Generally we found food quite expensive in Iceland, two to three times what we'd pay in Southern Europe, although every meal out was wonderful. There were some quirky things - rather by accident we found a cafe in a rural area where we could sit and watch, through a glass window, the cows in their winter barn below. All while eating beefburgers and finishing with icecream! There were also some hints of Iceland's whaling past, and present. The house we stayed in had what could only have been a rib from a blue whale outside and there were some disturbing dishes on the menu, which we decided not to try... and a warning about the possibility of shot in the Icelandic Goose which turned out to be true! We were also puzzled by the way some bread was sliced.
After having visited many of the major attractions in the south west of Iceland we decided to set off and explore the coast. Although we hadn't seen much direct sunshine on this trip we were right into the setting sun, setting slowly from about 2:30pm until 4 that is, and it was hard on the eyes. Coastal Iceland was very flat, unlike the hills we'd become used to. We ended up in the small fishing village of Stokkseyri. There wasn't a lot there but we walked on the pier, made funny shadows in the setting sun and had lovely hot chocolates at a cafe which was more like somebody's living room. The uncut, and delicious cakes, made us think perhaps we were the first visitors all day even if it was by then late afternoon. There was a recreation of a 19th Century fisherman's cottage built to commemorate the life of an early female fisherperson. Covered in turf in the style of traditional Icelandic cottages, it was snug to say the least and a reminder of how tough life had been.
Our last full day in Iceland we spent in Reykjavik, the world's Northernmost Capital City according to the t-Shirts. It had begun snowing just as we left the house and snow fell gently for most of the day. There were still plenty of Christmas decorations up and it all seemed so perfect - if we lived Iceland we'd keep our decorations and lights up also. There seems to be a tradition of lighting your house in winter and they even illuminate the graves in the cemeteries with colored fairy lights. Our first stop in Reykjavik was at the Cathedral. More austere than those we'd seen in Italy it was still a grand 1920s building. Then onto the shopping streets which were mostly filled with souvenir stores but everything was of high quality if quite expensive. By the time we came to leave the car was covered in snow bar a small area on the windscreen where the parking warden had brushed the snow off to see if we had an up to date "pay and display" parking receipt.
The Northern Lights by Bea
We had gone to Iceland to fulfill Quentin's dream. When he found out I wanted to see Pompeii, he mentioned Iceland. I said ' What for?' and he said 'The Northern Lights'. That was the beginning of what turned out to be the star adventure of our trip.
Although Declan has had not one, but TWO Icelandic friends, I had never thought about going there. Well once you start the research you can't believe you haven't been there already!
Iceland is so incredible. It's heaving with natural beauty, but in a different way to New Zealand. The chance of seeing the lights was high because of busy solar activity, but there is always the cloud that could obscure your view...After arriving, we had clouds for several days.
On the second night, after dinner, we pressed our noses to the windows to see what we could see. Nothing. Or was it? What was that odd light patch behind the low cloud? Was it car lights projected upwards? Was it a town or a power-plant lighting the sky ever so slightly? We kept watching and lo and behold, the light patched changed! That's when we realized we were seeing something. Very, very faint, but it was something.
That night gave us hope and a couple of nights later, when the cloud had cleared again, we had another go. It was near midnight and we saw light almost straight away. Faintly green and pale, but when it started moving in front of our eyes, we knew were were seeing the lights! We stumbled around the house into the dark, grabbing coats and torches and getting outside onto the deck- into minus 5 degrees - as safely as possible. I think adrenalin kept us warm!
On our last night, after dinner at about 9pm, we planned to have a dip in the spa pool. I looked out the window and saw lights straight away! It was early enough for Declan to join us and so we quickly changed into togs, grabbed the bubbly and dashed across the icey two metres to the pool house. Then the show really began. It was distinctly green this time and and the lights drifted like wafting cloud across the star-lit sky. At one point it covered as far as we could see left and right, but always low on the horizon. We tinkered with the camera and finally got some approximation of what we were seeing with our naked eye - they are REALLY hard to photograph!
I had been sceptical about going to see the lights, and even more so when I heard how tricky it was to see them when you are there! But it was worth every minute, and Iceland is so wonderful that even if we hadn't seen them it was a completely wonderful country to visit. 
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