SEPT 19 Arctic – Part 5 – The End – Reykjavik,Gullfoss,Geyser,Keflavik

PART 5 – Final – The end of the trip, back to Reykjavik Town, tour down to Gullfoss, The spurting Geyser, ending at Keflavik –

Arriving back in Reykjavik the weather was again a bit iffy and not great. We went back to “The Grand” Hotel – ex Holiday Inn, enough said. This is further out of town than “The Storm” where we stayed on arrival and would have preferred to go back to, but we were booked here, so be it. It was a walkable distance from the main part of town. In Reykjavik, changing money at the bank ( a frequent occurrence LOL ) there is no security – you are face to face across a normal desk – quite a strange long-lost feeling. The town is extremely walkable and safe at all hours it seems.

The town is a mix of metal houses and in the more affluent areas – like the Embassy area down by the lake – natch – some very beautiful & substantial houses – not much in the way of cultivated gardens through.

The focal point, to be seen from far away is the most striking and unusual Cathedral, dramatic beyond a statement but Calvinistically austere inside with the exception of the organ.

A better perspective

Colourful & interesting streets

Street Statement Art ?

The Opposition – Catholic Cathedral –

Night street scene

Down at the water

Landmark Building – where Gorby met Ronnie Reagan

We were due to do a half day city tour but decided that actually we could do that on our own, so we changed to a coach tour (not my favourite but we had no rental car now) and go to the majestic Gullfoss Falls & The spurting Geyser which we had not been able to fit in on our self-drive tour of South East Iceland before going off to Greenland.

Where the mid Atlantic tectonic plates of N America & Eurasia meet in the National Park

And on to Gullfoss

Serious off-road vehicles – lots of well equipped Landcruisers too, wide fat takkies

And just along the road – The Geyser – there are a few that smoke but at the moment only this one spouts – it happens around once every seven minutes – you see a blue “balloon” rise up, it stretches up – busts and whoosh – A German woman standing next to me was overheard to say to her husband “Ja, Das ist ein guttes orgasm” – quite so…:-) and who said A German Joke is no laughing matter LOL – you can never time this, sometimes you get a small burst immediately after a big one and other times you just have to wait, camera at the ready – One thing you do not want is to be downwind – hot sulphurous smelly water…

Smoking Pots

Standing around at The Geyser

You can never tell when the “balloon” will come up and when it does everything happens really fast so you have to pay attention and be quick – My wonderful Lumix G9 with 6K goes a long way in helping catch action scenes like this.

Well that was fun…Back to Reykjavik and next day rain again all day long so trek around town, camera in plastic bag 🙁 Lin needed new shoes so we found the edge of town shopping centre – yep like all shopping malls all over the world 🙁 huge excitement – not -LOL

The mad? concert hall not a real straight line in sight – but quite effective

Unusual window handle in a Restaurant – lunch: soup & bread ! and then wander around town some more – last day here

Next Day the Fly-bus came for us at the hotel and took us the 50km drive down to the International airport at Keflavik – the weather was bad – There was really bad weather on the way and the high winds at Keflavik made our Cape of Storms, Cape Town, “South-Easter”; seem like a breeze. We took the opportunity of printing out our boarding cards for the next day whilst there and then took a taxi into the village to the hotel. Lin stayed in the hotel whilst I braved town for photo opportunities – it was a battle to stay upright.

Keflavik

The hotel provided a free shuttle to the airport and I was a bit surprised that they wanted to take us so early in the morning – just after 6 – but arriving at that madhouse I could see why – all the outward flights go in the morning and the incoming ones arrive in the afternoon. Arriving was one thing but leaving was a total bloody nightmare – they simply cannot cope – and then we still had Paris to contend with which was yet another nightmare – Oh the “romance” of air travel (not) give me my landcruiser any day !

An abiding memory of Iceland – not strictly fair but hells bells…………

Well that was an experience – something I never thought we’d do – not cheap, but quality throughout. The weather you cannot control – cherry on the top: 6 Polar Bears and 4 nights of Northern Lights – which is why we came – so mission accomplished. 🙂

Trip Reports in 5 parts:

Part 1 Paris: Paris Trip Report

Part 2 Iceland S E Region: Trip Report: Iceland S E Region

Part 3 Iceland N W Region: Trip Report: Iceland N W Region

Part 4 The Arctic Quark Boat off Greenland: Trip Report: The Arctic – Quark Boat off Greenland

GOOGLE PHOTO ALBUMS:

6 Albums Total

Album #1 Paris: PHOTO ALBUM – PARIS

Album #2 Iceland S E Region: PHOTO ALBUM Iceland S E Region

Album #3 Iceland N W Region: PHOTO ALBUM – N W Iceland Region

Album #4 The Arctic – Quark Boat off Greenland – PHOTO ALBUM – The Arctic

Album #5 The Northern Lights – PHOTO ALBUM – The Northern Lights