Water, water, everywhere - Day 10

Wow.  You hiked up a glacier, that's a big day for you, Chub-chubs.  So, did you take the next day off to recuperate?

No.  Of course not.

This trip kind of followed the story map that we are all taught in English class.  Some exposition, a whole bunch of build up and then, fifteen pages from the end, a crazy climax.  Days 9 & 10 were the peak of the story.

We slept in as much as you can when its bright as noon (still not really adjusted) and the children sharing your room are all sighing noisily as if they want to get up, but can't?  I am not one to debate parenting techniques but I feel like if your kids are all up - its time to get up.

And we took exactly seven steps around the corner of the Hostel building and were greeted with this.

Skogarfoss was one of my favorite waterfalls because we got to get so close to both the bottom and the top of the falls.  Day 10 was the day of wishing that I had a waterproof camera because my silly, amazing camera was fairly useless as I desperately tried to take a picture from essentially IN the waterfall.  Then we had to hike up to the top to get that view.

This is when it hit home how out-of-shape I was/the enormity of what I had conquered the day before.  I sang Disney songs to get us up to the top where we had a solid shaming as we saw a couple in their 60's hustle up at a rate about three times faster than us.

Once we got back down, it was time for a quick photo shoot in a field of the Nootka Lupin.  I was never not in love with these flowers.  I am excited to try to grow it next summer.

Then we were off to the magic of the Golden Circle.  First stop - Pingvellir (or actually Thingvellir, or really, really - Þingvellir) - The Thorn is my favorite of the crazy Icelandic alphabet characters.  We got there with just enough time to look around a little bit before heading out for our snorkeling adventure.

Before the actual snorkeling our adorable, elfin tour guide man gave us the lowdown on Þingvellir and we stopped for some pictures in the big ole crack in the plates of the Earth.  The best part was that there were a couple of awesome girls on our trip who were able to capture our only trio jumping picture of the trip.

Then it was suit up time.  Snorkeling required stripping down to long underwear and then putting on a puffy marshmallow suit before the dive suit.  Then gloves and a cap and we were ready to party.

 

Where we went snorkeling is called Silfra - and while they tell you that the big old rocky bits up top are where the plates are splitting (and they are...kind of), its actually down here in the crystal clear waters that the world is being her crazy Mother Nature self.

The water was ice cold and completely numbed my lips every time I put them in the water, the suit kept everything but my hands warm and, if anything, was too buoyant as I did not really have control over my body in the water as I had to fight to push myself into a standing position.

Before we went in, the guide asked if anyone was afraid of heights.  It seemed like a really ridiculous questions until I looked down and had the same sensation I do at the top of any tall building.  It was the most strange and surreal experience ever.  The water is perfectly clear so you are looking down 100 meters (or 328 feet).  Higher then I have ever been without the use of an airplane or a building.

There aren't a ton of fish, just plant life that is these electric shades of green.  I struggled with the snorkeling, having realized right before we got in, that I had never actually done it before.  Also, having cold lips was nothing compared to cold hands. Unlike normal humans, I prefer to use my hands to swim, rather than my feet but I was instructed to keep them out of water as much as possible, so I was left trying to paddle with flippers (never really used those either) and unable to get more than half my body underwater while ALSO dealing with the face that my snorkel thing was constantly full of water.  It was drinkable, delicious glacier water but left me struggling to breath without putting my face up.

This, believe it or not, despite the fact it only was an hour or so of actual in-the-water time, was far more challenging than the glacier hike and yet another thing that I don't have any pictures of.  I wasn't going to drop the $50 needed for a rental water-proof camera, but I am sure the images I would have gotten would have been amazing.  It is truly fine, though.  Like whale watching, this is something I am happy to have as a just me and mah friends experience.  There are lots of great pictures on the internet, that's exactly what it looked like.

Then, after we took off all our snorkel gear we got to jump in off one of the ledges that was about 6 meters (20 feet) up from the water.  So silly and fun and ensured that if we weren't completely wet and cold before, we were now.

The next stop on the Golden Circle tour was Geysir and his friends.  Geysir, is the geyser that all other geysers are named for.  Apparently, it was pretty awesome until the mid 70's when dumb (probably American) tourists would throw rocks and coins and small children into Geysir to get it blow (anything for a photo op) and so now it is all messed up and unreliable.

Strokkur is the more reliable younger sister who we watched a few times.

It was so hilarious standing around with all these other people, cameras at the ready, waiting for Mother Nature to do her thing.  And there would occasionally be these bubble up false alarms where everyone would get all pumped and then it would be another four or five minutes before anything happened.  Mother Nature is a tease.

The area around Geysir reminds me of a ogre's swamp or something.  Its all muddy (possibly because it was raining while we were there) and the earth is bubbling and popping and steam is rising.  The faerie people who are rumored to live below the surface there must have fantastic, soft skin and virtually no pores.

