The majority of our group of 20 met at Dorval airport, and boarded our flight to Halifax at 6:15 pm. The plane was about 3/4 full, and there was just a "snack" on this brief, 90-minute flight.
Confusion arose in Halifax when no one knew where to go. We had our seats assigned to Reykjavik, but no one told us we had to check in again to get our boarding passes, which took another half hour. We left reasonably on time at 11 pm for our 4 hour flight.
Arrived at Keflavik Airport just before sunrise at 6 am, after a non- eventful flight. Got a bit of sleep - as did most of us. Passport control, etc. went quickly, and we were soon outside meeting our driver (Gunnar) and guide (Jona). We still had to wait another half hour for two others (from Chicago) who were on an Icelandair flight from Minneapolis.
Icelandair seems to have a monopoly at the airport - no other airlines could be seen. Many people use Reykjavik as a stepping-stone to/from Europe to/from North America.
At 7 am, the 20 of us (plus driver and guide) piled into the 26-passenger bus, and began the 45 km. drive into Reykjavik. A nice sunrise, but it was soon wiped out by the clouds.
We passed the US military base (there since 1944), and crossed miles and miles of hardened lava - making the landscape look like the moon.
By 7:45 we were at our hotel in Reykjavik - conveniently overlooking the domestic airport - actually, not too noisy. After a light breakfast, we were free until 1 pm. I got a couple of hours' sleep, and decided to walk into town - even with the threat of rain - leaving my father to get more sleep. (I would be sharing a room with him the whole trip - his snoring didn't bother me at all!)
I had been instructed on the shortest route to downtown - via a now- closed road, turned into a bike and walking path. Unfortunately, there was a huge pool of water in the middle, and I was forced to plod through the mud to get around it. Eventually, by taking a few random streets (all of which have clearly marked signs), I saw the US embassy. Another buliding I saw was the National Theatre, where Fischer and Spassky played their famous chess match in 1972.
Reykjavik has a population of 175,000, but is very spread out, and has one of the highest car-per-capita ratios in the world. The language has not changed for a thousand years, and is hard for outsiders to understand. The only Icelandic words that I could find that are used in English are "eider" and "geyser".
Only about one out of 100 Icelanders do not have blond hair, so that tourists tend to stand out. Quite a few Americans roaming the streets, but they might have been from the military base. No signs of poverty - no panhandlers or graffiti.
I found an interesting map store, and bought a (1:500,000) map of Iceland. I would have loved to have bought a packet of 1:100,000 maps, but at $20 each, I declined. A nearby Mcdonald's advertised a Big Mac, fries, and drink for ISK 6500 - roughly $13. That was the only McD. I saw in Iceland - the only other bastions of American culture were a Hard Rock cafe and a Subway in Reykjavik.
I passed a large lake with many ducks and swans which looked well fed. A few drops of rain began to fall, so I headed back to the hotel via the shortest route - past the intercity bus terminal, and my waterlogged trail. I decided to detour around the pool of water, and got back to the hotel by 12:30, just as the rain started harder.
The bus picked us up in front of the hotel, and we headed off for lunch at a restaurant which happened to be next to the map store I was in earlier! Excellent meal, after which we had a good city tour - stopping at the Catherdral (built in the 1920's) with reversible pews (!) - then to the "Pearl", which consists of several large tanks (to hold the hot water from underground which is responsible for heating all buildings in Reykjavik) and an observation gallery and restaurant (it is on the highest point of land in Reykjavik). Unfortunately, the heavy rain didn't do much for the view.
Back to the hotel by 5:30 pm, and another excellent dinner. The rest of the evening was mostly spent watching the 24-hour Olympic channel, and another channel with interviews with all the Icelandic participants. An introduction to the hot-water system - you set the temperature on the hot-water tap you want, and get hot water with a light smell of sulpher.
