twangster

We drive through town and past some apartments on the edge of town. In Iceland, our driver tater tells us, this is considered a forest (they have very few trees here). This is Tater, our driver. This is what a mountain looks like in Iceland. I see a ship. Amazing view. It was windy, very windy! Great views but that wind! Time to seek shelter.

After arriving back to the ship near 11pm I was seriously doubting my choices. The view from deck 12 with a pretty high wind at 5:45am: What was I thinking? Is it too late to cancel? I'm up so I might as well do this. The 4x4 were parked close to the ship. These are not stock Ford trucks. The front is an F350 and the rear is an Excursion. They are welded together then lifted with 46" tires.

Day Ten - Reykjavik Day Two The forecast looked pretty terrible and the radar didn't seem to argue for me to go on this excursion, but I did anyways. So glad i did.

I have a video of the private tour but YT is taking a long time processing it so I'm moving on. I'll post the link when it's done.

I normally try to take pics without people but in this case it's adds to the effect.

Tour summary: Twelve hours covering 487 miles. Our driver was very efficient in keeping us on task while moving us along safely leveraging his skills at passing slower traffic where ever he could. It was a whirlwind tour but with long Icelandic daylight hours it worked out quite well and the things we saw were unbelievable. The truth is these photos are crap compared to what we saw with our eyes. Just wow.

Hours later we arrived back in Reykjavik. The other members of the group wanted to see a church in Reykjavik but with rain in the forecast and our short day the next day they weren't sure how they would make it work. Our guide and driver solved the problem by taking us there before returning us to the ship. It was nice being able to see around downtown a bit as well. This is a side benefit of a private tour with a good, flexible guide. Pictures taken at 10:23 pm.

We made it back to Vik. Here we would grab dinner (not included) with an unpublished stop at a church for views of the area.

It took us a while to make it out this far from Reykjavik and too soon it was time to start making our way back returning on the same road we used to get here. This provided an opportunity to see things from a new perspective in different lighting later in the day.

Zooming in I could see the icebergs melting before our eyes. A group of five or six seals were playing in the water. Ducks also appeared to make the spot a social gathering point. Each of these bergs were moving in the currents and winds of the lagoon. It was all very magical.

We had great weather for our visit. The blue skies reflected in the icebergs creating magical colors.

The destination or extent of our outbound travel today is the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lake or Iceberg lagoon.

We are on a mission so time to pile back in the car. These views just never get old. Another glacier in the distance.

Crossing a vast plain that just went on and on, I fell asleep. Oops. Eventually we came to a series of glaciers. There were three in close proximity of each other. This one of the left had a very wide face and was likely involved with that drive across a vast plain of black sand like earth that defined this part of the drive. Where we stop for a better look the glacier in the middle had the best views. Looking now at a map I believe these are all part of the Vatnajökull ice cap.

After a stop in Vyk for a lunch break (lunch at our own expense) we continued on. We enter an area called a Lava Lake. At some point thousands or millions of years ago there was a lava flow here. Over time moss has grown all over the lava giving it a smooth ripple look. The moss is a mere 8mm thick. It's illegal to walk or drive on the moss. It's taken hundreds of years to mature to this point so it wouldn't take much to destroy it requiring hundreds of years more to grow back. Oh look, another waterfall.

Our next stop was in search of Puffins at Dyrhólaey. Unfortunately no Puffins today but it's still a breathtaking stop. We are up a high cliff overlooking down at this black sand beach. It's an amazing view that just goes on and on. Perfect spot for a lighthouse. Coming down from the heights of Dyrhólaey there are fantastics views of the mountains with hints of the glaciers behind them.

Carrying on the next stop was at Skógafoss, one of the larger waterfalls relatively speaking. A farm across the river. Throughout the day we'll encounter a large variety of scenery. It's so beautiful here.

As we continue our drive there are more waterfalls, some smaller, some larger. The views along the coast are breathtaking. Pictures don't capture it. Our guide points out a rock slide that is less than 12 months old. The boulders are massive, some the size of a house. A brief stop for some photos near this farm. This slide is less than a month old.

That depends which beverage package you have.

Plans for day 9 include a private tour along with some new friends I met through the Cruise Critic role call a couple of months ago. https://iceparadisetours.is/ Since it was a private tour we could modify the tour to suit conditions of the day and based on local experiences at various locations in the area over the days leading up to today. What pictures don't capture is the commentary and explanations of the towns and villages we will pass throughout the day. We stopped about 45 minutes in Hveragerði at a bakery for a bathroom break. Continuing on through Selfoss towards Seljalandsfoss. Our guide first noted this waterfall in the distance as we drove. We pulled off the highway into the parking area for the waterfall. While the main attraction was the falls we could see for some time as we drove closer there are actually a number of waterfalls coming over the edge of the mountain. We didn't stay long as we had a lot to see and do today in a short amount of time. Having seen a number of waterfalls already on this trip we had all agreed to this quick stop here.

Our arrival into Reykjavik was beautiful.

Day 10 cruise compass has been published. JW May 15 day 10 cruisecompass.pdf

Nearly 11pm back to the ship after a 12 hour tour covering 487 miles / 783 km. Wow. My next excursion is at 6:45am so it's going to be a day or two before I can go through all the pictures I took today. Sounds like a good sea day kind of thing to do. Stay tuned.