The final posting - Reykjavik

Our adventure started and ended in the capical of Iceland, Reykjavik. When we arrived 3 weeks ago, we immediately left the city and started on our clockwise tour of the island. Now we return to the city to explore it. This also marks the end of our trip. Hope you enjoyed it! signed with love, Nicolas and Cathy -- "newly engaged" (in case you missed the posting).

The Blue Lagoon

The famous geothermal pool, with its silica mud and algae. It was really worth the wait!

The Great Geysir

Geysir (sometimes known as The Great Geysir), in the Haukadalur valley, Iceland, is the oldest known geyser. The English word geyser to describe a spouting hot spring derives from Geysir (which itself is derived from the Icelandic verb gjósa meaning to erupt.

Geysir has been dormant for a few decades and it only erupts when there is volcanic activity in the area, especially earthquakes. However, 400m from Geysir stands Strokkur, another geysir. Strokkur erupts every 2-3 minutes. Wow !

I played some camera tricks. If you have a fast speed internet connection, look at the pictures with Cathy (light blue coat). I took a series of photos of her playing a clock ;) The shots are about 1/5 seconds appart. Go to the album by clicking on the photo and move from photo to photo.

Flowing geothermal hot pot

This evening we arrived in a geothermal area. We parked the car, packed our gear, and headed up the rocky mountains. After a hike of about 90 minutes, we reached the warm flowing springs. The temperature was 50C in some places, and cooled downstream as several cold sources of water mixed into the stream. We waded in at about 39C. We setup camp by the stream and spent the night.

Raufarholshellir cave

The Raufarholshellir cave is only 45 minutes from the capital -- but it remains nearly unexplored. I had difficulty finding it with my GPS, but it was literally just off a paved road. It is incredible how a 1.3km cave is unfenced and open to anyone and everyone.
We went about 400m into the cave before turning back. That may not sound like much, but after advancing 10 meters into the cave, there is a complete absence of light!
Let me just say that one does not feel very comfortable when there are collapsed boulders all around and water is dripping from the ceiling. Our two flashlights were just enough to help us dodge various collapsed boulders.

Folk Musuem in Skogar

The most beautiful and complete folk museum in Iceland can be found in the Village of Skogar in the south. Here are a few pictures of items that I found interesting.

The black beach in Vik

The village of Vík is the southernmost village in Iceland. A remarkable nearby feature is the beautiful black beach with the Reynisdrangar, black basalt columns sculpted by the sea. A folk tale says that they are former trolls which were caught outside at dawn. The sea around them is rather wild and stormy, so travelers will not be surprised to discover a monument to the memory of drowned seamen on the beach. In 1991, the American journal Islands Magazine counted this beach as one of the ten most beautiful beaches on Earth.

Svartifoss waterfall in Skaftafell

Svartifoss (Black Fall) is a waterfall in Skaftafell National Park. It is surrounded by dark lava columns, which give rise to its name. The hexagonal columns were formed inside a lava flow which cooled extremely slowly, giving rise to crystallization. These are also known as basalt columns. These are the same formations that I blogged about earlier in my posting on Jokulsargljufur National park "The Red Hill".

Sandfell, early settlement site from 1362

At the base of the great Vatnajökull glacier lies the abandoned farm site of Sandfell. A peaceful place -- today nothing remains excepts walls lined up rocks (formerly house foundations) and a cemetery. The church that once stood there was originally built in 1362, marking the earliest of settlements in Iceland. It was destroyed a few times by the volcano over a period of hundreds of years and was finally pulled down in 1914 and the church of Hof (nearby) became the main church of the region.

What is striking about this peaceful place is that it is barely mentioned in the tourist books, so no one stops here except hikers that wish to climb the glacier. Today, the site is marked by a lone tree in a hayfield. That tree is quite significant because there are no trees in the countryside anywhere in Iceland (except for National Parks), because of the sheeps that are free to roam everywhwere and eat everything. There is an old picture from the late 1800's at the site, which I snapped with my camera. Compare it with my own picture of the area (over 100 years late), one can see by the volcanic formations that it is indeed the same place. A famous Icleandic photographer took a beautiful photo of Sandfell which I found in a book. I will look for it and try to post it.

Jokulsarlon glacial lake

Jökulsárlón is the best known and the largest of a number of glacial lakes in Iceland. It is situated at the south end of the glacier Vatnajökull between Skaftafell National Park and Höfn. Appearing first only in 1934-1935, the lake grew from 7.9 km² in 1975 to at least 18 km² today because of heavy melting of the Icelandic glaciers. Approaching a depth of 200 m, Jökulsárlón is now probably the second deepest lake in Iceland. The lake is filled with icebergs, which are calving off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. A number of films have had scenes shot at Jökulsárlón, including Beowulf and Grendel, Tomb Raider, Die Another Day (James Bond), Batman Begins and A View to a Kill (James Bond).

Glacial tongue walk

As we were driving westward on the southern shore (direction Reykjavik), we passed several glacial tongues of the biggest glacier in Europe, the Vatnajokull. One of them fed a cobble stone riverbed, so I put the truck in 4wd and drove up to the glacier.