The Land of Fire & Ice
I came to the Harpa Concert Hall, completed in 2011 for the cost of €164 million, when Iceland had money. The Icelanders say the building is the best thing the banks left. It is a fantastic construction that changes colour by day by reflecting the sky.
The main street in Reykjavik for restaurants and shops is Laugavegur, and it was there I found a little place called ‘Public House’, what a great name! The beer was half price, otherwise it would have been close to £8! I didn’t quite fancy the cured puffin on the menu, it wouldn’t seem fair to eat something cute, and so I went for the Piggy Smalls instead, which is a doughnut with pulled pork shank. A slightly odd combination but boy was it tasty!
The next morning, I was picked up by our representative from On The Go Tours. A group of us would be spending the next few days together on a tour of this amazing and unique island.
We whizzed around the city stopping at various landmarks including the City Hall and Volcano House - a museum where you can learn all about Iceland’s geothermal activity before you go to see it for real. Well worth a visit, and I was even given a pot of ash from the infamous irruption in 2010 which grounded the airline industry to a halt for several days.
Volcanos are regular occurrences in Iceland and often much bigger than Eyjafjallajokull. It’s rare we hear about them in our media, but this abrasive ash had the potential to wreck jet engines. It’s ironic that from the disruption the volcano caused, tourism in Iceland increased and is now their biggest source of income. The world publicity put Iceland on the map.
Along the Golden Circle route, we visited the UNESCO world heritage site of Thingvellir National Park. The separation of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates is clearly evident as two vertical ridges stand parallel to each other with flat terrain in between. On average they move apart some 2cm per annum.
Moving on to the hot erupting springs Iceland is so famous for, which fascinated me as a boy and I was now to witness for real. The two largest geysers are Geysir and Strokkur, although the latter is the only active one now. It spouts 30-40 feet into the air every 5 to 15 minutes to release the pressure. There are hot springs spread throughout the critical areas of Iceland and many are used to supply free water to the 330,000 Icelanders!
Back on the tour bus, our guide told us the story of the land owner of Gullfoss, a double waterfall that tumbles 34 metres into a canyon. The landowner was going to sell the land to a construction company who would build a hydro-electric plant on site which would then kill the waterfall. The daughter was so distraught at the possibility of no longer having ‘her’ waterfall, that after lobbying the government and her father to not sign the agreement, she threatened to throw herself into the falls and end her life. I didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about until I stood in awe looking at the massive powerful spectacle in front of me. Fortunately, her father scrapped the plans, and thanks to her dogged determination, explorers from around the globe can still enjoy the magnificent sight. It was one of those moments when words are unnecessary as eyes and ears have too much to absorb. But that was just the start of nature’s extravagance present on the island!
The next morning, after sleeping in a log cabin next to a lake in Hella, we followed the road along the south coast heading east. We stopped at a beautiful black sand beach where the waves were crashing in and the rocky crags jutted out into the sea just down the coast. The sun had not so long ago risen above the horizon making it a photographer’s paradise.
We drove through the 600-square km lava field left by what Icelander’s call ‘The Monster’. Laki last erupted in 1783 over an eight-month period, and poured out tonnes of toxic gases into the atmosphere which killed 50% of livestock and 25% of the human population on the island. The aftermath caused a drop in global temperatures which meant crop failures in Europe and possibly droughts in Africa and India.
Diamond beach is where shards of ice from broken up icebergs get washed up on the beach, hence the name. And inland a little is where these icebergs float in the glacial lagoon. The colours of the icebergs were amazing…some black, some blue, and some white. And it’s here where two James Bond films were shot.
The next morning, we visited a couple more waterfalls as we made our way back along the south coast towards Reykjavik. The 60-metre tall Skogafoss, and Seljalandsfoss which you can walk around the back of, if you were prepared to get a little wet. And then onto another beach called ‘Black Beach’. This one was voted by an American magazine in the 1980s as being in the top ten beaches in the world and is the only non-tropical beach in the list. With its black sand and vertical cliff face housing puffins and other sea birds, rocky crags and caves, you can understand why it is regarded so highly, but it is not without its dangers. The monstrous Atlantic Ocean waves can catch you by surprise if you turn your back on them, which it has done in the past, claiming the lives of one or two. That’s the thing about Iceland, like a snow leopard it’s beautiful, but take one too many risks and it’ll rip your arm off, or worse!
In the evening, we dined at the Icelandic Bar where, if you’re so inclined, you can try whale. A visit to this quaint little restaurant is well worth it, the food is excellent, and the service prompt and friendly.
The fact that the nights were too cloudy for the Northern Lights didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the trip as I loved every minute of it. Getting out in the open and experiencing the breath-taking scenery is what makes me feel most alive. And it’s given me an excuse to return, when I’ll do some harder adventures, leaving behind the crowds. Glacier walking, Ice diving, and volcano hiking are all on the menu.
And the Blue Lagoon? Yes, I did it on the last morning on the way back to the airport, and it’s amazing. The feeling of standing outside half-naked in near freezing temperatures just before you dip into the 37 degree milky light-blue water is worth every penny. If you’re looking to do something completely different, maybe for a romantic weekend, you'll not regret this!