Day 1, Friday September 1st: Shoulda brought gloves

We departed from Vancouver early Thursday afternoon August 31st with Air Canada to Montreal and then a short layover and onto Reykjavik arriving early Friday morning 08:15. Fairly uneventful flights with our carry-on luggage. We were on the red eye flight from Montreal to Reykjavik, but sleeping was not possible. Our plane was stopped on the Reykjavik tarmac near the gates and we deplaned onto buses to get to the terminal. Their airport seemed pretty busy and we had some good directions from Blue Car Rentals to find their office which was about a ten minute walk from the terminal. Light drizzle, windy and a little chilly. 

The lock box contained our keys which indicated our Jeep was in line 7, but no luck. Fortunately, an employee showed up and found our Jeep in line 6. Phew.... Lana uses her iPhone Google Maps iPhone app to navigate us towards our destination of the town of Vik (190 kms distance) where we will be staying at the Hotel Katla. Vik is situated on the south side of the island and popular with tourists. Believe it or not, I plan on driving at the speed limit which varies between 90 kms per hour and 70 kms per hour and I pretty much accomplish that feat. Lana says there were a few "sad" 😩 faces on the electronic traffic monitors by the side of the road (indicates above the speed limit).

In my research I find a number of tourist sites that we can stop at on our way and further emphasize we are on vacation and not in a rush. The capital of Reykjavik is a bit of a drive from the airport and the terrain is fairly flat in all directions, but lots of post-volcanic rock formations covered in a mossy type of grass. No way you could be ranching or farming in this terrain. Gradually turns into more rolling terrain, but still not much in the way of arable land. Maybe some hills off in the distance. An enjoyable drive as the surrounding countryside was unlike anything we have seen before. 

Our Suzuki Jimny JEEP from Blue Car Rentals

Example of some of the scenery during our drive today. Mostly flat land. Closer to Vik farmland and  some green pastures. 

We see a lot of horses during our ride. Many horse farms and some registered horse breeders. Not sure if there are more horses, sheep or cows?   

BTW, this is a professional picture.

Typical blue sign located on the major highway providing fantastic directions and routes to follow. Not sure how to pronounce any of these words! Lana says you have to slow down just to be able to read the long names!

As we are driving we discuss how unlikely it is we will come across waterfalls and glaciers as promised in the Tourist information. Voila, we now see the country with hills, mountains and the ocean in the distance. We see signs for Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, and turn off to the left on a gravel road. A gravel parking lot that is packed and an attendant providing directions for finding parking. Wow, a lot of people here like us. Parking costs the equivalent of $9CAD for 24 hrs. Welcome to the high prices of Iceland! The falls are spectacular and there are a couple of smaller falls very nearby. There is a building where you can find washrooms, food and tourist trinkets. A bit of a walk to the falls and you can walk around and under the falls if you are wearing a rain poncho or rain gear as there is a lot of mist and spray from the thundering falls. Lana is very generous and gave our parking pass to a young couple as there is no defined license plate with your purchase. How Canadian of Lana....   😏

Each of the Iceland tourist sites has this type of information board and they are in English and Icelandic which is Germanic. Very informative. English makes sense given the number of tourists and the fact pretty much any person we have met speaks English very well. We quickly realize that _____foss means waterfall and ______kull means glacier!

Our photo showing the walk to the falls and the long drop to the small pond below. 

Another angle showing the amount of grass around the site. 

Long drop from the river above. 

Back on the road and eventually we see the signs for Skógafoss Waterfalls and turn off to the left. More of a walk from the free parking lot to the actual falls. Pretty stunning scene. There is a very long set of steel stairs from the right of the falls that take you to the top of the falls and in behind. Lana's idea to scale the stairs for the view and pictures. I decided to go at my pace and let Lana take her time. I got a pretty excellent workout and it took me 6 1/2 minutes. Lana got some vertigo and it took her four minutes more. At the top there is a viewing deck. In the hills are sheep and some Fulmar gulls flying around. You can go even higher for a view and in fact continue walking much higher up above the viewing deck by following the river which flows from one of two glaciers that you can't see behind the hills. 

When you look out you can see the flat lands below and then the ocean in the farther distance. We decide to head back to the car as it is not warm at all. The wind today is unrelenting and the wind chill drops the temperature dramatically. At this point, we both wish we had remembered to bring our gloves! 

Skógafoss Waterfalls information board. 

Skógafoss Waterfalls.

Different angle. 

