Icelandic Air delivered us safely in a little over two hours to Keflavik International Airport to begin our next adventure.
After a couple of little hiccups with the car rental we were on our way in our AWD Mitsubishi Eclipse and headed east to Selfoss for our first two nights. En route we passed though the small town of Grindavik, under constant threat from the nearby volcano and the scene of multiple evacuations in recent years and even weeks.
We were to learn later that its population has significantly decreased in recent times as people are getting sick of the constant threat and have moved on.
Even the road we were on was in places newly and hastily constructed as lava had swallowed parts of the original road (and nearby famous Blue Lagoon’s car park) only a matter of weeks ago. It was fascinating to see lengthy sections of it on either sides of the road, a reminder of nature’s power and unpredictability that Icelanders in particular live with every day. (Addit: 48 hours after we left Iceland there were fresh eruptions here that are still ongoing ….. “missed it by that much.”)
Hotel South Coast in Selfoss was comfortable and the guy on overnight duty loaned us his charging cable and we had our first experience at ‘plugging in’ the hybrid overnight.
Hitting the ground running the next day we tackled the Golden Circle, basically a 300 km driving circuit that encompasses some of the best known attractions and our first stop was Þingvellir National Park.
This park is geologically significant as it sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and you can actually snorkel between which we didn’t.. It also holds historical importance as the site of Iceland’s first parliament.
At Þingvellir we had our first (and not last) experience of Icelandic midges, paid (camera monitored) parking and toilets that would average about $AUD2 a pop.
We saw our first Greylag Geese and some stunning scenery including our first waterfall. It was VERY busy also, countless tour buses and people from all parts of the world.
Next stop and a little off the beaten track was Bruarfoss, (for future reference ‘foss’ means waterfall so almost every waterfall’s name is something foss.) Small but mighty Bruarfoss is characterised by beautiful azure coloured water and was much less busy.
A little further along the road we came to the Geysir park where you can explore the famous Great Geysir, the geyser Strokkur, and various kinds of hot springs, steam vents, and sulfurous mud pots.
While the Great Geysir barely spouts, the smaller geyser, Strokkur, reliably gushes its fountain of boiling water every 8-10 minutes to the delight of hordes of tourists.
It wasn’t reaching its usual great heights today and we couldn’t linger as we had a date with a tomato farm!
Friðheimar is not what you expect to find in Iceland – a farm that grows tomatoes year round despite the long dark winter. The artifically lit glasshouses also house the VERY popular restaurant (I booked months ago) and the owners also breed and show Icelandic horses. The perfect farm really!
If you order the signature tomato soup you can go back for endless bowls and accompanying bread. It was absolutely delicious and the rest of the menu is all based around my favourite fruit – there was tomato icecream, tomato based cocktails etc etc. We followed the soup with Icelandic burrata and more tomatoes and it was just perfect.
Our next stop, another of the Golden Circle’s ‘stars’ was magnificent Gullfoss.
The waterfall is formed by the Hvítá River and has a height of 32 metres, divided into two falls. The upper one has a drop of 11 metres and the one slightly further down has a drop of 21 metres. The photos I took in no way capture the tumultuous power which this waterfall exudes. Standing in the spray and listening to the roar was absolutely breathtaking.
Continuing on the ‘Circle’ we saw the first sign of the brilliant blue lupin fields which would be a feature of Iceland in July and only one of the many different varieties of wildflowers we saw in the coming weeks.
I never found out what this little white one was …
We almost drove past the next point of interest but saw a busy car park and stopped when we realised it was Kerið, a volcanic crater lake. The lake is shallow, its vivid colour due to minerals from the soil and the sloping walls are coloured by moss creating a beautiful contrast of colours.
It was late in the afternoon and the tourist numbers had thinned a bit, we walked around the surface perimeter and then headed back to Selfoss. We had dinner at the Old Dairy Food Hall (surprisingly authentic Asian dishes) and experienced our first Icelandic bill shock …. a glass of rosé the equivalent of $AUD23 🤦♀️
it was almost 9.30 pm (still broad daylight) when I broached a crazy plan to Russell… I had done a lot of research about waterfall photography in Iceland and repeatedly read that for the best light and least people, evening or very early morning visits were recommended (some people came at 3.30 am) … The next day we would head south and pass several of the better known waterfalls but probably at the same time as the tour buses. I asked Russell if he was up for going now (just over an hour away) and of course he said sure!
We arrived at Seljalandsfoss at about 10.30 pm, no tour buses in sight and probably 6 or 7 seven cars and a couple of campervans in the car park. The light was golden and it was absolutely magnificent being able to climb around to the back of the waterfall.
If I had gone no further in Iceland this waterfall had absolutely hit the brief.
By now getting close to 11pm I wasn’t sure what Russell’s reaction would be when I told him that Gljufrabui waterfall was a short (800 metre) walk away and likely to be even less busy. I didn’t tell him until we got there that it might test our waterproof shoes and balancing skills to get in there …
We made it in OK with some minor injuries on the way out but got the shot 😉
We never again on the whole trip managed to stay up this late and these pics remain some of my favourites. Weary but elated (me) we arrived back at the hotel just after midnight, pretty happy with our first full day in Iceland.
