We decided to capitalise on a stopover that we had in Reykjavík, Iceland and stay the allowed 7 days and 9 hours (I know, very specific). In fact, we only stayed 7 days, 1 hour, and 20 minutes in total.
Given that this country is known to be particularly expensive (and we are getting to the end of our travels before having to take on jobs again), we decided that it would be more cost effective if we would book a car and slept in it. That way we could explore the country and sleep in it – it also meant that there was more flexibility as to where we went and less planning on my part as we were heading into high season. This, in theory, was a very good idea – but that is as far as it went. We soon realised that yes in summer it is warmer and easier to sleep in a car, but it is still quite cold at night (getting down below 6 degrees at times). We woke up one morning with ice forming on the windscreen!!
We also realised that we were dangerously close to midnight sun (21 June) – so the sun ‘set’ at 12:00 am and ‘rose’ again at 3:00 am. The problem for Laurence was that between those hours it didn’t actually get dark – just a very deep blue. I can’t say that it had much effect on me – my eye patch served me well and I slept for 7, 8, or 9 hours per night.
Lastly, it is not actually that comfortable to sleep in a car. We tried sleeping in the boot (the reason why we picked a station waggon, but there “was a metal bar or something” underneath Laurence and he couldn’t sleep. He claims that “it was pretty bad” and henceforth I was forced to squish onto the backseat whilst he slept reclining in the passenger seat. The whole boot space went to waste! I can’t say that Laurence got any more sleep than the first night, but he did stop complaining about the pain.
In Iceland we explored the countryside, roaming where we pleased (but always in the same direction as there is a loop road to get around). We spent time in the golden circle snorkelling in the Silfra Fissure (where the European and American Continental Plates had separated – moving 2-3 cm apart each year). The temperature of the water was 2 degrees, the water was clear (and tasted very fresh), visibility was vast (they say up to 10 metres). I think that we only managed staying in the water for about 30 to 45 minutes. My face was numb, my lips were tingling, and my hands (which I had tried to keep out of the water due to the air temperature being warmer) were almost completely numb.
The rest of our trip consisted of us exploring waterfalls, looking at canyons, looking at troll heads, and glaciers. It was a very picturesque driving tour of Iceland. WE would have liked to do some other things, but we were strictly forbidden from going on gravel roads and a 4×4 would have been required for some of the roads.
Our last stop was the Blue Lagoon, a hot water lagoon with a spa facility around some of it. We got up early and spent the morning swimming around, going in the sauna, and sleeping in deck chairs. A great end to a slightly uncomfortable, but worthwhile, trip.
P.S. this was also a booze free trip due to the outrageous prices of alcohol on the island – about USD$12 for a glass of wine or beer. Looks like we are doing a “dry June”!
