Iceland

By [ E ]

December 5^th, 2016

The Origins

Iceland has always been on our travel bucket list. It's been reinforced through the years as friend after friend has traveled there and come back with amazing photos and stories of the beautiful scenery. It's also been a dream of Yvonne's to see the Northern Lights so we knew we had to try to go during the winter. So when the Iceland Air deal for $400 round trip from JFK popped up in my feed, we knew we had to go. After a few months of planning, we were sitting on our plane at JFK with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming adventures.

Reykjavík

We landed in Reykjavík at 6 AM local time. Since the island of Iceland is so far north, the sun rises at 10 AM which gave us plenty of time to get through customs, grab our rental car, and get our wifi hotspot. Our destination to watch our first Icelandic sunrise was the Hallgrímskirkja Cathedral located in the center of the city. For a small fee, you can ride the elevator to the top of the spire to catch a panoramic view of the city below. The mountains on the horizon provided a small glimpse of what awaited us the next few days.

On the Road

After picking up a few pastries nearby at Braud & Co, we hit the road and headed south toward the town of Vik. On the way, we were greeted by an amazing sunrise over the Icelandic mountains. The drive itself was enjoyable as the scenery shifted around us and the sun drenched the landscape. We passed by the Eyjafjallajökull ice cap which covers the volcano that erupted in 2010.

Near the end of our 2 hour road trip we encountered our first waterfall, Seljalandsfoss. Even in the low season for tourism, there were a lot of visitors there taking in the power and beauty of this waterfall. Many of the trails that allow you to get different angles of the waterfall were iced over so we stuck to the main path.

DYRHÓLAEY

After settling into our hotel in Vik, we headed back out to enjoy the last light of the day at the Dyrhólaey peninsula. There we found a lighthouse and a view of the magnificent black sand beach which seemed to stretch out for miles.

The view from Dyrhólaey is interesting: To the north is to be seen the big glacier Mýrdalsjökull. To the east, the black lava columns of the Reynisdrangar come out of the sea, and to the west the whole coastline in the direction of Selfoss is visible - depending on weather conditions. In front of the peninsula, there is a gigantic black arch of lava standing in the sea, which gave the peninsula its name. -wikipedia

DC-3

Early the next morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed toward the DC-3 plane wreckage nearby. We wanted to make sure to catch it at sunrise to capture the most interesting light of the day. After about a 20 minutes drive, we reached the gate to the road that leads to the crash site. In previous years, they had allowed cars to drive on this rocky farm road to get to the wreckage. Only recently did they cut off vehicle access to the road and now you have to make the 4 km walk. It took us about 45 minutes to make the trek but it was well worth it.

The U.S. Navy cargo plane crash landed on Sólheimasandur beach on Saturday November 24 1973. The crew was able to survive the impact and the plane was abandoned. It now serves as an amazing tourist destination for people who want an eerie glimpse of the near fatal accident.

We shared the site with a handful of fellow tourists. Most wanted to grab a picture of each other standing on top of the wreckage. Yvonne and I really just wanted a few shots sans people. Our patience paid off as groups began to leave and we were left to capture the shots we were hoping for.

The Wildlife

During our drive through Iceland we passed by a lot of farms and pastures. In addition to sheep and cattle, horses were prevalent through out the island. Yvonne got up close and personal with one and she was smitten. We were a bit disappointed that the famous puffins had already migrated south for the winter. But Iceland made up for it by giving us a light show the next night.

The Northern Lights

The main attraction. This is what we came to Iceland for and boy did we get lucky. We booked a Super Jeep tour on the 2nd night we were in Iceland. Part of the rationale being that if weren't able to catch it the first time around, they would rebook us for subsequent nights. Lucky for us, it only took one try.

The Super Jeep picked us up at 8pm from our hotel. The sun had already set almost 4 hours before so the necessary darkness to see the lights had set in. Chrissy, our driver, warned us that the previous few nights had not gone well. He said he spent 5 hours driving a group around only to come up empty. The two necessary ingredients to see the northern lights is a cloudless night and a high Kp number.

The Kp number is a system of measuring aurora strength. It goes from 0 to 9 (0 being very weak, 9 being a major geomagnetic storm with strong auroras visible). So when your looking at the aurora forecast page, you want to see high Kp numbers. The higher the better. Anything above (and including) Kp5 is classed as a geomagnetic storm. -Aurora Forecast

I had looked earlier in the day and it was going to be a clear night with a Kp index of around 3. Things started looking up right after we escaped the city lights of Reykjavík. Chrissy started hearing reports on his radio that the northern lights had decided to make an appearance for us. He started pointing at them through the front windshield but we couldn't make it out. It wasn't until we arrived at the location and got out of the jeep were we greeted by nature's light show.

The Peninsula

After an eventful night in Reykjavík, we made our way north to the Snæfellsjökull peninsula. Compared to the sun drenched landscapes of Southern Iceland, the peninsula was cold and snowy. It was a perfect compliment and we enjoyed the change in scenery. As we made are way toward Snæfellsjökull National Park, the snow started piling up more and more on the roads. Thankfully, our rental car had studded tires so it handled the snow and ice like a champ.

The peninsula itself was a mix of beautiful landscapes and quaint towns. We passed by a few picturesque chapels which we couldn't help but document. Along the way, we also stopped on the side of the road just to capture the amazing scenery around us. For a night, we stayed at an Airbnb cabin near Stykkishólmur. It was off the beaten path but ended up being a great place to rest and recharge.

Final Day

Our final day in Iceland was a rain filled one. The plan was to go explore the golden circle about one hour south east of Reykjavík. Luckily, the first thing on our itinerary was the Secret Lagoon. It was raining pretty hard when we got there but it didn't matter after we jumped into the warm geothermal pool. The more famous Blue Lagoon was sold old for today but it was nice to find a more secluded and rustic location.

After relaxing at the Secret Lagoon for a few hours, we headed to the mighty Gullfoss waterfall. The rain wouldn't let up at all but we were able to capture a few shots regardless. On a better day, more of the trails would have been open in order to get some better views of the multi-tiered waterfall.

Visit Iceland

Being able to write this post and edit the video below has given me a renewed appreciation for the trip we were able to take to Iceland. While planning, I knew this would be a spectacular trip but it really did exceed my expectations. With cheap airfare from Iceland Air and Wow Airlines, there really is no excuse not to go!