It was another cold and dark early morning when I found myself standing outside the pick-up hotel waiting for a tour bus. This time, a few little buses came into Reykjavik to pick us up and then dropped us all off at the big bus, waiting patiently on the road out of town. We jumped on the bus, picked up some other people along the way and then headed out on the N1. It was the beginning of another very long day but one that will stay with me for a long time.
Our first stop of the day was somewhere I'd already been - Seljalandsfoss, one of the waterfalls of two days ago. When I was booking tours, I couldn't find any tour to Jökulsárlón that didn't include this stop. It was interesting, however, to see the waterfall and surrounds in a different light. When I had gone there before, it was afternoon and the light was a beautiful pinky-orange with blue skies. This time, there was a thick cover of clouds.
After spending time at Seljalandsfoss, it was time to move on. We went back to the N1 ring road for the long drive down south. We were driving past where one of the arms of the Vatnajökull glacier came out from the mountains when some of the people on the tour asked the driver to stop. Everyone ran off the bus for a 5 minute impromptu photo stop. The blues of the glacier, there was a rainbow in the sky, it was just perfect. We all hurried back onto the bus to drive the short distance to our lunch stop. I had a very healthy plate of cheesy potato bake for lunch.
After lunch, it was time to head to the main destination for the day. I'd seen photos of Jökulsárlón on Instagram and wanted to go, but nothing prepared me for actually seeing it in real life (much like most of Iceland really....). It was absolutely breathtaking, like nothing I'd ever seen before and I doubt there are that many places on earth where you can see giant icebergs floating around in a lake, with the occasional seal popping his head up. I'll stop describing it to you in words and put up my many pictures instead.... brace yourself!
After spending some time at Jökulsárlón, it was a long walk to the other side to so-called Diamond Beach. We had about 30 minutes left at this stop, but I was damned if I was going to miss that. I'm glad I went though, even if I was a little late back to the bus. Diamond Beach was where the icebergs would settle onto the beach after the reached the ocean. By this time, they had broken up a little. Also, so had the pebbles - you'll noticed that at Jökulsárlón, the beach was formed of pebbles, while at Diamond Beach, it was true black sand. It was truly an amazing combination, and the icebergs had been polished so they really did look like diamonds. Now that's my kind of beach!
After running back to the bus, it was time for the long drive back to Reykjavik. While most people seemed to be sleeping, I couldn't - I was too wired about the beautiful things I had seen, and was just content gazing at the amazing Icelandic scenery out the window. We stopped at Vik for a dinner break, but I wasn't interested in dinner. Me and a new friend left the tour group and walked up to the church of Vik, situated on top of a huge hill. It was getting dark so we were in a race to take photos of the church before it actually got dark. However, the photos came out very blue, which was hard to colour correct, so please forgive me for that. I'll just have to go back and take new ones!
After rushing back from the church, we ducked into the little shop and I grabbed a sandwich for dinner. Then it was back in the bus and back to Reykjavik.
That was my last tour and last full day in Iceland. The next day, I packed my suitcase onto a bus and went to the Blue Lagoon. I had my doubts about this - floating around in a giant bath with hundreds of other people seemed a bit gross. However, it was possibly one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. I spent two hours just floating on my back in the warm water, only getting out when my hands resembled giant prunes. After a shower and clean up, I was on a bus back to the airport.
Iceland was definitely the highlight of all the places I have been to so far. I mean, obviously I love France and loved Italy too, but Iceland was just something else. It was so different to anything that I have ever seen before. I want to go back in summer next time, maybe to drive the ring road, as there's only so much you can see on a tour. But we'll see. I'll have to save up for a while, it's definitely not a cheap place to vacation!
I hope you've enjoyed my pics from this amazing country. I think they're the best I've ever taken! 🙂