Iceland 2015 Day 3 The Hangout with Gudmundur of the East

Today is an exciting day. Last week I won a trip to meet East Iceland with a promo give away from Inspired by Iceland. You could sign up for several 'hangouts' in 7 parts of Iceland. I just tried my luck and signed up, not knowing I was the only one who actualy won it. The other participants they just recruited from Háskol Íslands. So at 7 in the morning I met up with those students, our guide Maggi, a cameraman and a representative from Iceland promotions. I myself dont have a lot of photos relying on the guide and camera that captured it much better than I ever could. I will add them here once I have them.

We took a nice flight from Reykjavik to Egilstadir in the east, I had a windowseat and it was amazing to have a dream come true to once fly across Iceland, because my flight to Iceland usualy goes just along the south coast. Never so far experienced it to fly a bit more over Iceland itself, it rarely does. I was amazed by the size of Vatnajökull, its huge, and crossing over Bardarbunga and Holuhraun which was erupting last year amazed me. The country below looked so amazing, so rough, all those patterns in rocks and rivers, the colors totaly woow. I really want to go to the Highlands one time soon. But as a non-budget out of season solo traveler it is really something that stays a dream for a while. Probably....

Thats Bardarbunga

So many lakes here, unusual for me!

The flight took one hour before landing in sunny Egilstadir, while introducing ourselves properly our bus is arranged and we drive off to the first stop not much later. We instantly got fed with some breakfast sandwiches and drinks, but the ride only took five minutes or so :-) We visited the crafts and tourists information point and were welcomed by two ladies telling us all about East Iceland, offering us kleinur and milk and coffee during our quick visit. They had some nice arts on display that inspire a lot. Despite not buying anything or taking pictures, the information I got about this part of Iceland was very welcome. I somehow always felt an urge to go to Egilstadir, I still have no clue why, but now I have been here, my desire to return sure has been more ignited than ever. Seeing it is even so easy to get here by air, I am very tempted to include this part next year in my autumn trip to Iceland.

Then we continued to the biggest forest of Iceland, Hallormstadir. We went for a little walk to a beach where once were held festivals. It was a very small beach and still that would mean it was a big festival on Icelandic terms!

The for Icelandic terms  untypical views of the roads in Hallormstadir

Our next activity which we didnt know anything about, was to go 4x4 driving with quads/buggies. I dont know how they are often called in English! We had to share our vehicles, which made me a bit sad, because I was so tired I didnt want to risk anything to happen to the Chech guy with who I had to share my quad. So he drove both ways, but the way up hill was terrible to be passenger. Having no back to lean to, it was asking a lot of strength and balance to hold on to the grips right behind you. Only with crossing the rivers and steep hills I just 'hugged' my driver because that wasnt any comfort either but you would definitely fall off if you didnt. Going downhill was a lot more easier though.
I had respect for the cameraguy who filmed close to everything. But then again he had a more luxuary quad and had some back security.

After our one hour 4x4 adventure, we headed deeper into the canyon of Lagarfljót where the famous lake monster lives, the Icelandic Log Ness.

Lagarfljót

We didnt see the monster or traces of it, but it appears that everybody in this area knows a person who has seen it or thought has seen it. We on the other hand, went to the organic farm Modir Jörd, Mother Earth. One of Icelands largest organic vegetable farms. And it was a wonderfull place to hang out, such a good vibe there! We had a vegan lunch there with only vegetables from this place. But first we needed to do some tasks. Like I had to pick curly kale which we would use for lunch. A huge basket full, and it was also recorded on film, so I will see myself back in promo's of Icelandic organic farming I guess :-)

Then we had our lunch after others had to help preparing it. It was delicious, flavored cooked broccoli, a 5 leaf salad with edible flowers, Icelandic red potatoes, potato salad, fried turnips and home made delicous barley burgers. All the others were surprised that 'grazing' could be so delicious. In Iceland they say you are grazing if you eat vegetarian, because not long ago all veggies could get was some lettuce topped with tomatos and a bit of cucumber. But since Iceland is able to produce much more vegetables itself, so came the wave of vegetarian and vegan food, and trust me in Reykjavik you can eat very good quality vegetarian/vegan. Outside Reykjavik it gets more difficult but I notice more and more hotels & restaurants serve good quality meat free dishes.

