Squiceland Day 4 - Vik to Reykjavik

Day 4 - Vik to Reykjavik - April 4, 2018

Did I mention how much we enjoyed this airbnb?

Such a cute little red fridge.

We drove up to the church on the hill overlooking the little town of Vik.  The rocks off to the left are in the Atlantic Ocean near the black sand beach that we will visit.

The church in Vik.

Our first stop today was at Reynisfjara Beach.  It is a black sand beach with basalt sea stacks adjacent.  It was tough to get a good photo of the basalt stacks because of the angle of the sun.

The waves on the beach were so powerful.  The broke right on shore and took people by surprise because every once in a while there was a sneaker wave that would come way higher than the earlier waves.  There were signs that every year or two somebody drowns on this beach and while we were there we saw a sneaker wave catch a girl who tripped trying to run from it.  I thought that the wave was going to drag her into the water and I was gearing up to try and help, without sacrificing my own safety, but luckily she was able to grab a rock.  She and a couple of her friends were completely soaked though, and it was frigid today.

That is one of the same rock formations visible from the Vik overlook.

A better photo of the basalt columns.  Reminiscent of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.  Someday I'd like to see that formation.

Another lovely Icelandic church.

We next visited the Dyrhólaey Peninsula, just a few kilometers down the coast from Reynisfjara Beach.  For as small of an island as Iceland is there are amazing sights around every corner.

You can see the same rock formations on the right side of the photo above.  This was a blowhole that spurted water at every large wave.

Our next stop was at Seljalandsfoss. This is another of the more famous Icelandic waterfalls.  Since we have been home, I have seen this waterfall on everything from screensavers, to advertisements to even Music and the Spoken Word.  It is a very photogenic waterfall.

There is a trail that goes behind the waterfall.  It was really cold today, so Alison waited in the car with Lyla and Kate.  Only Ada was willing to brave the frigid mist.

The beautiful glacier water.

We made our way to the Golden Circle.  Most tourists to Iceland stay in Reykjavik and take day trips with tour groups to the stops along the Golden Circle.  I like to think that we're a little more adventurous than that.

Our first stop was at the Secret Lagoon.  This is a little swimming join with a large outdoor pool fed by geyser water.  Just up the hill from the pool are a few geysers.  When they erupt, the pool gets noticeably warmer, especially near where the water comes into the lagoon.

It was very pleasant, but none of us wanted to get out and make a run to the showers and locker rooms in the cold air.

This little cafe was at Gulfoss, the big mama waterfall in Iceland that is one of the top tourist attractions in the country.

No drones.  We actually saw these signs at many of the more crowded spots.

Gulfoss.  The total drop is only about 100', but they way that the water just appears to disappear into a crack in the earth is haunting.

You can see the canyon/crack that collects the water above.

Continuing on the Golden Circle we made our way to the Haukadalur geothermal area.  We watched a sorry eruption of the Strokkur Geysir (really, it was pitiful, but everybody watching clapped afterwards.  We all looked at each other questioning whether or not an eruption had really just happened or not.  I guess we've been spoiled, having visited both Yellowstone and New Zealand in the past few months).  Nearby Strokkur is also the Great Geysir, which is where the word geyser originated back in the 1400s.  Apparently it is a spectacular geyser, but only erupts intermittently and usually accompanies other seismic activity.

Just another example of how quickly the weather changes in Iceland.  The photo above was taken at 5:43, while the photo below was taken at 5:56.  Two different worlds.

We checked into our hotel in Reykjavik and then started searching for somewhere to eat.  We found The Roudhouse Reykjavik, which was very good, but once again was very expensive (have I mentioned that before?).  Alison's shake above was $10.  And that burger? $25! Yowsa.

Tomorrow, we visit a glacier.

Squiceland Day 3 - Vik, Iceland

Day 3 - Vik Iceland - April 3, 2017

We always sleep well the night after a red-eye flight, and this trip was no exception.

We just loved our little airbnb.  Cocoa Puffs and Muu milk.  We needed a sugar hit.

We drove to Jökulsárlón which was around 2 1/2 hours from Vik.  It was raining and sleeting the whole day, so we knew we were in for a wet day.

Jökulsárlón is a beautiful glacier fed lake surrounded by black sand and rock and full of icebergs.

It was freezing, but we had a blast skipping rocks (and trying to land them on the ice chunks) and making big splashes with bigger rocks.

The bridge in the distance is the main highway that rings the island.  Just on the other side of that bridge the outlet of the lake enters the North Atlantic Ocean.

We drove over to the beach on the ocean.  Kate and Lyla were too cold to get out of the car again, so Ada could eat her dead fish in peace.

Licking the beautiful ice chunks.

A cold day for bridals and engagement photos, eh?

The main highway around Iceland is on the lower plains between the highlands and the ocean.  All along the edge of these highlands are so many waterfalls.  Every kilometer or two we were crossing a river that naturally had a waterfall as it traveled down from the highlands.  It was stunning.

We don't know what this place is or how to say it, but we were enamored by the place-names.

The above picture is an example of the waterfalls from the rain.  It is difficult to see in the picture, but there were more than 20 separate waterfalls on this face of mountain alone.  So incredible.

Doesn't the picture above just scream ICELAND!  We couldn't believe that we were actually here.

I believe that jökull is glacier, but you're on your own to translate the rest of that sign.

This was a big park and visitor's center with hiking and glacier tours. We were just looking for restrooms and a snack.

Lots more waterfalls.

Some people even get a private waterfall.

Now the snow started coming down in earnest.

We took a short muddy hike to an overlook of Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. I wanted to fly my drone over the canyon, but it was way too windy (which would turn out to be the story of our trip).

Another view of Fjaðrárgljúfur (don't ask me how to say it).

 💩 is not allowed.

We took a walk through the mossy lava fields of Eldhraun.  The moss was spongy and a few inches deep.  Once again Lyla and Kate stayed behind in the car.  As we were in the safest country in the world (and we often had these areas to ourselves) we gave them a pass.

Incredibly as we neared Vik the weather started to clear up and we were offered some beautiful views.

We weren't planning on it, but we had to take advantage of the sunlight when it appeared, so we drove another 20-30 minutes past Vik to visit Skógafoss (foss means waterfall).  This is one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland.  The amount of water and the height is an awesome sight.

Oddly enough, there were some strange animals there too.

We ate dinner at a restaurant right at Skógafoss.  I'm sure that I'll mention it a time or two, but we were shocked at the food prices.  Our average meal was $80-$100 for the family, and that was usually trying to eat on the cheap and share entrees.

We returned to Vik to sleep.  Tomorrow we visit a black sand beach, a hot geyser-fed pool and more waterfalls.