Three years dreaming of going back to Iceland, and I finally made it!
I caught a train from Leominster to Manchester, slept on the floor of the departure lounge for a few hours but was to excited/nervous to get any more. I flew into Keflavik airport very early on Sunday morning and ended up sitting on the runway in the plane for 2 hours as it was to windy for the staff to let us off! Finally out of the plane, I had a mad rush to grab my bags. I then went to collect my car for the trip, a Dacia Duster from Blue Car Rental. There are literally 100s of these little cars in Iceland and oddly they are all white, but mine had rusty wheels which made it easier to find.
This time I wanted to keep the trip as simple and as cheap as I could. I booked a hotel for a couple of nights (to charge camera batteries and shower), but then slummed it and slept in my rental car for a couple of nights to save some pennies! I also to ate as cheap as possible, mostly feasting on supermarket noodles, although I did allow myself to eat out once.
2 Icelandic icons, Skógafoss and a Duster.
My aim of the whole trip was to capture the braided glacial rivers with my drone and this was only going to work with little or no wind. The day before I landed in Iceland the South and East coasts were hit with 140mph winds, so I was a little bit apprehensive! I drove south from the airport towards Grindavík and stopped a few times, the wind seemed to be easing and the sun finally made an appearance so I was feeling a little more confident. I set myself a little challenge on this trip, to do all of the driving with no sat nav/Google maps. I wanted to see how much I could remember from our trip back in 2019.
My first outing with the camera was the iconic Skógafoss waterfall and the nearby Kvernufoss, both stunning in their own right but not what I came for so I set off in search of some glacial rivers. I made the hour long drive towards Þorlákshöfn where I found there was access to a small river and potential to fly my drone to capture the braided rivers. After a short walk I found a safe place to sit and get the drone out, there was a bit of wind but nothing that would stop me flying. 15 minutes of flying and I was pretty disappointed with the results, the wind was causing quite big ripples and waves on the water and a very sunny sky was causing very strong glare on the water. I made my way back to the car and sat for a few minutes, I felt pretty deflated and wondered if the whole trip going to be a waste of time.
The ripples just ruin it for me.
I made my back to the hotel to get my battereris charged up and pray for no wind the next day. I bought a loaf of bread and a bag of crisps for my food that evening and lunch the next day, also found a Kitkat in my camera bag for dessert. I had a location in mind that I found via google maps but with no parking or any real footpaths, I decided to try and get a decent night sleep and head out early…
I have an Aurora app on my phone that send notifications if there are chances of seeing the Northern nights, just after 23:00 I had RED ALERT, I really wasn’t too bothered and was pretty tired but dragged myself out of bed and thought I’ll try and make the most of it. I stepped out of the hotel door and instantly saw the Green lights above me, time to get to work. I took photos for probably 20 minutes and then decided to sit in the boot of the car and just watch the light show. Quite often when I’m out shooting sunrise or sunset my time is spent running around like an idiot taking photos or flying my drone and not actually enjoying what’s going on, so it was so nice to sit and take in the wonders of The Northern Lights.
I went to bed around 1 o’clock in the morning. I worried I was going to regret not stay out watching the Northern lights, but I was really tired and the next day was forecast to be much calmer wind-wise, so I had to make the most of it.
I was up and out early, with a crisp sandwich for breakfast and some warm water in my bottle. I headed towards Þykkvibær which was the closest I could get to my intended location (with out taking any big risks, getting stuck, or parking somewhere I shouldn't). I walked just over 6 miles , 5 of it on soft sand, to get to the side of the river. I saw no other foot prints or any path signs but I did see two very old shipwrecks. These were really cool to see but also a reminder that I was in a very very remote location and if I did get into any trouble, I was stuffed.
From the ground conditions were perfect, very little wind and decent cloud cover, but until I got the drone up in the air I wasn’t really sure if it was going to be all I hoped it would be. Only a minute of flying and I was blown away by what I saw; the colours and patterns were exactly what I wished for. I felt quite emotional after putting in so much effort to get back to Iceland and all of the hours and hours I spent looking at maps and researching locations. I used 3 full batteries and was super happy that I got what I have literally obsessed over since I started doing photography.
A dream come true, Icelandic glacial rivers from above.
2 glacial rivers meeting.
I packed up my bag and made the 6 mile walk back to the car. Feeling pretty shattered and absolutely starving I decided to treat myself to my only bit of hot food I allowed myself the whole time I was there. The 2 hour drive to Vík í Mýrdal was travelled in silence because I couldn't get the radio to work in the car and I don’t have Spotify but I was more than happy smiling away and getting overtaken every few kilometres by speeding Icelanders. There was only one place I was going to head to for food that evening. Smiðjan Brugghús. Burger, chips and a pint of IPA. If you ever go to Iceland, put it on your list.
The next day was my last so I wanted to try and make the most of it. I set an early alarm again and headed east towards Vatnajökull and The Diamond Beach area. It was a long, windy, drizzly drive. Through hours of moss-covered lava fields to my first location, a glacier called Svinafellsjokull. There were hardly any cars in the small carpark. I was going to be quite lucky and have the place practically to myself. I spent about an hour-and-a-half shooting photos and managed to fly the drone a short distance to capture the glacier and a few of the smallish icebergs in the lagoon. I had my last crisp sandwich in the boot of the car and some stale doughnuts I picked up whilst getting fuel.
Svinafellsjokull.
It was a short drive down to the well-known Jökulsárlón Glacial lagoon and Diamond beach and this was where I spent the majority of my day. I was mainly shooting the glacier and icebergs and avoiding people. It’s quite a popular area, but if you don’t mind a 20 minute walk you can get away from the crowds and have some peace to enjoy the place. The scale of the mountains and glaciers is out of this world, very obvious why this area is so popular.
The scale of South Iceland!
After a few hours shooting photos and getting wet feet whilst trying to get shots of small icebergs. I made the decision to slowly make my way back towards the airport as I was flying back early the next morning and a bad rain forecast was going to make the 5 hour drive a bit harder. I had remembered a place near the airport that I could probably sleep in the car and not get bothered, so I started to make my way. The drive back was pretty uneventful, as it got darker the rain did eventually start but I was pretty happy with the ground I covered. I must admit I wish I had spent a bit more of my trip heading East, but my main aim was to capture the rivers. Next time I will make the effort to head towards Hofn and the fjords on that coast.
I was up super early once more, dropped the car off, and made the walk to airport. The usual chaos of airports and fatigue setting in didn't even dampen my spirits because I was so happy with the last few days of my trip. As a stroke of luck I surprisingly managed to get 3 seats to myself on the flight home, the same can’t be said for the train ride back to Wales though.
Diamond Beach.
þakka þér kærlega fyrir Ísland.
Thank you very much iceland.