Part of our vegan lunch

They sell their products here too!

A green house to be jealous of!

This could be anywhere but it remains a feel good surrounding

After our lunch it was moving on to our next stop. But first we would walk a bit of the monstertrail that the owner of the organic farm had created. Its more made for kids but we enjoyed this walk anyway because the weather was still so amazing and great to be outdoors.
Then Maggi surprised me slightly with the question who wants to go riding horses. I already had that idea because I looked up the place we would stay and they were passionate horse lovers. So I already had that wish for a chance to ride horses. And so we did. But only me and Gudmundur of the East could ride horses, all others never had been on a horse at all. Though all brave enough to do it!

So we drove on for a longer ride to the Wilderness Center deep into the valley. For what I read it must be a wonderfull place. Very authentic, getting you back to the Icelandic life from long ago.
On our way we caught up with 2 reindeer which made our day of course, because chances were not very big we would see them. They are coming down now from the mountains because of wintertime, but it would be a bit too early to see lots of them. But we were happy to find two on the side of the road even!

A few minutes later we came across a herd of horses and for some reason we stopped there. I had the idea this were 'our' horses, but nowhere close was a farm really. We took photo's of them, petted some and drove on for another few minutes before arriving at the Wilderness Center. We were quickly put at work, because our horses needed to be herded from their meadow. And it was the herd we just stopped by. I was the only one brave enough to get the herd on the move while following the owner on her horse bareback. They all followed and within a few minutes the herd was inside the enclosure which had a curious building in it. A turfhouse.

We gathered there too, and this turfhouse was a smoke house. The people here smoke their own lambmeat and trout here. And we got to taste some of it. Along with some homemade rhubarb wine. After this short snack break we got our horses, I got a chestnut one named Hnekkur I think. I really am not master into writing down spoken Icelandic! Sorry if I insult the horse calling him asshole in Icelandic or something.

We saddled our horses and once everybody was ready we rode off, leaving all the beginners behind rather quickly. Some had troubles keeping up, the usual thing, but I rode off with Gudmundur and 2 who were not afraid to ride, while our guide the owner took care of the beginners. It is amazing how he apparently trusted us to go on alone. My horse was wonderfull, it could not compare to yesterdays Roskur but I enjoyed it every second.
When we reached the box crossing we had a break and got a beer. So Icelandic :-) I didnt really feel ok to cross the river in this box, I had no idea either how to get in or out anyway, so I stayed on this side. And checked out the ruin of an abandoned house. From the front it looked all nice and ok, thought I could move in instantly but inside and in de back I realised it would probably be very cold in wintertime, as mother Earth did a good job getting access to the house. But in general I liked its lay out, with a sort of stable in the house too. And a waterfall in the backyard. Not at all unimportantish you know :-)

Getting our beer hauled in!

My horse Hnekkur

Leader of the pack!

On the way back two girls decided to not ride their horses back but go by car. The owner took the 2 horses on lead, which caused him troubles a bit. I offered to take one with me, I am not unexperienced with having a hand horse with me. But didnt need to. In Iceland it is common to ride that way, they even have special equipment for it to 'tie' the horse or horses to your horse or saddle so you have your hands free. Because of the herd instinct horses wont be like 'I stop and wont go', like is so common if you try to lead another horsebreed this way. Most of the time you can even have an Icelandic Horse loose running along with you. But the guide struggled along with his two hand horses and another ridden horse that became a bit stubborn. And we 4 just rode on in a nice speed back home. We tried to turn around or wait for the others but it made no sense. The others were so 'slow' we just rode on back home.

