I will have to let the pictures do the talking here. Iceland was beautiful but unseasonably cold and wet, as usual the weather was following us. Locals told us that last year was the best and warmest in history...just our luck. But...we can never do anything about the weather. This is a part of what we saw.
On the way through Denmark to we couldn't help but notice the fields upon fields of rap ready to harvest.
On the northern tip of Denmark is Hirtshals where we caught the ferry to Iceland. Of course if you have a tip of land complete with a port you must have a lighthouse and this one was very old and housed a museum.
Smyril Line whisked us away. We had booked a small inside cabin that turned out to be the worst on the ship I'm sure...very noisy and being at the very front corner of the ship it was rocking and rolling all night long (even when the seas were relatively calm. On the way back we got a much better cabin, thank God because the seas where more than a little choppy.
The small town of Torshaven, Faroe Islands. We stopped for around 8 hours on the way up and for about 6 hours on the way down, we picked up and let people off the ship. The Smyril Line is based out of the Faroe Islands.
The shoreline along the Faroe Islands is roughed, with lots of waterfalls and dotted with small rock outcroppings.
and villages make the shore their home.
At the top of the pass leaving Seydisfjordur we took a moment to look back. In the background you can see the ship still in the fiord at the base of the snow capped mountains.
With an hour of being on the road in Iceland we were wondering what the heck we had got ourselves into, there was way too much snow. As it turned out most of the roads through the center of the country were still closed, and impassable by bike for sure. We ended up riding the ring road (highway1) around Iceland and taking just several small tours of about 200 km total of off-road gravel.
The landscape was a mixture of lava fields, craters, and snow covered mountains that were actually volcanos.
Iceland has an unbelievable amount of hot springs, thermal pools. In fact, 99 percent of the homes in Iceland are heated with thermal energy, hot water radiant floors that feel oh so good on the tootsies. Hot water is pumped from wells that produce water up to 180 degrees in temperature then on into cities, villages and homes in a large pipeline.
They didn't have to tell me twice, no mater how tempting the water looked!
The weather was very, very windy which I guess is kind of normal (almost). We tried to go for a hike around the top of the Hverfjall crater one afternoon, the wind just about blew us off the top...we really were being pushed off the top so we turned around and went home.
Water, water and more water. There are lots of lakes with small islands. Lake Myvatn in the background is only several meters deep in most places.
We were told that we were very lucky because the mosquitos don't come out at this campsite until June 17th and we we were there June 6th but there just happened to be a hatch of some other fly that night. By the way this picture was taken around midnight and as you can see the sun is still shining bright.
There are more kinds of birds in Iceland than you could believe. Many of them come to Iceland only to nest then leave.
At Olatsfjordur we stopped for lunch and met a class of grade 6 students and their teacher, out celebrating the end of the school year by buying popsicles. They stopped to check out our bike and talk with us, they were very happy to practice their very good english and in the end shared their treats with us. These students started learning English in the first grade, we are so lucky that English is our first language!
The Icelanders love to paint their homes and other buildings bright colours (maybe it perks up the days on long darker winter days?). This was a bright orange lighthouse, not the only one on the Island that we saw.
Icelandic ponies have a distinct look about them. They were imported from Norway over 1000 years ago and today they no longer allow other varieties to be imported. They are beautiful.
On the top of Borgarvirki, a volcanic mountain that has a man made wall built around the top. The dirt road in the background went around Lake Vesturhopsvatn with great views of farms, birds nesting grounds...
Svalbard, where seals relax on rocky outcroppings...
Hamarsrett, old corrals for livestock.
I don't know, this motorhome is parked directly under/beside a volcano (even if it is no longer active, you just never know), would you get a good nights sleep? We walked up the trail to the rim where we had a great view inside the crater and the area around.
We also had a nice view of Sniefellsjorull glacier on the western tip of the island from this area. We stopped for a picnic lunch, in one of the protected rest areas out of the wind, and enjoyed some time watching the summit of the mountain before the clouds moved in.
Some of the shoreline can be very rugged with many turns and gulls nesting on the cliffs overlooking the sea. We looked and looked for puffins but unfortunately we never did see any.