After getting a few good pictures of Strokkur it was time to head out once again.  We made the decision to skip Gullfoss for the day and just head to our hotel.

We got to the adorable little cabin that we called home for about 10 hours, and then got gas while also getting our very first bacon wrapped Icelandic hot dog.  I think we would have been disappointed if we had discovered these earlier in the trip, but then had not been able to get them for two or three days because they were even more amazing than regular Icelandic hot dogs which were pretty close to perfect.

Fun with Animals - Days 7 & 8

Since we had tested our luck on the windy, gravely, guardrail-less roads of Iceland and survived, we figured it was time for S.S. Big Britches (which is what we dubbed ourselves while sleep deprived and terrified on the roads of the Western Fjords) to set sail on the actual frickin' Arctic Ocean.

Of course, fate and flat tires meant that this happened on the worst weather day we experienced.  Bad weather on land is magnified dramatically on the ocean as it not only pelts you without any true protection, and makes it feel as though you are sailing in a giant martini shaker.

The boat we were sailing on was advertised as being tres nordic and vintage-y which was cool, except that it meant that it lacked any of those things they have developed to make the boat ride less miserable.

So we set out with some super classy looking foul-weather gear.

I think one of my most favorite things overall about Iceland was all the sweet costumes we got to wear.  The History Museum set the bar pretty high, but the whale watching totally delivered.

The first hour and a half was basically torture.  The puffin island was kind of a bust, since it was raining so hard and we weren't close enough to get good pictures with a short lens.  And then we just rocked back and forth.  The nice Icelandic boat people were perfectly pleasant but failed to mention that the side of the boat (starboard) we were on was the most rocky, dangerous thing EVER.  And that if we just moved to the port side everything would be less miserable.

After telling the Captain and tour guide to take us home NOW they promised that something was going to happen.  Really Soon.  Were they talking out of their butts?  Probably, but they delivered spectacularly.

First there was a blue whale spouting.  Something I think I am always seeing on Nantucket, but actually is totally different than I was anticipating.  And then a pod of dolphins just swimmin'.  And THEN there was a humpback whale and her BABY.  The baby, we were told was actually a toddler, but toddler whale does not sound nearly as adorable.  So it was a humpback and her baby.  How many pictures did I take of this most amazing spectacle?

None.

Nope.  I had a realization while I was flying across the bow and nearly careening overboard to get a closer look - that this was an experience was one just for me.  And I would happily write about it, but that I wasn't going to waste time trying to take pictures.  I was just going to enjoy the fact that I was there. And I did.  It was awesome.

 

This is my whale face. 

Then Musar vom-bombed over the side of the boat, we got some hot chocolate with Captain Morgan in it (a delightful treat that I am excited to recreate come winter-time), and agreed the torture was worth the pay off.

Once we were back on dry land it was time for a short nap and a trip to Lake Myvatn.  You should read all about Lake Myvatn.  It is quite possibly the coolest place on the planet.  How better to see the amazing lava fields than on the back of a freaking horse?

No way.  There is no way better.  Even in the pouring rain.  Even though my horse had a penchant for taking the most uneven, unstable path set before him.  It was perfect.  The last time I was on a horse was when I was in fourth grade at girl scout camp, but apparently, I have not lost my touch.  I walked, I trotted, I tolt-ed.

Then we hiked through spectacular lava formations and talked about how amazing life is, as one does.

Whales and horses in one day?  What could make things better?

Puffins!

The next day, our first stop was Dettifoss, which is the most powerful waterfall in Europe.

Throughout the entire trip there were constant reminders of the fact that Iceland was in no way a litigious place. At this all mighty waterfall, there were no guard rails and very few "do not go here" signs.  No one seemed to care how close we got to imminent death. Which was kind of refreshing and exhilarating.

After the waterfall and brush with death, our only goal was to drive 466 KM and try not to kill each other.  Luckily we had recently discovered Mike and Tom Eat Snacks.  A podcast that is quite simply perfect for a road trip through a foreign land.  I am pretty sure we listened to almost all the snacks.  Not only did we listen to snacks we GOT snacks out of this bad boy.

A completely solar and wind powered snack hut.  Of course it is in the middle of nothingness in the Eastern Fjords (by this point we were at about 1:30 or 2:30 on the Iceland clock of geography)  We got lost for a solid hour or two, but it was completely worth it for snacks and the puffins.

I could tell you lots of facts about puffins but here is what you really need to know.

1- Puffins mate for life

2- Their babies are called pufflins

 

3- This.

 

This is my puffins face.  My eyes are squinty with happiness.

After visiting with the puffins, we got back in the car and continued through the Eastern Fjords which look kind of like their Western counterparts.  It did not stop me from taking pictures.

Since this is a short recap, here is interesting stuff that you should know about the trip in general.

-Food in Iceland is super expensive.  So we started grocery shopping and spend a vast majority of the trip eating salami and cheese sandwiches, faux-nutella sandwiches, reconstituted soup mix, baby carrots and bacon flavored potato chips.