Back at the stable we got our predinner after we took care of the horses and took our places in the attic where we would sleep on a dormitory room. I am no fan of that, but at this place its kind of awesome. It is made in traditional turfhouse way, with sleeping'boxes' and 2 closetbeds. The beds were very comfy and big, I really ran away with the idea to ever made such bed for myself once I have a new house. It gives a very secure and comfy feeling to sleep in such enclosed space. Our beds here had bedwarmers too, since they didnt want to have heating visible. And at first I thought we had no electricity too, but the sockets were made invisible behind a wooden pane. Even the lights were choosen to look like flames including the flickering. Amazing...

The attic we slept at

The predinner was traditional Icelandic, with smoked salmon, pancakes, Icelandic pies, coffee, tea, hotchocolate and lots of other goodies. Since we thought dinner would follow, none of us ate a lot to save space in our stomachs. But then they told us we had a surprise in store. We had to go to the attic and put all our stuff out of sight because at 20.00 some people would come over to the attic. We had no idea why people would come to the attic anyway, but we put our stuff away. And then at 19.30 some age old people came upstairs started to play the piano and we were like, what is this???

Then at 20.00 a lot, I mean really a lot of people came to the attic and came sit on our beds. Like everybody from the valley came here together, young and old. And so we were witnessing real Icelandic culture first hand. This was one of the often spontanious sing along nights which almost everybody around would attent. Singing old and new Icelandic songs, from sagas, from artists from folklore... I even saw Ásgeirs music in the lyric book. But we had great fun to learn A Sprengisadur. Which I already knew, but with round up version lyrics. Especially for us they also added some English music. A lot of beer was passed too, many people were slightly drunk. At 22.00 we finally went downstairs to get our dinner, which was delicious, couldnt say anything less. So much salmon we couldnt even eat it all. And after our dinner we had our preparty until deep in the night with beer games and we had so unbelievable lots of fun with the '15' game! Even if I was so tired after so much lack of sleep previous days... I guess we continued until deep in the night. And yet I didnt sleep very well because of the noises from other people. I would probably crash tomorrow, hoping to arrive early in Snæfellsnes and snooze the day off!

 

Iceland 2015 Day 2 Kerid, riding horses and northern lights

I woke up after some short but good rest to head to Kerid. Thats the remains of an explosion crater with a lake in it, not far from here. I had an appointment at a horsefarm at 11.00 so I had some time left to explore this area. I was planning to do that tomorrow, but I won a trip to east Iceland so my wish to finaly get up close to Hekla vanished another time. I have been trying for some years now to get to Hekla but it just doesnt want to happen, either she is in state of lockdown due to increased volcanic activity or weather doesnt permit me to see her. I just hope this morning I will catch a glimpse of this volcano that has a special meaning to me.

Kerid is not far away, a 30 minute drive. And has fallen victim to the pay or no visit fever that is slowely flushing Iceland. While most places only charge in summer, here the man collecting money was up and running, and I threw him one of my coin bags which exactly holds 350 kronur. I made them for busrides. So I am glad I got rid of some more coins here, after all 350 kronar is like 2 euros. If it helps conserving nature I gladly pay.

It is a beautifull clear day, the rims touched by the morning sun start to damp after a cold night with frost. Here and there nature was still covered in white frost. The colors around here are amazing, red black brown sand mingle with the green of the moss and gold of the dieing bushes. The sky is clear and in the distance I see Hekla and Eyjafjallajokull on the horizon. Katla is there too, but less visible than those two. Its probably also possible to see Skjaldbreidur but without snow I didnt recognise it.

