After three nights based in Reykjavik, we decided we wanted to see a little more of the island. We all really wanted to see ice caves and the Northern Lights, hence why we went during the winter. Ice caves are mostly located about a 4-5 hour drive from Reykjavik so we used that to explore a bit.
Day 4: Driving the Southern Coast
We had been told that the Southern Coast was more beautiful than the Golden Circle so we wanted a full day to explore. This is the part of the island that makes me really want to go back in the summer as I could tell the landscaped changed often, but it was covered in a lot of snow. Tom and Sean had a wonderful set of places for us to see so we trusted them with the agenda and set off. Well before meeting them, we hit a fun bakery near our house where I got an incredible cream puff with chocolate and strawberry jam. Yes it wasn't quite breakfast food, but totally worth it on vacation.
Ok so now that I was enjoying my sugar high, I joined Tom and Sean to make more room in my car and we took off for the first waterfall. I think we drove about 1.5 hours before hitting the first stop. The scenery along the route was nice and snow covered.
Stop 1: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
This is an incredible waterfall. In the summer you can go up the stairs and behind the waterfall. We walked up to the stairs and quickly realized there was no way to do that since the stairs were completely iced over. It was also super cold so we enjoyed our pictures and some slight ice skating and got back to the warmth of the car. Beautiful!!!
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| Seljalandsfoss Waterfall! |
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| I love waterfalls! |
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| Simply stunning |
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| The frozen stairs |
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| Group shot |
Stop 2: Skogafoss Waterfall
It is very hard to miss these waterfalls because they are large, beautiful, and visible from the road. Even better than just finding the waterfall, there were two restaurants as we pulled in so we found lunch! This waterfall was more set back off the path. We again of course had to get as close as possible, which might not be the best idea in the winter. It was an ice skating rink and we were close enough to be covered in the mist. Many more pictures were taken and skating back to the snowy path. This waterfall had stairs leading to the top so of course Sherri, Euge, and I had to go. We didn't want to make the others wait long so I took off jogging up the stairs. Yeah, that didn't last long. The view from the top was beautiful and it was fun waving down at Siobhan. Definitely worth the climb up and I love challenging my slight fear of heights which I rediscovered on the way down the stairs.
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| Group shot |
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| Skogafoss Waterfall and Holly |
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| Getting wet from the waterfall |
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| View from above |
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| At the top of the waterfall |
We followed the climb up with a great lunch! Tom and Sean found the perfect table by the window with the view of the waterfall. I needed to switch up from Icelandic food so I enjoyed chicken pasta and the best hot chocolate I found in Iceland. And trust me, I tried a lot of hot chocolate.
Stop 3: Vik
So there were more stops on the list, but they were very hard to find in the snow. We decided to get to Vik and find the black sand beaches there. Of course the Iceland wind picked up and the roads were more treacherous. We had a slight slide off the road and a little towing adventure to keep the day interesting. I will say that you need to get a 4WD car while in Iceland in the winter. But it was an adventure we all were able to laugh about later. Even better was it happened only 2 miles from Vik meaning that the tow truck came quickly. Once we got to Vik, we decided we had a long way left to drive to our house so we had to say bye to Tom and Sean and keep going. Luckily we had a short stop in town to pick up a few more souvenirs.
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| Oops |
Stop 4: Really long car ride to Hofn
So I couldn't find a great house by the start of our tour and instead I found a nice place in Hofn. Sadly this meant we were really out east. Holly was yet again amazing by managing the roads. There were many white out conditions and trucks were beyond scary as they caused their own white outs. We drove another 3.5ish hours and finally got to Hofn and we were thrilled to get out of the car. We actually did have a lot of fun in the car though and enjoyed using the Iceland SIM cards to listen to YouTube videos (how to have a conversation in Icelandic with only 3 words!) and listening to songs. The landlord for the AirBNB showed us to a nice local restaurant where we enjoyed a much needed drink and celebrated making the long trip out there. More lamb for me. We even found our only arctic fox sighting.
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| Lots of white |
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| The arctic fox at dinner |
Stop 5: Facebook
Yes I would love to say that we stayed off facebook and our phones, but we didn't. Every night we took the time to air drop pictures to each other so we all had the photos we wanted and we posted our favorites and enjoyed getting blizzard updates. My OPM app nicely alerted me in the middle of the night if the government was cancelled or delayed so it was fun seeing how things were going. We were living in a winter wonderland but our friends were living in DC's winter wonderland (which wasn't nearly as fun). We also enjoyed some wine that night and laughed a lot. Even though our days were packed, we tried to enjoy the slight down time at night to relive the day and laugh at everything. I think spending 7ish hours in the car has a way of making us giddy.
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| Picture and Facebook Time |
Day 5: Ice Caves and Ice Climbing Tour
This was my favorite day of the trip. I was so excited to see the ice caves and Holly had built up ice climbing so I was curious to try. Our friend had recommended Local Guides (
http://localguide.is/) and we decided to splurge on a private tour. This allowed us to do ice caves and ice climbing in one tour. We met at their headquarters which was about an hour and a half from our house so it was another early morning. We met our guide Snorri and got prepared for a day of fun and cold. I had four layers on top and three layers on my legs knowing that my body had been cold most of the trip. I am happy to say that my core was fine, but my hands were still cold throughout the day.