On the top right you can see other tourists on the viewing deck above the falls. The stairs take you to the viewing deck. I think a number of people underestimated the elevation gain of 110 metres according to my Garmin watch. 

View from the observation deck. 

We find our next tourist stop which will be the famous Sólheimajökull Glacier. Bit of a drive into the gravel parking spot and we can see a number of ice climbers with their gear inclusive of helmets, shoes and ice axe. Lana was still feeling somewhat off so she stayed in the Jeep while I walked into the glacier. When I return to the vehicle Lana is fast asleep which is good news although she missed a stunning view of this gigantic glacier. About a ten minute walk into the viewing deck although you can continue to the actual glacier if you are ice climbing. Plus, you can walk down to the lake and the glacier scrabble. 

Information board. 

Lake below the glacier. This is a massive receding glacier and incredible that you can walk in and see it. 

Another angle on the glacier with its lake below. 

Looks like icebergs floating in the shallow lake. 

Picture taken from more of a distance and not the viewing deck. 

I imagine this glacier was dramatically bigger and longer until about twenty years ago. 

We decide to just head to Vik and find something to eat before we check-in. Definitely more undulating terrain on the way to this town. Some steep hills and lots of mountains and unique landmarks. We arrive in the town around 14:30 so we have been on the drive for about seven hours. Lana checks some online reviews and we decide to have a late lunch at Strondin Pub in the heart of Vik. 

Town of Vik located on the southern coast of Iceland. 

Our lunch was pretty good although very expensive. Basically for us Canadians you take their prices and drop two zeroes. I believe we paid about $60CAD for our lunch. The food was tasty and the service was prompt. 

Stranding Pub Menu. 

Lana's lunch of traditional Icelandic Fish Stew comprised of poached cod mixed with mashed potatoes and onion, topped with bernaise sauce and cheese. Very thick and really like eating mashed potatoes she said. Very tasty though!

Randy's lunch of Lamb Chops comprised of lamb chops with mixed salad, fries and garlic butter. Delicious from the meat to the fries to the fresh salad. 

A bottle of Kopparberg Strawberry Lime Cider. Wow, this was one of the best ciders we have drank. We believe it is from Sweden. 

We decide we want to walk down to the famous black beach of Reynisfjara and the Iconic Basalt Sea Stacks. Walking in the sand can be tiring and of course the wind is howling even stronger at the beach. It was really worthwhile though with the walk and exertion. Black sandy beautiful beach and the sea stacks off-shore. We can see why these continue to draw crowds. 

OK, this is a professional picture of the black beach of Reynisfjara. 

Our pictures. These are the famous basalt stacks in Vik. 

OK, this is how the pros take pictures!

Hotel Katka located about 5 minutes east of Vik. We got room #20 with a king size bed. There are five buildings that house the rooms. Very basic rooms and not very large, but practical. On check-in they describe a place out back with a dry sauna, jacuzzi, small workout area, showers and changing room. 

View from our window towards the hills. We did grab our swimming trunks and headed to the 'spa' area. We both had a dry sauna and a cold outdoor shower. The great advantage of a sauna is the detoxification of the body and we are hoping it will help with our jet lag. 

We decide that rather than using the hotel's restaurant for dinner we will drive into Vik and get a pizza and hoping to get some cider. Lana checks on the 'nearest liquor store' and there is one in the village. We drive very quickly into town, but cannot find the liquor store which was closing in five minutes. Oh well, perhaps the grocery store may have some cider? Nope, but they have beer but we are not interested. We get some carbonated water and a couple of apples. Then, back in the car and drive to Black Crust Pizzeria which was highly recommended. Bit of a wait for our pizza pickup as this place is super busy! We brought our pizza to the hotel room and a can of Apple Cider (Randy) and a can of Gin and Grape (Lana). Yup, the pizza was excellent! 

Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza with pepper cheese on top. About $36CAD total cost for the pizza. 

Lana struggling to stay awake after eating, but eventually she nods off while I am updating our travel blog. 

One early observation is this part of Iceland is full of outdoor-oriented people. Casually dressed and mostly in hiking boots. This part of Iceland certainly lends itself to an outdoor lifestyle and there are plenty of opportunities. The hotel is full of people of all ages, but skewed more toward seniors. 

Watching highlights of Fawlty Towers episodes which were super funny of course. It has been a pretty awesome first day of our vacation in Iceland!

My Garmin statistics record around 14,400 steps for the day. Pretty good considering the first part of the day was in flight and then a long drive. Plus, we got some elevation gain with the second waterfall hike to the viewing deck. Lana asleep and at 20:00 I get to bed finally.