Vik, Iceland

We had a slow start to the day, still a bit jet lagged. Had a filling breakfast at the hotel, and then packed up. The 2nd day of a vacation always takes us the longest to pack up cause we’re switching from airplane mode to travel mode. Plus we were also switching from urban to hiking stuff.

We also had to sort out car stuff, and finally got on the road around 11am for the two hour drive along Hwy 1 to Seljalandsfoss. We had a pit stop in Hvolsvöllur, which looked to be a common thing based on all the tour buses. Sort of like the 1st gas station on the 401 heading out of Toronto.

Seljalandsfoss, and the nearby Gljúfrabúi, are visible from the road about 5-10 minutes before the cut-off. The parking lot was about 80% full, it would be a disaster in the busy summer season. Paid for parking at the machines (I had downloaded the Parka app but hadn’t set it up yet).

It was another beautiful day, about 6C. Seljalandsfoss is just off the parking lot. It’s possible to walk behind the falls, but we just stayed dry and took our pics from the front. From there it’s about 10 minutes along the trail to Gljúfrabúi. These falls are somewhat hidden from the path, and it’s possible to get very close and wet. We chose wisely and stayed dry.

I had planned for lunch at the famous Mia’s Country Van, a fish&chips food truck. It was another 30 minutes down Hwy 1. It was almost 2pm so instead we just had a sandwich and split a soup from the little takeaway booth at the entrance to Seljalandsfoss. It was quite tasty. Checked out the small but excellent gift shop, and got a couple more items for the souvenir shelf (a lava bracelet, and felted soap).

We got back on Hwy 1 and continued towards Skógafoss, one of the more famous waterfalls in Iceland. The road conditions were getting worse with the strong winds picking up. There was almost a 20C difference (!) between the actual temp (5C) and the feels-like (-13C).

Stopped for some pics of red barns against cliffs and smaller waterfalls, careful to make sure the wind didn’t catch the car door and damage it. There’s actually warnings on the car doors about the wind, which neither of us had seen before Iceland.

We got to Skógafoss around 3pm. There’s a staircase to the top of the 60m, we could see two bus groups making their way down, looking much like the pics of the queues at the top of Mt Everest.

First we took our pics from the bottom. In warmer weather folks will wade in for the classic Instagram pic; only one person braved the cold water today.

It was pretty cold in the wind as we started our climb up to the top. There’s a handle rail on one side most of the way up. Without the railing, we might have been blown off the stairs.

We made it to the top, took some quick pics before my hands completely froze, and then carried back down. It was worthwhile to climb up for the view, which apparently gets better and better if you continue inland at the top.

Got back to our Dacia Duster, warmed up, and decided to skip the last item on the agenda, the Solheimasandur plane wreck. It’s a 45 minute walk each way along a beach to get to the DC3 which crashed on the beach in 1973 and is now a cool photo op. From the road, we could see waves crashing on the beach and spitting mist, it did not look pleasant at all.

So we called it a day and headed for the hotel. The wind picked up and was pushing our car all over the road. Two-handed driving as Heather called it.

We had to walk at a 45° angle from the parking lot to the entrance of Hotel Kría, the wind was that strong. We almost took flight with the smaller suitcases like a Mary Poppins umbrella.

Checked in, relaxed, and had dinner later on. It’s a nice hotel to be storm-stayed if the weather gets worse. We’re here for three nights, with an excursion planned tomorrow to the Katla Ice Caves, and then a day trip to more waterfalls on Tuesday. We’ll see what the weather brings!