Searching for Inspiration in Iceland - The Conclusion

"Fire and Ice"

In this weeks blog I will be discussing the very definition as to why Iceland is named the Land of Fire and Ice. As this adventure comes to a close, we introspectively touch on the subjects of nature, perseverance and love. Let's get into this weeks finale of my Iceland adventure.

Before leaving Vik we saw in a sea of tourist shops, something that resembled a department store. Be warned, when you go to Iceland you will either find a sea of tourist shops & a couple scattered grocery stores. You will not however, find a Wal-mart or Target. We were in desperate search of a blanket that wasn't wool and $200 as our camper did not provide any accommodations besides pots and pans for the small burner to cook food. Once we entered the store, lo and behold - a blanket! A real comforter that would fit us both quite snugly. So elated, we grabbed the blanket and head off to find more sight seeing areas traveling Iceland's south-east.

On our travels we saw a small sign for a place called Dyrholey, Jeff wanted to stop by this small overlook. We parked in the quaint parking lot near a tiny building that had a couple wash closets, it was free to use that day. Note that many of Iceland's bathrooms (wash closets) you have to pay for. I'm guessing because of the surge of tourism and sewage that accompanies it can cost a hefty price, and as Iceland is very pollution free. Possibly it can cause havoc on their delicate ecosystem. Usually to use the wash closets it only costs about 1kr or 2kr = $1.00 or $2.00 USD.

On the overlook we could see in the far distance of the cold Atlantic seas, some lonely islands made of interesting shapes from drifted volcanic remnants left inhabitable. The waves crashed upon the cliff of Dyrholey, black and covered in neon green moss. Below the black sand beaches stretched far beyond the naked eye. Once we got our fill of the beautiful overlook, we head off to our next stop that we read about, excited and full of hope.

After a while of driving, the weather in our favor warmer and sunny we found our stop called Reynisfjara. This area is famous for its basalt sea stacks that looked something out of this world. The basalt sea stacks were the aftermath of a volcanic eruption that had hit the cold air, and through so much pressure, kept a hexagonal shape. The sea stacks were so large, some uniform and others protruded in all different directions. It was so warm on the beach we were able to remove our coats while we took pictures and touched the black sand that was course in texture, nothing like the sand in Cleveland. After that, we ate a quick bite and got into the camper truck to head further east to Jokulsaron.

It was a long drive to reach our next destination. We left the nearest city and it was the last time we saw any buildings for a long time. The south east is desolate, stretches of black sand and lava frozen in all sorts of interesting shapes and covered in moss was all that we saw for a few hours. After a while, we were able to spot some mountains, the drive grew quiet as the wind began to pick up and created a sand storm circling around us. We felt the truck tip side to side and picked up speed praying to make it through the desolate south east.

We took small breaks with nothing but land around us and felt the wind and a cold bite to our exposed skin. It was much colder than our last stop in the black sand beach and it got colder and colder as we drove on.

Our stop was called Jokulsaron, better known as the blue iceberg lagoon. We saw photos of the area in our book and it was one of the better peaked interests in Iceland. After some trial and error, ending up near the side of a howling mountain capped with white snow. The realization that we were in the wrong spot had us drive another 20 minutes before we reached the blue iceberg lagoon.

We exited the car it was quite cold but the wind settled down. We walked up the side of a cliff and below we saw the blue icebergs below. It was so beautiful. The icebergs were in fact blue, and sparkled on top of the icy lagoon, a section off of the main ocean surrounding it. We made our way down, closer to the icebergs but were not close enough to touch as they floated in the center of the lagoon. Some ice was broken in pieces cresting the shore we were able to pick up some of the ice ,it was crystal clear.

Before heading off to find our homestay for the night we couldn't believe our eyes, a pod of seals came swimming in! They were really like a pack of dogs, playing and swimming around the lagoon. We watched them play in wonderment because it was the first kind of native animal that we saw that was so much different than what we saw back at home. Finally, it was time to head back west and find a camping spot for the night.

We decided on a spot called Skaftafell Campground. When we arrived we happily saw a sign for unlimited free hot showers, you have no idea how happy that made me! It was so cold, for so long and I knew another cold night lay ahead for us even though we had a blanket this time.

Skaftafell Campground was probably the best campground we stayed in the entire trip. It was beautiful, well kept and the sights were gorgeous around us. In the distance the sun set a candy colored sky ahead on the white caps of the mountains. The sun faded fast and we were finally able to sleep a somewhat warm night.

When we woke up that morning, we noticed that the campground offered several hiking trails. Right by our campsite was a trail that lead us to some basalt sea stack waterfalls just up the mountain. The weather was nice and warm that morning and we were able to take off our coats as we traveled next to the beautiful babbling stream next to us, followed by the sound of the falls in the near distance.

We noticed that the flora and fauna of the mountains were bright and colorful, just fading into their winter season. Iceland only has two seasons - winter and summer. Their winter begins in October and Lasts until June. We were on the very tail end of their summer season.

After taking time to capture photos of the gorgeous scenery we made it to the waterfall. I thought that it would be a lot larger because of the rush of water falling down from the cliffside but it was much smaller than the falls that we saw, yet very beautiful because of the formations that encompassed the falls. With that, we made our way back down the mountain side and to our campsite.

For the next few days I had enough with the cold nights so we buckled and got a two night stay in different locations. One was at a beautiful working farm house that you could get so close to the animals. It was ran by the siblings of the farm and offered a delicious farmers breakfast in the morning and a nice warm bed to sleep in. That

was that night that we drove off to the "Secret Lagoon" and bathed under the night sky in the warm geothermal lagoon.

Our next stay was our last night in Iceland where we stayed in the capitol. We went whale watching and I got extremely sea sick from the rough seas that day. Determined to see a whale for myself, and to make Jeff happy I went and was just so ill the whole time I didn't enjoy it much.

Our night stay was in a tiny room but it was warm all the same.

The final morning before our flight we walked around Reykjavik we went to the worlds only penis museum! Every species imaginable in there, yes human too. We picked up a few gifts and head back to our truck to being the decent to the airport and then home.

What I learned from the trip is the beauty of nature, how to navigate a foreign country and how travel can bring you closer to the one you love. I recommend traveling to Iceland yourself so that you too can experience the majesty of it all. Thank you for reading about my adventure and I hope it gave you some insight on your future travels!