-Since what we were eating from the grocery store was not a balanced diet by any stretch of the imagination, we supplemented it with Icelandic hot dogs.  They are covered in delicious sauces. 

-Besides MATES we listened to mostly Adele's "21" album and my favorite Icelandic songs, "Jungle Drum" by Emiliana Torrini and "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men.

-There are sheep everywhere in Iceland.  They are adorable but hard to take pictures of without stopping and getting out of the car.  Luckily we had to stop to let some of them cross the road which gave me a chance to take some pictures.

Let's Tempt Fate - Days 5 & 6

I am pretty sure that everything that happened in Iceland before day 5 of this trip was just making us cocky. However, in the moment, I think we just thought we were getting comfortable. We thought we were doing juuuuust fine. Little did we know what lay ahead.

First adventure was a total dud. We got up at 6 AM and head out to Snaefellsjokull National Park only to be told that we couldn't get into the visitor's center until 10. Womp womp.

And so my only pictures of Snaefellsjokull were taken out of the back of the car. I am sad we missed it, but it was billed to me as "Little Iceland" (as in its got all of the neat stuff of Iceland packed in to a much smaller space) and since we went ahead and did regular-sized Iceland, I feel like its okay that apparently, the staff of the visitor's center is extra lazy.

So we skipped ahead to our next adventure, Helgafell which is a hill, just outside of a cute little town called Stykkisholmur. The jam with Helgafell is you get to make three wishes BUT there are a lot of rules that need to be followed.


First - you need start in the correct spot which we are sort-of-kind-of-maybe sure we found, but really we just started where everyone else did. It would be super hilarious if they made the start of the trail not the actual start for the wishes-bit. But those Icelandic people, they are way too nice to pull that kind of crap.


Then- you have to walk up totally silent. And you cannot look back until after you make your wishes. This, I am pretty sure is to get all the tourists to shut up for like, 10 seconds, because it totally works. This was the longest stretch that we were awake and not talking the entire trip. Just for good measure we didn't talk at all until we made it back down. We are dead.ass about wish granting.


And finally, you get up there. You face East (there is a compass up at the top, thank the little baby Jesus) and you (silently) make your wishes.

Then, of course, you take a bunch of touristy pictures, and on the way down you judge the people coming up behind you who clearly have not been told the rules because they a) talk and b) look behind them. They will obviously die miserable and alone for not following the made up rules.

After the hill, there was a stop at crazy awesome church two in Stykkisholmur, which looked crazy from all angles. Followed by a lighthouse and some water.

 

Then it was on to Holmavik. The cutest gosh-durn town I have ever seen. The most important stop was the Witchcraft and Sorcery Museum where we learned all about what is needed to cast Icelandic spells and how you will totally get burned at the stake if you are at the wrong place at the wrong time and some one's wife is sickly.

After this we spent some time talking to the man in charge of the visitor's center who was excited to tell us all about his lovely town. When we explained that we had bigger and better things to do, namely the Latrabjarg cliffs. We should have noticed his hesitation when we said that we were just planning to drive out and come back. But no. We had climbed a HILL. With Wishes. Nothing was too big or scary for us.

Turns out driving the Western Fjords was EXACTLY that big and scary. It is a little bit Stella the GPS's fault. Stella had a habit of telling us a destination would take a certain number of hours and then continuously adding to that number as the journey progressed. So the journey we were told would take three hours one-way actually ended up taking about six. Bad Stella. Stella also failed the mention that the roads would be terrifying.

 

Anyway, they say its the journey, not the destination that matters. Which is good, because we never made it. We got within in a mile of Latrabjarg cliffs before realizing that our little, cute rental car was not going to make it on the dirt. So we turned around and did the whole crazy thing AGAIN. This time with a stop at a waterfall to keep us from going totally insane.

Naturally, a six hour trip on the way there is also a six hour trip on the way back which meant we didn't get to our hotel until 2 AM. Just in time to realize we needed more music to listen to in the car and oogle our adorable hotel room that we would only spend six hours in before heading out again (a note for you travelers out there, if you are going to try to replicate our ambitious journey, find cheap hotel options - nice hotels are nice, but its not worth the cost since you will only sleep in them and even that you won't do much of - although a private bathroom every night or two makes a world of difference).

Day 6 was the day S.S. Big Britches got taken down a few notches when we were told that we had a flat tire. But by the grace of all the best things Iceland - the town of Holmavik came to our rescue and we got our tire patched by Kali (because Danni was in Reykjavik).

By the end of the tire patching adventure we had just enough energy to drive to Husavik, see the Phallalogical Museum (easily the weirdest thing I have ever paid admission to), take a picture of Courtney next to the phallalogical bit of a sperm whale, go grocery shopping and actually take some time to enjoy the second nice hotel in as many days.