Our first stop on the tour was the Crystal Ice Cave. This is the main ice cave that the tours go to that Local Guides actually found. The founder of Local Guides is behind locating and exploring ice caves so it was fun to tour with the best. You off road over the glacier to a flat spot to park. The view is incredible and no photo can capture it. We put on our orange helmets and went off over the glacier to find the cave. The wind was whipping but it was so much fun! The more I am outside exploring, the more I realize I love what I haven't seen or explored. You almost slid into the ice cave to get into it. It was shorter than I expected but so much fun to explore. This was truly a cave and I had to crawl at points to get through and yes, thank goodness for the helmet since I did bump my head several times. It was incredible to be surrounded by ice and the beauty it holds. Some spots were super smooth and others were more spotted depending on the oxygen flow. Snorri did a great job of explaining how it formed and different aspects of the cave. I was so excited to move to stop 2 though because we were gonna have that cave to ourselves!
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| Our drive to Crystal Cave |
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| Entering the cave |
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| Beautiful |
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| Sherri and Siobhan in the cave |
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| Just hanging out |
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| All of us in the cave |
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| Windy but beautiful walk back to the car |
Stop 2 was actually a pit stop at a café for food since nothing was open when we left Hofn. The area had a great view of the glacier and a fun hill to view the surrounding. Holly and I ran up the hill, while Sherri and Siobhan saw a few seals in the water. The sandwich and hot chocolate here were just ok, but enough to get me through the day.
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| On top of the hill |
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| View from the top |
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| Just stunning |
Stop 3 was where we spent most of the day. We off roaded through some deep snow to get to our parking spot and then had about a kilometer walk to the cave. This cave was named the sapphire ceiling cave and it fit the description perfectly. You could see the entrance after coming around the corner and it was beautiful. This was more open and you didn't have to climb down into it. Incredible doesn't do this cave justice and neither do the pictures. The colors were such a vibrant blue. There were fallen pieces of ice in the back of the cave which set the stage even better. We spent a lot of time admiring the cave and taking many pictures. This cave made my entire trip in the winter worthwhile. So far, everything was beautiful but it would be beautiful on the summer too. This cave isn't available in the summer, so I do recommend going in the winter. You won't see this exact cave as the caves change from week to week but I am sure all of the ice caves have their own special atmosphere.
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| Walk to sapphire ceiling cave |
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| Incredible blues |
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| Our jump pic inside the cave |
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| Fallen ice at back of cave |
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| Just incredible |
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| My pic from Helen |
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| Group shot from Helen (yes, the colors are real) |
Holly and Snorri then went to set up ice climbing by setting the anchor. Holly used this tour to learn more from Snorri and I think she loved it. The wall we climbed was right next to the ice cave, so the rest of us stayed sheltered from the wind in the cave while they prepared. Snorri taught us how to put on the crampons and did a quick tutorial on how to ice climb. I think it was a positive that none of us were rock climbers since we had no "bad" habits yet. Ice climbing requires you to kick into the wall with your toe at an angle that the crampon grabs the ice. You have ice picks that you swing with your arms to get a grasp in the ice. It is definitely a different movement and one I never really mastered. My feet were really bad at grabbing the ice which drained my arms quickly since they mostly supported me. Also it is hard to hold onto the ice picks when your hands are frozen. It was a unique experience and I would try it again sometime. I understand the technique but need to build my strength a bit.
That was a little ahead of the story since Holly went first, followed by Euge, Sherri, then me and finally Siobhan. This was Holly's third time ice climbing and she did it well. We all tried to watch her technique and learn from her. Euge was next and he did a great job. He moved up the wall pretty quickly and seemed to like it. I was recording both climbs with my Go Pro and the wind was getting to me so I have to switch to a more sheltered spot to watch Sherri. Sherri and I struggled a little more than Euge and Holly did, but once Sherri got the hang of it, she made it to the top with a smile. I hate to admit it, but I did not make it to the top. I got about 3/4 of the way and my arms stopped working. My strength is in my legs and I couldn't get my feet positioned to hold my weight enough. My arms finally got mad and I wasn't making it further so I decided to cut my loss and come down a little early. Yes, I was mad and annoyed, but I gave it all I had. Siobhan was up next and did her best to give it a try, which was very impressive given she wasn't interested in ice climbing. Holly did one final run on the wall in a harder spot and we decided to move on.
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| Holly showing us how to ice climb |
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| Me climbing |
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| All of us taking our turn |
We walked over to fun ice forms near the cave and took more pictures. I was hoping to tip the ice over, but it was a little too secure to do this. Then we kept walking and Snorri found a smaller ice cave. This one we had to slide into again and it was much lower. I went one level lower and basically laid in this little section, but it was pretty cool being surrounded by ice. The main area was tall enough for us to sit up, but not by much. I am so proud of Siobhan for fighting her fear of small spaces and I think she enjoyed pushing herself to join us in the cave. We climbed out a different small spot providing some fun pictures.
