve or be able to eat something...

Intro to Icelandic Food -I think I can handle

• the yogourt that isn't really yogourt, 
• I can probably have a hotdog - hold any extra - bun and wiener will do,
• I would like to try the puffin - can't be that much different from chicken... right? 
• and chocolate - can I survive 14 days on chocolate?

Things I WON'T be eating:

•  sheep head!! Really?  
• fermented shark - for more than one reason! 
• ram testicles- need I say more?

I can't wait to see what this trip will bring!