Day 7: Kirkjubæjarklaustur to Hofn
Todays trip along the south side of the island, through Vatnajökull National park was glacier day.
We woke up to a crisp, sunny day, the first time we have seen sun since arriving in Iceland.
We drove along the coastal road between the sea and huge snow capped mountains. The farmlands gave way to areas of black desert, remnants of the devastation of past volcanic activity.
The Vatnajökull Park boats 15 massive glaciers. We visited 3 of them. The first stop was Skaftell Nature Reserve, we hiked for around 1/2 hour to reach the glacial area. It was incredible to witness this vast slab of ice. The area is an oasis of diverse landscapes.
The next two glaciers we visited were even more vast than the first. They were fronted by lagoons with mini icebergs. We were able to see all the massive glaciers from the road, they were however not accessible by car due to the massive amounts of ground water.
We spent the night in Höfn, a cute fishing town. We have awesome views of the mountains and glaciers from our guesthouse.
We had dinner at the Pakkhus,a great restaurant in the harbour area. When in a fishing village…Gray had tuna and I had delicious cod, not Robs … she opted for vegan spring rolls – really??
Tonight was the first time conditions are optimal to make it possible to see the northern lights. I kept popping my head outside to see if we would get lucky but unfortunately not. Maybe tomorrow night.
Pandas in Africa 