Eyjafjallajökull in the morning sun (Golden hour)

Hekla

The sun is warm and nice, but as I slowely descent into the crater to see the emerald lake, you fall bak into reality it is still Iceland. Its quite cold and chilly the deeper you go into the crater. I didnt go all the way to the lake, thinking I didnt have too much time left. But at 10.10 I was reaching Hveragerdi, and I decided to kill my time driving up to Reykjadalur the geothermal area. Once there I got welcomed by a whole bunch of nasty mini mosquitos like you would find at Myvatn in summer. The annoying pests kept following me, and I didnt feel like continuing this way. Took some pics and decided to go to the horse farm I should visit.

Great to be among horses again :-) I was warmly welcomed and I really enjoyed staying at this place, hoping this will be the start to a connection for the future plans I have. I talked about it with someone recently and I sparkle with excitement about it all. For once things look bright and clear and so many things fall together in place now. I must be approaching my destiny shortly!

I did ride 2 horses today, my first one, a black ex stallion was simply amazing, among one of the best horses I ever rode. One that stays in tolt and gives a 'I dont really have to think too much now' ride. Easy relaxing, and if this was a matter of a match to buy horse, I probably could start negociate about it. I never really thought about it, but I usually have the best matches with solid black horses. I am a sucker for colors, thats very true, but I know I should never ignore a black horse crossing my path.

In the afternoon I rode another horse one with an amazing beautifull color, Im not sure if it was a blue dun paint or a grey paint but it was eyecandy in color. A nice horse to ride too, but one you or me in this case, needs to work on. Totaly not a relaxing uncomplicated lets go out for a ride horse. But sure for me felt like a horse to educate eachother. You would always want to have such a horse to feel and see progress in your riding, this for me could be such a horse. And I loved it, but was completely broken afterwards. In a nice way :-)

It was a day with totaly awesome weather, almost like summer, I could easily ride in tshirt. A sheer blessing for all of us, as I was told it has been raining a lot for days before I came.
At the end of the afternoon, I left this place with the invitation to come by whenever I could. Sadly not during this holiday, but I never know when I am in Iceland again. It could be next month, it could be October it could be later. Simply never know.

I drive off to my stay for this night. Should stay 2 nights at the farm Lambastadir, but my trip to Egilstadir came in this week. It would be a short night, I have to be at the airport in Reykjavik at 7.00 next morning. I wanted to go sleep, packed the things I would take with me to the east and leave the rest in my car. But then the sky turned green again. My luck! Auroras all over the place, not as intense as last night, but still worth it. And this time, I managed to get some decent pics of it! So happy!

Iceland 2015 Day 1 to Selfoss

Finally the day has come to return to Iceland. This year it was more of a challenge to get that far than ever, and at that day of departure still the idea haunted me, is this a good idea? Can I actually afford it? But everyone who knows me, will understand that this one trip to Iceland once a year is merely all I have all year to take pleasure from. The rest of the year I just live to work to pay bills and keep other pockets filled. I save money the best I can by not eating, not granting me a lot of other pleasures. I spend only a few bucks a year on clothes, not a lot more on food, maybe 100 euros for having time spend doing nice things. And thats all I can afford in my life besides the regular costs. So excuse me, is it stupid to go to Iceland? Maybe it is, but it keeps me alive. I have nothing else to live for, and my second job at the airport I earned the money with to do this. So there I am, ready to go back to my one and only home is where the heart is.

It already started nicely at the airport when I watched the 2 planes coming in from Iceland. When the second plane (Krafla) I should be on came in, it vanished behind the terminal building, but just before it did, I noticed the landing was not going the way it should, the nose lifted up and I thought oh no he is going up again! And yes I was right, few seconds later it surfaced again from the buildings, taking sky again. Well this kind of things could easily freak me out, as I am already suffering thinking too much in possible scenarios, especially the worst. I kept my mind sane by thinking that rarely ever its caused by mechanical defects. It nearly always has to do with winds, fog, too short runway, obstacles, birds etc. Just a safety precaution, it would never go up if broken. And its wheels clearly came out.

So after 15 minutes it tried again, and landed. And our boarding process was quickly, no signs of mechanic problems. We took off and after some mild turbulence on the North Sea we reached my home. First time ever the whole flight was over sea.

