The East Coast Fjords - in the middle of nowhere

The photos below are the view from our guesthouse first thing in the morning.  It was super relaxed to sit here and enjoy the absolute peace and quiet.  Eastern Iceland is a real untamed wilderness of rocky mountain peaks and winding black-sand coastlines.

We were very lucky that our guesthouse hostess was able to give us some great tips for what to see on our journey up the East Coast Fjords.  Our first stop was a very strange exhibition of eggs in the little village of Djupivogur at Merry Bay.  The artwork is by the popular Icelandic artist Sigurour Guomundsson and it consists of 34 huge granite eggs which represent the eggs of each of the nesting birds in this area, many of which are migrating birds flying over Iceland from far away to lay their eggs here in Iceland.

The plinths that the eggs are on are the remnants of plinths that used to be used in the landing of fish in the port.  Each of the 34 eggs is an exact replica of the egg of the bird in question.

Another lovely stop along the way was the "black houses" along the next fjord.  It was lovely to walk along the coast here.

Finally were were recommended the Vok Baths - 3 geothermal pools in the middle of a lake near Egilsstadir. 

There are not many people in this part of Iceland, but apparently there are loads of reindeer - though we didn't see any we were told that a herd of them could cross the road without warning!

Waterfalls and Icebergs

We set off along the south coast and our first stop was the Fjadrargljufur Canyon.  This amazing place was formed about 9000 years ago and you start with a steep climb up to the top of the canyon and then an easier walk along the top.

This photo was taken looking back along the canyon.  You can see a brown cloud at the end which was caused by wind blowing across the lava fields.

We had a scenic stop for lunch just before Svartifoss, the black waterfall.  It was a desolate area in the middle of lava fields but with an amazing view of the glacier.

Just a short drive onwards and we got to the Svartifoss.  It's called the Black Waterfall because of the black basalt columns over which the water falls.  It was another very steep uphill hike to get to this viewpoint.  

The highlight of the day for me was our final stop at the Jokulsarlon Iceberg Lagoon and nearby beach.  The giant blue icebergs break off the Breidamerkurjokull glacier as it melts and float into a large lagoon, the ice collects here until smaller bits break off and continue their journey to the sea.  While we were there we actually witnessed this happening - it made quite a boom.  

At the nearby beach some of the icebergs get pushed back onto the shore so you can see them close up.  It's an amazing place but also quite sad if you think of this as the end of a glacier that has existed for thousands of years.

Water, water everywhere - Iceland's south coast

Off we set on our journey around the whole coast of Iceland.  First stop was the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.  It's a huge waterfall and you can take a short hiking trail right behind the waterfall itself.

Driving further we came to the Skogafoss Waterfall.  In this part of the trip the driving was up to me - and I had to deal with an automatic car and driving on the other side of the road, but I think I managed this OK (I was thankful it was just one one and not a busy one).  This waterfall is about the same height as the previous one but much wider.  We hiked first to the bottom, and then up an enormous staircase (500 steps I think) to the top.  Again we were so lucky that the day that had started off a bit wet and drizzly, had turned into a lovely warm and sunny day.

Onwards we drove to our next stopping point which was the snout of the Vatnajokul Glacier.  Again it was a short walk from where we parked the car to a lake formed by the meltwater from the glacier.   While we stood watching, we heard a guide who was going to take some people up onto the glacier itself talking about global warming and how every year the glacier melts so that in about 10 years the whole area which was once glacier is now just a lake.  He said that what took 100 years to form is being lost every single year, and that one glacier in Iceland has already become extinct.

We then drove right down to the south coast to a beach where we could see puffins - it was extremely windy there  - and then onwards to Reynisfjara beach made up of black sand and then finally onto Vik for the night.  The beaches here are wild and very windy.  The black sand is created by lava mixing with ocean water.  There are huge cliffs, stacks and arches out to see and huge basalt columns.

The Golden Circle

On our first day in Iceland we decided to do the Golden Circle drive.  It's about 200 miles and starts and ends in Reykjavik.  We picked up our hired car (which we named Poppy) and set off for the Thingvellir National Park.  

This location is famous for 2 things.  First of all it was the place where the North American and Eurasian plates meet - mostly this runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but here in Iceland the plates are splitting apart creating deep fissures in the ground.  In fact you can snorkel or scuba dive through the icy glacial waters of one of these fissures if you want to (I didn't!)

The national park is beautiful and we were lucky it was such a beautiful day.  We walked down through the gorge where you could see the plates on either side, right up to a picturesque waterfall.  

Another important fact about the national park is that it was the location of Iceland's first parliament, that dates back to 930 AD.  Chieftans gathered here to discuss the laws and put people on trial (punishments such as 3 years of exile for stealing were decided upon here).

We continued to walk around the park, stopping at the visitor's centre for a very interesting interactive exhibition, and finally back past a lovely little church.  

Back at the car again, we set off for one of the geyser areas in Haukadalur about 60 km away.  In this park there is the famous Geysir - the term geyser was named after this one - and another very active one called Strokkur.  It was a really interesting place as you could see boiling water bubbling out of the ground and steam rising up from mud pools. 

Although Geysir no longer erupts, Strokkur explodes every few minutes with boiling water shooting high up into the air.

Our next stop along the Golden Circle was Gullfoss Waterfall.  Gullfoss means "gold waterfall" in Icelandic.  The river falls 100 feet into a crevice in the earth, producing mist, spray and rainbows.  It's all very magnificent. 

We parked at the bottom carpark and then walked up to the falls, after which we climbed up a staircase and walked along to top of the waterfall.

This was the furthest we travelled out of Reykjavik, after that we turned round and went a different route back via the Kerid Crater Lake.  In fact this was the only thing we had to pay for the whole day.  This is a red volcano crater which is covered in bright green vegetation and you can walk around it, though it's a little bit of a scramble at times.  The evening was warm and sunny and the views were lovely.

At one time this was a typical cone-shaped volcano, but the top has now collapsed into the empty magma chamber and the bottom is now filled with a lovely blue shade of water that contrasts with the red and green of the crater.

Continuing back to Reykjavik we decided to take the scenic route through the Nesjavallaleid geothermal area.  This was a lonely and beautiful road with a couple of great viewpoints to stop and take in the magnificent scenery.