Waking in a stunning cabin, with snow peaked mountains in the distance was slightly over shadowed by the dark skies in the direction we were traveling. We demolish a stack of pancakes in the kitchen before packing up and joining the ring road again for the next destination, Höfn. This section of driving out of the whole trip is the one I’ve been looking forward to the most, but judging by the forecast things weren’t going to go my way. As we climbed up a mountain pass that resembled a river more than a road, we had a feeling today was going to be mostly spent in the 4x4. So many times we passed stunning beaches and places to explore but the rain never really subsided enough to leave the car for a few minutes, the wind got stronger as we started to traverse the south east. Passing locations I recognised from books and online was hard but we reflected on the beautiful weather we’d had so far on the trip. Lauren had found a hot spring on the map that she was keen to visit so we made our way there.
A quick dip in the Hot Spring (this was pretty much a tin bath in the middle of nowhere) back into the car and on to Höfn to get warm and pray for better weather in the morning.
Waking to yet more rain and wind was disappointing but the forecast was looking better later that day and for the rest of a our trip. We had a glacier ice cave walk booked at Vatnajökul, an hour drive in the rain and wind, we stopped to pick up a hitchhiker who was trying to get the airport for a flight home later that day. We met our guide and had a 25 minute drive, in what can only be described as a monster truck mini bus, from the glacial lagoon up on to the glacier. We were given a quick safety chat and fitted with helmets and we were then free to explore the small but beautiful cave. We used www.guidetoiceland.com to book the trip & would 100% recommend them.
Vatnajökull Ice cave.
When the trip finished we made our way back to the car to try and dry out. This required the engine on & heaters blowing trying to get some feeling back in our limbs. We were parked at the famous Jökulsárlón Glacial lagoon, which is known for the chunks of ice that break off the glacier and make their way to the sea. Due to the strong winds a lot of the icebergs had blown to the far side of the lagoon so we took a short drive to see them as neither of us had ever seen an iceberg in real life! This was probably when the rain and wind was at its strongest the whole time we were in Iceland, but pretty excited and already soaked we thought a quick 5 minute walk would be ok, after about 10 minutes Lauren sensibly went back to the car! I was pretty determined to get a half decent picture of an iceberg before i gave up — The picture below is probably one of my favourites of the whole trip, the bird gives a scale how big this thing was!
Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon.
Again back in the car absolutely soaked again! Heaters on and we were headed towards Vík for 2 nights, we passed so many waterfalls, some of which were blowing up hill due to the relentless winds but luckily the rain had stopped. We passed by a sign for the Sólheimajökulll glacier, so decided to take the short detour to have a quick look now the visibility was better.
Sólheimajökulll Glacier.
The last short drive of the day was finally into Vik, we had 2 nights booked in a hostel just outside of town, a couple of minutes from the famous black sand beaches. We finally got some dry clothes on and headed into Vik for some much needed food and a beer. Our empty tummies led us to Smiðjan Brugghús - a small brewery with literally 100s of beers and brilliant food. We cooked most nights in wherever we were staying and ate 51p noodles on the road every day so we felt like this was a much needed and much deserved treat, even at £52 for 2 burgers & 2 beers! Iceland is expensive but can definitely be done on the cheap with some planning.
Vik is quite a popular town with a lot of things to do, the next day was spent visiting a few of the waterfalls the are literally round every corner.
Skógafoss, South Iceland.
Dyrhólaey
After a long day exploring we return our hostel - The Barn in Vik, definitely recommend the place if you’re in the area. Some quick pasta in the kitchen followed by a beer in the bar to plan our next day.
Another early start was needed for a hike to the oldest geothermal swimming pool in Iceland, Seljavallalaug, built in 1923. We were greeted with the most beautiful sunrise and as we hiked deeper into the valley we had glimpses of another glacier above us and more volcanic rock formations. After twenty minutes of walking we see the pool which is instantly recognisable by the changing rooms (which unfortunately had been used as toilets and had rubbish dumped in them). We changed into swimwear and had a very quick dip as it definitely wasn’t the warmest pool we’d been in!
Seljavallalaug
Back at the car we load up our bags and head back to Skógafoss to get a hot chocolate and some snacks before a long drive up to Háifoss- the 3rd largest waterfall in Iceland. I’d be desperate to capture some shots of the glacial rivers in Southern Iceland with my drone but every river we had crossed so far the weather had been against me, finally we crossed a river and there happened to be no wind or rain so we parked up and I got my wish!
After successfully landing the drone and not chopping of any more of Laurens fingers, we head East to Háifoss, a good 2 hours away and lots of new sights to see. We drove further and further away from civilisation and began to see less cars (apart from Datcia Dusters-they were everywhere). We end up on another long stretch of unpaved road, we thought we’d seen the last of them! Twenty five minutes of potholes and rocks later we arrived at the waterfall. Jackets and gloves on as it was so windy and exposed! I think we both agreed this was one of the most impressive views we’d had on the South Coast, two huge waterfalls (122 meters high) and stunning rainbows, also one of the biggest drops I’d seen so far. I’m not great with heights and really couldn’t bring myself to peer over the edge like most of the other people up there.
Háifoss
We got back to the car to warm up and scoff some more noodles before we started the long drive back to civilisation, but not before stopping at another waterfall on the way back (they are literally everywhere!). We were headed to Midgard Base Camp in HVOLSVÖLLUR which was without a doubt the nicest place we stayed in the whole time we were in Iceland - www.midgardbasecamp.is It was our last proper night in Iceland so we decide to go and watch the sunset at Seljalandsfoss hoping it would be a little quieter but in reality it was never going to be, this area of Iceland is really easily accessible from Reykjavik so its pretty hard to find any where without hoards of tourists. We regularly reminded ourselves that we were part of that and everyone is there for the same reason, to enjoy this breathtakingly beautiful country.
Seljalandsfoss
We woke to a stunning sunrise yet again but decided to watch it from the comfort of our room, it was our last day in Iceland and we both felt pretty sad to be leaving, luckily we had day of pretty good weather so we decide to take a long, scenic drive to the airport along the coast. Our journey started with one last fuel stop and of course a compulsory doughnut. We stopped at Knarraros Lighthouse and walked down to the sea to spot a few seals basking in the sun. Then we finally had a chance to get a photo of an Icelandic horse, it was the first time we’d seen one close enough to capture.
Knarraros Lighthouse
As the day drew on we knew that it wasn’t going to be long before we had to drop off our car. We found another beautiful church at Strandarkirkjafor, our last tea/noodle/doughnut stop, and had another wander down to the sea to spot more seals. Our last places to visit were the Gunnuhver Hot Springs, the surrounding coast and Reykjanes Lighthouse. While we were walking up from the coast to the lighthouse the skies started to darken and the wind really decided to pick up in true Icelandic fashion! After a short, blustery walk around the lighthouse to take a few last pictures we get on the road to the airport. We both felt pretty deflated about leaving, and pretty tired from being on the road for two weeks but we have both totally fallen in love with Iceland and it’s absolutely stunning landscape and countless natural wonders. I’ve already planned a return visit in the future as I have unfinished business with the east coast.
Strandarkirkja
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