Day 3 began with a quick breakfast included in our stay of waffles with Nutella for the girls and meat, cheese and toast plate for me. We headed to Jokulsarlon Glacier for the ice cave tour. We got to see the beautiful waterfall lit up and it was breathtaking. I can’t imagine having that as the backdrop to your farm. It was a long dark drive to our meetup point. Our tour guide, I’ll call him Mick cause I couldn’t even say the abbreviated name he told us from his full name, was fantastic! He helped this old lady put her ice cleats on cause between the clothes and lack of mobility in my hip, there wasn’t a chance I was getting them on alone! He was 1 of 5 boys raised on a sheep farm. He was fantastic explaining everything through the entire tour and then on the way back I asked to sit in the front in the fold down seat by the door, because I was too tall to see out the windows in the back of the bus/van. Not only did I get a great view, but a full understanding of Icelandic life and of their farming practices. Just wow at the way they have adjusted to make farming possible here. They still take the sheep up to the mountain and drop them off every summer and then all the farmers go back and get them in crappy conditions on foot before winter. There is a pagan holiday they celebrate at the start of winter that’s a several day party where they eat the less desirable parts of the sheep from through the year, but they waste nothing. Kuddos to them, but I’m glad we have pigs to do that part for us. We discussed family farming and its challenges. So not only was he just an interesting guy, he gave us the experience of a lifetime on the glacier and in the cave! The pictures will speak for themselves.
Try to look for the seams in the ice that were all naturally made. The black is volcanic ash. This cave was made in just a years time. Every season in around August they start searching for the next cave to use for tours. Mind blowing! And of course it was freaking cold walking on the glacier and the wind was piercing, but it was tolerable out of the wind in the cave. My ice cleat came untied and I tripped, but thankfully I had several pairs of gloves on to brace my fall. Callie was nothing short of an ice cube 🧊 by the end, but Carrie had at least 6 layers on and all that hair so she faired well except for red cheeks.
After the ride back, we went to the lagoon but didn’t see the seals. We didn’t wait around or try very hard cause we were quite cold. We headed across the street and saw Diamond Beach which is a black sand beach with pieces of clear ice that shine like diamonds with the glacier chunks of ice streaming out to sea. Really a stunning site.
The drive back to Vik was breathtaking. The drives aren’t waste of times if done in daylight. We were going back the way we came from the morning, because the northern roads aren’t passable in the winter so you can’t go completely around the ring road which encircles the island. We got to see the remaining glaciers, gorges and black sand we missed in the dark. The boys FaceTimed as we drove and watched the sites. Thomas and Jimmie would love it here.
We finally got back to Vik, checked into Puffin Hostel. This is our only stop with a shared bathroom, but we figured we could manage for one night. We have a great little room with a full wall of windows and 3 twin beds bunk bed style. Not looking good for the lights tonight either because of the snow and windy weather, but we are watching. We made broccoli, potatoes, used up the leftover chicken for dinner and the girls ate Icelandic Hotdogs with theirs. They are supposedly great, but the girls said they taste like the hotdogs we eat. We opted for a quick road trip about 20 minutes up the road that we missed the day before. Dyrholaey Promontory is a unique rock formation formed millions of years ago by the waves. We viewed it from the lighthouse above right as the sun went down in the crazy wind and snow. It was still worth it, but we got back to the car quickly! Everyone is all snug in bed and hopefully we will get to see the lights!
Bình luận