Keflavik airport has grown in size and travelers, it took a bit longer for retrieving luggage and walking out this time. Still in 15 minutes though! I picked up my car and drove on to Selfoss, my first destination. Im so happy to drive in the beautifull landscapes of Iceland! The weather looks rather good. On the way to Selfoss I already look out for the place I would visit the next day. Having navigation is quite handy but the names of farms are rarely ever in the system, and thats how adressing in rural Iceland works. No streetnames, just ringroad, name of house and the town its part of. I think a special Icelandic navigation system would be quite handy but probably never be beneficial to develop. Every house/farm has a signpost on the road. You really dont need a navigation in rural Iceland, but it is quite handy to know about distances and expected traveltime.

In Selfoss I first do some shopping, buying food for upcoming days. I stay at a very cheap B&B, and despite it is all clean and tidy, beds are good, it doesnt feel right there. Typical a place to stay for one night. They guy who runs it lives in it too, or should I say the guests stay in his living space, using the same facilities etc. Kinda weird for me... to see the owner cooking diner, going for a shower or peek in his livingroom. It just lacks certain privacy. Shared facilities is for me no problem, but this is crossing limits. But its only for one night. Good enough!

On this first night I drove out with the idea to go to Seljallandsfoss to watch northern lights there. This waterfall is also illuminated at night which must be beautifull. But my navigation is really weird about distances. It said it was 42km away, reasonable. But after an hour driving I still was not even close, suddenly it was still 65km. Too much as I was afraid the guy at the BB would lock the door at night, so I returned. There was no northern light activity either at this moment, so returning was not that much a problem.
I woke up just after 2 and looked outside, the sky was all green with auroras, they were amazing, dancing all over. The kind I died for to see. As quiet as I could I tried to sneak out of this noisy house, just at the frontdoor, but forgot my tripod. My luck... so I tried some short exposure handfree shots. It was amazing! I saw a corona dazzling right above me, but so was the streetlight. I decided to just enjoy this show by just watching as taking pictures was getting me nowhere. In full happiness I watched it. My first night was a good welcome. I wish I stayed at another place though to fully capture this luck. But auroras were in the pocket!

I went to sleep after an hour. What a night!

Iceland 2014 Day 9 ~~ Exploring Reykjanes Peninsula Part 2~~

Today is my last day in Iceland. And I decided to make the best of it. Beautifull weather today for exploring Reykjanes peninsula. I left quite early after I had my breakfast, to drive towards the northwestern point of Reykjanes, a small town named Gardur. It was beautifull calm at the ocean, and I could see Snæfellsnes volcano looming in the distance, capped in white snow. There was no wind and it was low tide, so I took a little walk towards the light house and on the tiny beach which was filled with seaweed and birds finding food. Here I planned my further route to drive, I have no navigation so I need to rely a bit on the maps I have for as far as they are of any use.

Passing by some smaller fisherman towns, the road turned into a gravel road, but of good quality. It lead me through the outskirts, where horses and sheep graze. No lava to be seen, except for some rocks here and there. Its beautifull scenic and I pass by Icelands settlement history with stone walls, ruins and points of interest. Though most are on the south side of the peninsula.

I first planned to see galgar, two cliffs that in Viking time was used to hang people (not very nice thing, it is the second point of excecutions I visit here this time). But it was said to be an impressive place to see. But I could not really find it it seems, or I was confused saying it was on the left (inland) side of the road while I didnt cross water. I took some pictures of old ruins/buildings because I wanted to know what these were (I search them with google maps and find photos which usually give enough clues to find out). Weeks later I discovered this was Galgar... so I did visit it).

Next up it was plan to visit the continental rift where you can stand in nomans land between America and Europe. Also a wonderfull area with trolls and amazing rock formations, hiking trails and some people where flying a drone there to take pictures. I decided to have a selfy session there. In a self declared resting break enjoying this last moments in Iceland. My very own sort of farwell and thank you ritual to Iceland.

