Iceland Day 4

Sunday, 4 August 2024

Today was always going to be big - we had 5 hours of driving interspersed with numerous stops and hikes.  Luckily we are match fit after almost 4 weeks of touring so we were well prepared.  

Leaving Vik in the pouring rain and gale force winds, our first stop was in clearing weather 50 minutes down the road at the Lava Fields - actually there are lava fields absolutely everywhere but these just happened to have a convenient viewing spot - the moss grows in layers on the older lava fields like thick snow:

Then it was onto a deep canyon called Fjaðrárgljúfur where we could walk along the top for a few kilometres:

Then we made it to the glacial highlight Jökulsárlón, which is a lake at the bottom of one of the glacier tongues, so ice chunks break off and float around the lake:

The more exciting part of this was the next stage, where the icebergs float out to sea, then get smashed up in the waves (which were wild today), and land back on the beach in pieces, looking like diamonds in some cases - hence the name.. Diamond Beach.

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The best fun part was sitting in the car in the carpark having lunch, watching people get unexpectedly swamped by the waves as they took selfies or stood on the larger icebergs.  The rate at which the ice melted in the sea was astounding - a car sized chunk was swiss ball sized by the time we drove away.  The beach also had cool rocks which contrasted with the black sand.

Then we turned around and headed back towards Vik as we had 2 nights booked.  We stopped at a national park to walk to Svartifoss - a waterfall with the basalt hexagonal shapes we've been noticing since the Giants Staircase in Ireland.

Then it was back in the car for the final leg home past mountain and glacier views, multiple waterfalls that had water falling up into the sky from the strong winds, and cliffs with cute houses and horses below.  These photos were taken out of the car window. 

We left home at 9ish and arrived back at 7.30, in time to have dinner, watch some Olympic highlights and reorganise ourselves for the trip to Reykavik and our final night in Iceland tomorrow - the highlight of which might be having access to a washing machine and dryer, as we haven't had one since Copenhagen.