After a buffet breakfast at the hotel, we headed off to Lake Thingvalla. This is where the North American geologocal plate meets the Eurasian plate. They are separating about an inch a year. Lots of laval fields - another moonscape.
We walked from one "plate" to the other, and experienced lots of steam vents from underground - again with a strong sulpher smell.
We paralleled the Hvita River for some time - stopping for waterfalls and lunch.
A long afternoon driving - several fjords such as Hruta, Mith, and Huna. We passed close to the hometown of our driver - Hvammstang - barely visible across the fjord.
We had been scheduled to spend the night at Varmalid, near the Skaga fjord, but the hotels were so small that our group would have had to have been split into two. Thus, we continued for another couple of hours to Akureyri - Iceland's second largest city - with a population of 15,000, on the Eyja fjord.
Our hotel was located on a hillside in the centre of town, so we had some time to roam the streets after our arrival. A church was located farther up the hill - next to our hotel, which had an emergency exit leading right out to it. Otherwise, we had to climb the hill to see the church. Dinner started close to 9 pm - another good meal.
Another buffet breakfast at the hotel, and a late departure at 11 am - giving us time to walk around, while the stores were open.
A whale-watching cruise was scheduled in Husavik after lunch. After a 90 minute drive, we arrived at our resturant in Husavik - overlooking the harbour. Of course - fish for lunch. Unfortunately, due to high winds and waves, our cruise was cancelled. This was replaced by a drive north-east of Husavik, along the coast, where we encountered lots of livestock (sheep, horses, and cattle). It was sheep round-up season, in which farmers round up all the sheep on their properties, and separate them by tattoo, and put them in pens for their owners to pick up.
We gave a lift to a farm family who lived about 10 minutes' drive down the road - they would have had no problem walking the distance.
We then walked inside a "horseshoe canyon", which had been created by massive water flows. Almost vertical cliffs.
Back to Husavik, and another good fish dinner. More Olympics on TV, and bed.
The usual breakfast - never any hot meat, such as bacon or sausage, but always some cold meat (salami, etc.), cheese, and herring. There had been some snow overnight, leaving a noticeable amount on the mountaintops.
Today's drive was mostly inland, but lots of bodies of water were encountered. Our first stop was at Lake Myvatri, and then a smaller lake in a snow-covered volcanic crater. We were able to stand on the edge and look into the crater, as well as see the thermal power station on the other side (there were many steam vents around the crater).
Lunch in Reykjahlid. As we headed eastward, the snow gradually disappeared, but not the wind. We would have strong winds the rest of the trip (40-50 mph; 65-80 kph). This was prime sheep country, and the fields were full of them, although not as densely as New Zealand. Much road (re)construction, and we were lucky not to get too far behind schedule.
We arrived in Eglisstadir in a light rain. Small town of about 2000 people. Dinner, Olympics, and bed.
From the dining room at breakfast, we could see that some snow had fallen, but it wasn't cold enough to cause any problems on the roads.
We travelled around several fjords - high cliffs above and below the road level. Parts of the road were not paved, since it was easier to repair gravel roads hit by frequent landslides than to re-pave them. We had to come very close to the edge to avoid stray rocks on the road.
No more snow, and lots more sheep, cattle, and horses. A brief stop at Breiddalsvik, and an interesting rock museum (of course, there were rocks for sale, but I declined to buy). Many swans in the fields as well as in the water.
Lunch overlooking the harbour at Djupivogur. Although it was still windy, the sky cleared up.
A scenic coastal drive to Hofn (about 1500 people) - allegedly the warmest place in Iceland (not when we were there!). Dinner, Olympics, and bed.
This was another long day of driving - mostly along the coast, or in sight of it. Europe's largest glacier (Vatnajokull) was in view all day. One of the James Bond movies (insert name here h.b.) had its introductory skiing sequence filmed in this area.