At the most southwestern point of Iceland we have the town of Reykjanes. And here the continental rift comes spectacular ashore. It is one of the rare places in the world were the gap between the rifts are visible (the other is Thingvellir). A roadsign to Gunnuhver lead me passed by a geothermal plant, but the road to Reykjanes was a real gravel road with ditches and partly under water. I didnt want to go with my car here, and it was too far to walk. I felt I would not see Gunnuhver too, the sign lead me to this gravel road OR a forbidden road to the geothermal plant. If Gunnuhver was there, it still must be closed for visits after a viewing platform collapsed when a new mud geysir was born 3 weeks ago, causing the area to be closed for time being.

I drove back to continue my way towards Grindavik. I entered the more volcanic area again, steam rose up from the earth, and I saw another sign to Gunnuhver, also a gravel road but better than the other, so in slow speed I decided to just go. It was 1 km they said, it seemed like forever.... I drove slow and carefully feeling some kind of stupid. But if I wanted to see something sometimes you need to take challenges. I arrived and marveled on this wonderfull field of volcanic activity. The new mudgeysir calmed down, but breathed huge plumes of 'sulfur smoke'. I am still not sure if this is the actual Gunnuhver, because I think that one is more in the distance in some sort of crater. In this huge plume of fog, the remains of the collapsed viewing platform remains. It is not possible to get them away as the steam is way too hot to do so. It would be suicide to do.

The earth was wonderfull colored and the earth was damping sulfur wherever you look. The ground is hot at most places, you really shouldnt walk barefoot here, like some stupid people at times try to do. You will loose all the skin you have if you take one step wrong.

After hitting the road again, it is all lava lava and more lava I see. Beautifull formations with ever changing surroundings. In this lava are lots of things to see but I missed some. Its mainly craters from long gone very very very heavy eruptions. The Reykjanes volcano system (as it is not just a volcano, but a rift volcano system) is one of the most powerfull and most feared volcanos of Iceland, yet it is dormant and posses no threat, if it awakes it would cause serious problems for 80% of the Icelandic inhabitants. Lets hope it stays calm for many many many eons. It probably will, its pressure is released more inlands and north, with the shield and strato volcanos, and by the continious release of hot steam in this area.

In Grindavik I buy my lunch and some food for tonight. And I drove on, decided to go back the way I drove yesterday. Then I found another road towards Reykjavik and took that one, and it lead my to Krysuvik. Ahhhh I was so happy I did seem to be able to visit Krysuvik after all!
First up we had Grænavatn, the green lake. Beautifill emerald green, several hiking trails lead into the country side there. I really should keep it in mind for another visit, it is completely lingered with hiking trails here probably worth the effort.

Next to Grænavatn is Séltun, the hotspring area of Krysuvik. And a so needed toilet. In the middle of nowhere, thats how amazing Iceland is.
I was alone aside from one single Chinese person who came here by taxi. If you have a dream you can do this to reach it. He must be rich.... or bored by the regular Chinese tourists who sleep most of the time, only to wake up when something spectacular comes up.
This area was also wonderfull, because it is afoot of 2 mountains meeting, and the hotsprings are therefore with difference in level. Mudpots, waterfalls (tiny), hotsprings. And the noise it made you felt like you were in a bathroom after your bustour got hit with a bowel infection. The sounds and the smells are obvious, the earth endless farting away. The colors were even more outspoken than at Gunnuhver. A wonderfull area this :-)

When I took the road further towards Reykjavik, I drove up next to Kleifervatn, the deepest lake of Iceland. On top of a hill you had to pass between two rock formations, and the road changed to gravel, and instantly dived deep down back to water level. My neckhair rised when I tried to pass, and two ravens came screaming and blocking my way. I parked my car, and the two ravens kept playing around my car, looking to me. Likely they get feed by tourists or people, but I am quite sure they convinced me to turn around. That border from road to gravel is magical... I can feel it. It has to be, the world after those rocks look so different, more dark, more rough then where I came from. That probably caused my hair to rise, not even the fact that it went down very steep into the deep. It didnt feel like a good idea.... so I turned around and drove the same way back that I came from.

