Here you will find the story of our journey
through
The preparation:
We started our preparations
rather early by booking the ferry to
As a result of earlier
experiences in
The journey:
We made the journey to
We drove to Hanstholm, 1040 km from The Hague in Holland)
where we sailed by Fjord-line to Bergen in
Norway, a nice town to stay for a day(or longer),strolling alongside the
harbour and fishmarket.Despite Bergen's rainy reputation we had warm and sunny
weather.(just like two years ago).We spent the night in an apartment at the
Bergen Inn in Laksevag,a 15 min drive by car from the towncentre.
Tuesdayafternoon we left for Iceland on the ferry "Norrona "(operated
by Smyril-line )
After a very calm journey
we arrived at wednesday around noon in a cold and foggy Thorshavn on the
Faeroer isles.The ferry remains for a few hours in the harbour and leaves again
at 18.00 hr. The "Norrona" continues its journey sailing between the
islands, offering a spectacular view on these rough islands.One thing you
should not miss and that is the "Scandinavian buffet" ,dining with a
view on the Atlantic Ocean for a reasonable price!
Thursdaymorning 9.00 hrs
,after a very calm oceancrossing, we arrived in Seydisfjordur on the eastcoast
of Iceland.The customsofficers are very busy only once a week so they take
their time checking all cars thoroughly,with dogs but without any system.After
one hour (leaving a lot of cars still waiting on the quay and even on the boat)
we could begin our journey through Iceland.
The wheather was foggy and
12ºC.On the mountainpass it became a dense fog that cleared on the way down,
offering a wonderfull view on Egilsstadir and the valley from Icelands bussiest
parkingplace(the first one with a view and can be seen on everybody's
photoalbum).Some 10 minutes later we arrived in Egilsstadir to fill-up money- and
foodsupplies ( the next supermarket is
Over ringroad 1 we headed
north and arrived at Myvatn at 17.00 on camping Vogar,a nice campingplace
surrounded by lava.Unfortunately milions of little flies also liked the place
so eating outside was a very risky enterprise.In the evening we visited
Namaskard,a place with boiling mud and steam with the smell of "rotten
eggs".On the way back we passed Grjotagja,a fissure with underground
bathing rooms (now too hot for bathing).
The next morning we drove
through a moonlike landscape to Husavik After some searching we found the
museumfarm Grenjadarstadur where we were the only visitors.In Husavik we boarded the
"Moby Dick" to do some whalewatching. Because there were a lot of
waves it was difficult finding the whales but one "Minke whale" saved
the show by jumping some 25 times in the air.This was the only whale we have
seen but nevertheless a beautifull trip.Warm clothes are highly recommended
because after 3 hours on deck it gets very cold.The boat moves a lot but nobody
on board got seasick|
Our
journey went on and passed the Godafoss that we saw from 2 sides.The rest of
the day we drove a lot and ended in Varmahlid and stayed there for 2 days on a
camping near the farm at the entrance of the village On sunday we have around
and visited the museum "Glaumbaer" together with a lot off
Icelanders on a sundaytrip museumboerderij.The wheater is still sunny and
temperature is 15° C. |
After shopping and refueling(the
next gasstation is
|
Through
some rivers we drove to Kerlingarfjoll, very nice mountains and splendid
views but 4wd needed! The next day we visited
the Gullfoss,in our opinion the most beautifull waterfall in Iceland After
that we saw Strokkur burst into the air lots of times and also the (extinct)
Geysir. |
|
Our next stop were the
remains of the old farm Stong that was dug up from meters of lava ,some
real 4wd roads to the Gjainfoss and we spent the night on camping Sandertunga,
no showers,no hot water ,but nice places between the bushes and that's
almost unique in Iceland.
The rebuilt Stong farm
which is a museum was our first stop the next day and over a impressive
building site for a dam we headed for Landmannalaugar.At first over lonely but
very good roads and then they became real Icelandic roads,a very nice journey
that ended just before the campingplace where the rivercrossing was too deep
for our Daihatsu Terios.When you have little luggage it's possible to reach the
camping over a small bridge but we returned the same day and ended as only
guests at camping Leirubaki with a view on the Hekla.
Now the roads are getting
less interesting (farms and grasland) but once back on the ringroad
surroundings are getting better.
|
Thee
Seljalandfoss and the Skogafoss are 2 impressive waterfalls.Visiting the
Seljalandfoss take waterproof clothing to walk around the waterfall.In Skogar
it's worth to pay a visit to the folkmuseum which has a very friendly
curator, he also plays the organ well.Just a few kilometers away there is a
nice road to the Solheimajokull ,a glacier in a recently active vulcanic area judging by the
warningsigns along the road.Meanwhile it's raining at |
|
Over de Skeidararsandur,where
in
|
The next
place we visited was JØkullsarlon, a beautifull lake filled with icebergs that broke off the
glacier and are waiting to melt here.With a floating bus (or a riding
boat?)you can make a trip over the lake.If you walk on the shores of the lake
take care when you enter the territory of young birds as their parents defend
their youngs with their long and pointed beaks,an effective way of letting
you walk a little further away. After having spent the night in Hofn we drove
on a wet and windy day to Egilsstadir and had a sunny last day in Iceland
here.At night we even had a bit of frost! |
|
On thursdaymorning it was time
to drive back to the ferry and wait in the once-a-week queue in Seydisfjordur
After some steering excercises on the ferry finally parked at 2 centmeters
distance from the side of the boat. The ferry left on time at 12.00 and Iceland
said goodbye with a lot of sun.The weather was good so we could eat at the
"Scandinavian buffet" again and arrived in Hanstholm on time on
saturday 16.00.On the German autobahn some rain and sundaymorning at 5.15 back
in the Hague.
For (Icelandic) links please visit the linkspage
Last update: 04-03-2005