Very rugged rocks make for interesting walking trails.
We were just a little early for the roads stretching across the interior of the island, but a little late for the snow mobiles. Ken wanted to try the Africa Twin out in the snow anyway!
This crevice in the rock made for a great walk,a tight fit inside...
but we walked in a bit. Along a small creek and with birds diving overhead.
What an experience! We couchsurfed in Reykjavik with Kaya and Unnar, they were the ultimate hosts. Kaya cooked us up icelandic pancakes on our arrival and they made a traditional dinner of reindeer steaks (which were prepared and served very rare, and undeniably the best steaks we have ever tasted), smoked salmon, smoked trout and minky whale meat, all smoked over...horse shit. Is that really true Unnar? Being fellow bikers they organized a motorbike ride on the day we were in town but unfortunately the weather was not with us and most everyone went home and we got move than a little wet on our short ride. We have met the most amazing people couchsurfing, it really is great. We feel we made some really good friends.
But before we could leave we had to try one of Iceland's famous hotdogs at Boejarins Beztu Pylsur, I guess even Bill Clinton ate a hotdog here. The dogs were pretty good! (thanks for the photo Kaya)
On a tour of Reykjavik we pulled up in front of a church and a statue dedicated by the USA to Liefr Eiricsson the son of discoverer of Iceland.
The Blue Lagoon...every tourist has to visit the spa...the fountain of youth. (We didn't even get to keep our robes for the $45 euro/pp entrance fee.
But we felt (and looked) years younger by the time we left. Didn't we Unnar? There is nothing like a silica mud mask for the skin. These waters are actually the byproduct of a thermo plant but are said to help people with eczema.
Even though the ground is hot and you can't walk on it in some places the air temperature is a little cool.
Lava beer, the name says it all. It is only suiting, a dark malt beer.
Evidence of the earths movements over the past 1000s of years, large cracks and heaves on the earths surface.
Icelanders love their cross country, offroad vehicles, complete with big offroad tires.
Strokker spits and heaves out boiling water every 6 minutes or so, relieving the pressure built up below. Geysir, the original, now lays dormant after a shift in the earths surface a few years ago.
It is said that Gullfoss waterfall, or golden falls is named for the golden colour of the glacial water that is seen when the sun shines through the mist...not that we would really know, as it was again cloudy and cool during our visit. But beautiful nun the less.
Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall that you can walk up to and behind, looking through the falls you can see all kinds of rainbows.
Iceland has some of the world biggest lava flows and the road seems to go on and on through it.
Sometimes it's a long long road with never a winding curve... and on this occasion the winds were gusting up to 24 m/sec or around 90 km/hr. Not to much fun for Ken, riding his Africa Twin.
One of the many fingers of Vatnajokull, Icelands largest glacier.
At times the the ice can be seen floating in large lakes as the water melts off the glaciers and pools before making its way to the sea.
Yes, we did see a little wildlife. This reindeer took a moment to stand and pose for us. For you hunters out there we can't tell you where this picture was taken!
At times lupines stretch as far as the eye can see. In the north the flowers where not nearly ready to bloom, but in the south they were beautiful and went on for kilometers at a time.
I just had to get a bike picture in here somewhere!
Black sand beaches line the southern coast. Actually, it is not really sand but a coarse lava stone.
A little short cut took us up and over a beautiful pass, on some gravel road to join the #1 highway just before Egilisstadir.
It just wouldn't be complete with a few more wild flower pictures!
Back over the pass from Egilisstadir to Seydisfjordur to catch our ferry returning to Denmark, what a way to end our trip in Iceland!
Other bikes wait to board the ferry, many have stories the same as ours, but everyone is smiling!
So that ends our year trip away from Canada. Where to next?
I'ld like to return to Iceland one day. I feel we didn't get to see everything, there really is a lot to see in this relatively small country that is so different than our own but in a way a little the same. They are trying to keep their own traditions and culture alive. It is like the Wild West of Europe, the people are great, friendly generous and maybe just a little crazy (in a good way).