As we left Hofn, we could see a thin layer of ice on some of the rivers. Our first stop was at Jokusalan - a small, glacial lake. We boarded an amphibious craft, which drove us about half a mile along a road, and into the water. The cruise lasted about half an hour, with many icebergs of assorted sizes drifting around. The strong wind and cold water made me happy that I wore a hat and gloves.
Lunch at Skaftafell - many glacial rivers in the area - very flat land. Saw the oldest church in Iceland - dating back to the 1700's.
We moved on - past extensive lava fields from a violent eruption 200 years ago, and soon arrived in Vik (population: 350). We had the mandatory stop at a sweater factory, where some (not me) of our group bought sweaters, or other wool goods. This was the only night where our room did not have a TV - isolated area - hard (and expensive) to receive good signals. However, there was one in the dining room, on which we were able to vaguely see the Olympics through the snow. Sheep on the hillside overlooking the motel. Excellent dinner, followed by a video on travel in Iceland.
No sheep visible this cool morning - several horses were in the fields near the motel. Good breakfast, and we left this southernmost point in (mainland?) Iceland.
We could see the island of Surtsey, which didn't exist before the 1960's. After the volcanic eruption, it was decided to only let scientists on the island - no tourists or residents - so that nature could be studied in an untouched environment. The adjacent (inhabited) island of Vestmannaeyjar had an eruption in the 1980's, and all 6,000 people had to be evacuated to the "mainland" for several months.
Stopped at Skogar Falls, a couple of hundred feet high, where you could walk behind it. I wanted to, but it was too wet as I approached the falls. Then onto the Skogar Museum - many old Icelandic books, as well as old fishing and farming implements. The 80+-year-old curator gave us a personal guided tour. He took us to a small church, in which he played the organ and sang Icelandic hymns (familiar tunes, however).
Then on to Hvolsvollur for lunch; then a detour off the main road to Fludir, and then to the Gullfoss Falls. These falls dropped off in two steps, creating quite a spray, which in turn produced a rainbow. A deep canyon (150 feet or so) stretched to the horizon.
Next stop was Geysir - the original "geyser", spewing hot water high into the air. Adjacent were many other small pools of boiling water, and the usual sulphur smell. Some of our group succeeded in boiling eggs in the hot water (yes - they ate them as well).
We stopped briefly at one of the many greenhouses used for growing fruits and vegetables - they even grew bananas in this one! We arrived back in Reykjavik in time for dinner, and rain after several days of beautiful weather - driving along part of Iceland's 10 miles of divided highway.
The last day of our trip. After breakfast, I took the 10-minute uphill climb to the "Pearl" (described on Day 2), hoping to get a decent view. Sure enough, the rain started, but the building wouldn't open until 9:30 (it was now 9). I waited a few minutes - the rain stopped, and I went back down (passing a rather wet rabbit/hare visible in the bushes), and decided to continue downtown - hoping that the rain would hold off.
I spent about 2 hours walking around the city - getting a closer look at some of the sites we had passed on our Day 2 city tour.
Back to the hotel by 11:30, where we packed our bags and headed off towards the airport. Next stop was the "Blue Lagoon", where we arrived about 1 pm. It is a large pool, fed by hot springs. It was about 30 feet from the changing rooms to the pool - 30 feet through 5 C air, high winds, and spray off the pool. Finally, we were in the 35 C water - quite salty tasting. The lifeguard wore winter clothes, hat, and gloves, since he was continually getting showered by the spray, which had been blown about by the wind.
After an hour at the Blue Lagoon, we changed and boarded the bus for the airport (so much for the women's hair!). The flight to Halifax wasn't scheduled to leave until 4:55 pm, so we had lots of time to browse.
Another full flight, which left about 15 minutes late. Fours hours later, we arrived in Halifax, where we had a 2+ hour wait until the Montreal flight left at 9:15. I tried for an earlier flight, but they were all full. Again, we left slightly late, but arrived more or less on time in Montreal 90 minutes later - welcomed by my brother Ian.