It was good to check up on places and sights I missed on the way to here. I ended up at Brimmkettil, which was quite a walk away. I could have drove up by car a bit more, seeing I could not imagine with anything in the world the weather to change from very good to very bad. But I left my car on the roadside, not in the least place for safety concerns. So I walked up, and the lava changed to dunes and the dunes changed to a solid wall of lava bricks, probably basalt boulders, to climb towards the cliffs. Unexpectedly (sort of) a mist of seawater flushed in my face when big waves started to crash on the shore. Maybe it was getting high tide, because I didnt notice them on my walk towards the cliff. But I can tell you, it is a magnificent sight, and even when there is barely any wind and the sea looks calm, still the waves crash with huge force and sprays water high up in the sky.

With my mobility issues I didnt wander off too close to the edge, but reached furthest I could to glimps Brimmkettil. I was quite a walk away from there, but had a good view on this bright blue perfect round nature created lagune. Also known as the trollspool. It is possible to get closer, but like I said, I have not the best mobility in the world, so I played it safe and watched it from here. Endlessly filled up with fresh ocean water. I feel blessed I have this amazing weather here, but sadness also fills my heart. 24 hours and I will be ripped out of the place where I thrive. Back to the insecurity of life in a place I struggle to stay alive. And the sad knowledge that it might be longer than a year away before I am back here.

I walked back to my car, continuing my ride and decided to go for one last sight to see, Hafnarberg. No idea what it is exactly but here you can see a lot of birds and occasionally seals and whales. It is even further walking than Brimmkettil. The path is guided by a lot of stone men, many of which give shelter to tiny birds who flew off in fear when I passed by. Affraid I would destroy their shelter. It was such a long walk that the big stone men in the end didnt seem to come closer at all. And dawn already set in. I was not prepared for this and decided with pain in my heart to go back to my car. So I still have no idea what Hafnarberg is. Of course I could have stayed for an amazing sunset, but you can imagine in places like this there is barely any light, especially not with new Moon, but luckily today would be Full Moon. It would be very tricky to find my way back in complete darkness, and the turn to darkness can go quite quickly here. The Moon is really your guide in the darkness.

On my way back I met some wonderfull horses posing in the sundawn. Unfortunately their patience didnt last long, as their owner came by to check on them, and the turned around and walked away the other direction. I went to Gardur again to finally see the sun dipping the ocean, but a big cloud prevented what I wanted to see. I hoped to see the still visible Snæfellsness being topped in pinkish orange sunlight, but it didnt happen. I waved the sun goodbye, and knew I wouldnt see Iceland by daylight for much too long. I so hate the days I have to leave.


Spending my time, I drove back via the inland road to Keflavik. An amazing gift presented itself in the clear sky. A HUGE full Moon rose over the Blue Mountains. One tiny cloud made it look like a pacman, but I have rarely seen a Full Moon this magnificent, this big. I just had to stop. But of course just now, in the middle of nowhere someone was behind me. I let him pass and stopped in the middle of the road to take a quick photo. The Moon was golden in a pale blue sky and the mountains made it look amazing. This has been a precious gift. I would be so happy if Northern Lights would also make an appearance. But no luck, there was no activity detected. 

And not much later, after I returned to my guesthouse, clouds have taken over the sky. My very last very final attempt was to go drive at 3 in the night, because I had to empty my fuel tank. But no matter what I tried, it didnt want to empty. I wish it was like that one week ago in Myvatn... So I returned my car with half of the fuel still remaining. I never ever will rent this stupid car again. :-( The renting company took me to the airport and then my time had come at last... I again failed to miss the plane. What a shame....