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| The ice we didn't get to tip |
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| The wind was insane. |
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| The whole crew at the opening of the cave |
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| In the small cave |
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| Climbing out of the small cave |
Finally, Snorri suggested climbing an iceberg! This was a broken off piece of ice sitting on the glacier. It wasn't high but provided an excellent photo shot and a chance for us to try one more climb. I had one chance at redemption and I was thrilled. I did make it to the top of this one and was able to get the technique down a little better. It was a much better way for me to end my ice climbing career. We then had our 1 kilometer walk back to the car in the whipping winds as the sun as starting to go down.
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| Euge conquering the iceberg |
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| Me climbing with a view |
Snorri had one more fun stop for us to see the black sand beaches. He suggested exploring for 10-15 minutes, but it was miserable cold and windy. We walked along the beach, avoiding the ice that washed on to the beach and enjoyed the view for about 4 minutes. It was beautiful to be there at sunset with the waves crashing in, but wow...did I mention it was cold? This was the perfect end to the tour though and I can't say enough good things about Local Guides and Snorri. We all loved the day and the challenges he provided. His knowledge of the area, culture, and anything else we asked was wonderful. This was by far my favorite day of the trip. Helen, another guide in the sapphire cave for a photo tour, even took a few photos of us in the cave and emailed them first thing the next morning. They were wonderful! Helen also recommended a good place to stop for dinner since we were still 3 hours from our AirBNB.
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| Black sand beach at sunset |
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| Fun |
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| So cold and windy |
So we set off for an hour drive to dinner at a nearby hotel. We were all so excited about the day and couldn't stop enjoying ourselves. Even better was finding a 3 course meal option at dinner and we all thought that was a great idea. I gave my soup to Sherri and had lamb prepared in two different ways for my main course. It was a perfect meal after our tiring day. We finished with dessert before moving on to the final trip to the house. We were hoping to see the Northern Lights tonight and Snorri showed us a few websites that indicated we would see them between 9-12. Our drive to the house gave us plenty of time to look and Euge was the first to identify them. It started as just a haze and I didn't believe him that he saw them. Finally we pulled over and agreed that Euge had indeed found them but they were not strong enough yet. We kept an eye on them and as they grew in strength, we pulled over again and again. Finally, they really picked up strength and color and danced across the sky. We were not able to get pictures since it was still not bright enough for our phones, but we were still thrilled to see them. They really did dance across the sky and change brightness as they went. It was incredible. Our stops were on random side streets that were unmarked, but we didn't think stopping in the road seemed safe.
We determined that they were beautiful but we needed to keep driving to get to our AirBNB since the owner was waiting to ensure we made it safely. We had a slight detour though when we realized that Sherri had lost her phone. Just a reminder, we pulled onto random side streets so this was an adventure to see if we could find where she might have dropped it. Oh yeah, it was also super dark. We were able to find the last stop we made and searched for a bit with no luck. We were going to give it one more try at the next stop and we got lucky and found it! It added a little stress to the car ride but nothing took away from the positive vibes of the day. And we did eventually make it to the AirBNB even though it was after midnight. We even got to watch the Lights a little more from the driveway.
The farmhouse was so cute and I am still bummed we never saw it in daylight. It was near the volcano that erupted a few years ago causing the major air traffic problems in Europe. We drove through a dark field to get there and it was such a cute place. I will definitely try to find this one again if I return to Iceland. After more laughing and enjoying pictures, it was off to bed so we could be on the road again at 7:30am. Have I mentioned how incredible this day was!!!
Day 6: Blue Lagoon and home
Our last morning in Iceland came way too soon. After only a few hours in the cute farmhouse, we were on the road again. Luckily it was a mostly clear day and the roads were in better condition. Blue Lagoon was about 2 hours away and we needed to be there by 10 for our reservations. We had heard Blue Lagoon was a must even though it was touristy and I agree it is worth a visit. It is a huge lagoon (semi man made but using natural thermal waters). We tried the mud mask (Holly might have overdone this part) and got our included drink. The steam raises off the water so you don't see very far around you and the mountains get hidden. We were giddy while here and laughed at everything, probably making us the obnoxious Americans but we were just happy. There were couples making out and enjoying the romance and we were laughing and couldn't stop. My favorite part was the water got deep at some parts so my two Ironman friends (Holly and Sherri) used my shoulders for support instead of treading water. It definitely made us all laugh. We grabbed lunch at the café and were off to the airport. I do recommend a stop here despite the touristy angle. It was fun and now I can say I have been to Blue Lagoon.
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| Holly has penguins on her swimsuit which seemed appropriate |
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| Mud mask time! |
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| Deep water help |
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| Euge and Sherri |
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| And of course, I had to do a selfie |
This was by far one of my favorite vacations. I couldn't have asked for more. We laughed a lot, explored, had adventures, ate great food, and just simply enjoyed almost all of it. I can't wait to go back sometime in the summer/fall.
