Eating in Iceland, to the seaside, snowy Reykjavik and the Northern Lights!

By Quentin, B and Declan


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. 

Iceland - The Golden Circle

by Quentin

One of the great things about the house we were staying in was that it is near the "Golden Circle" tourist route. At the house, although we could see the lights on in other houses nearby, we were pretty sure there were no residents anywhere nearby for km around. However a short drive took us onto the Golden Circle route where tour buses from Reykjavik would do the whole circle in a day. Fortunately we had a lot more time on our hands and so could do it at the most leisurely pace and even better time it to avoid the buses which seemed to travel in convoy.

The first outing for us was Thingvellir National Park. Our house looked right into this across the lake and it's a site of both cultural and geological importance. Not only is it the location of the world's oldest parliament (the modern Icelandic parliament traces its history back to summer gatherings here of the first Norse settlers) but it's also where the European and American tectonic plates are pulling apart. A dramatic landscape with lots of crevices including one huge one which is often described as "the" rift between continents. We had fun jumping from "Europe" to "America". Quite otherworldly in places it was easy to see why it was used in "Game of Thrones".




Driving in winter could be a bit of a hazard. The roads were plowed but, especially when it "warmed" up to above zero we found it icy. The biggest problem however was the wind and when it blew snow across the road, sometimes just for stretches of a km or so but often reducing the visibility to almost nothing. We were grateful for our 4WD with studded snow tyres but saw some other drivers in less suitable vehicles had come to grief.

Iceland is the home of the original "Geyser" in a town called "Geysir". Like most Golden Circle attractions there was no admission charge, and warning signs were minimal. It was a freezing wind the day we went and very icy and slippery around the boiling pools. Fortunately the geyser is very regular and we could see it blow several times. There was also an excellent restaurant and store complex across the street where we could warm up.

Perhaps the highlight of the "Golden Circle" is the waterfall at "Gullfloss" and it was easy to see why TripAdvisor rates this the number 1 attraction in Iceland. The river runs into a deep cleft in the continental rift, the sides frozen in fantastic shapes of ice.

Everywhere we went we saw fields with Icelandic ponies near the road, doing their best to stay warm with their thick coats. We just had to stop and say hello.

Finally after a day's touring there was nothing better than to soak in some hot water from the plentiful geothermal supply. Fortunately the house had a hot tub:

But not too far away there was a lovely public pool complex called the "Secret Lagoon". Less well known, less crowded and less expensive than the more famous "Blue Lagoon" (which was closed while we were there anyway) it was amazing to soak in the natural lagoon. It was very hot in places but we could move around to find a spot which was just right. It was partially illuminated by a glass house complex, seen all over Iceland, lit night and day to grow mostly tomatoes and cucumbers. These photos were taken about 5pm when it was well dark and we could see why the lights are needed.

Iceland... fabulous and, well, "Icy"

By Quentin

Our first glimpse of Iceland was from the plane as it descended towards Keflavik. Pretty much everywhere we'd been so far had not been as wintery as we'd expected, we'd had a little snow in Japan but it had soon disappeared. Our thermal clothing had remained untouched in our suitcases. But seeing the flat white expanse of Iceland below us made it pretty obvious we'd be needing our warmer clothes soon.



Keflavik airport was modern and efficient and it was only as we were leaving that we realised that despite having technically left the EU we hadn't gone through any passport control. That didn't stop us being able buy duty free - some Icelandic vodka and an Icelandic liquor that had moss in the bottle! We caught up with our friend Susan Earl, who'd flown up from London and landed just after us, did the rental car formalities and after some trudging around in the snow trying to actually find the car were on our way.

By now it was dark but we were on highways so it didn't seem so bad. We had a GPS but unfortunately it was an older model and also seemed to have some guided tour stuck permanently on. We never could figure out how to turn it off and since we traversed the same roads several times we had to listen to the same narration over and over again until finally we muted it. The GPS could guide us to a supermarket which was lots of fun looking at all the different food and packaging. For a small country they do really well having nearly everything with Icelandic packaging. By now it was getting late and with an uncertain drive ahead of us we needed a quick meal. Luckily KFC is quite popular in Iceland it seems and there was one nearby. Funnily enough it wasn't quite the same as we remembered, perhaps they have their own twist.

We had instructuctions to find the house but no real *address* for the GPS so the challenge was to get to where the instructions began in Reykjavik. There was a bit of backtracking required - this capital city seemed quite large and modern for a country with fewer people than Christchurch! Eventually we were on our way, heading onto narrower and icier roads until eventually we came to the locked gate and the long driveway (fortunately freshly plowed!) which lead up to the house. It was a pleasure to find the house was already warm and had lights on for us. It was even more of a pleasure to see how lovely it looked and the view over the lake and into Thingvillier National Park when the sun came up the next day (official sunrise at 11:15 but it was light a bit before then). We were really ready for some icy adventures!

A rainy weekend in Paris

By Quentin

After an early flight from Naples we arrived in Paris feeling tired and not up to much on the first day beyond eating at a local bistro and Declan had a ride on a carousel which wasn't simply round but figure eight track!




That left Sunday for us to squeeze in as much as possible and we certainly did our best. Our first stop was the Musee D'Orsay. We were a little surprised to see large crowds outside as it's usually much quieter but what we didn't realise was that it was free admission on the first Sunday of the month so that was a bonus even if we had about a 30 minute wait to get in.

Declan got to see some of the great masterpieces of Impressionist and Post-impressionistic art up close and personal.




To maximise our time in Paris we got on a "hop on, hop off" riverboat on the Seine and rode the whole way.




The rain had been building all day and it was quite wet by the time arrived at the final stop the Eiffel Tower. It had been a dream of Declan's to touch the tower and we got off intending just to do that but the rain had kept away the visitors and so we thought "why not go up it". The very top was windy and had driving rain but even with the mist there were great views of central Paris.

We came down a bit wet but very excited about our experience. Luckily there was a Metro station nearby which took us practically back to our hotel. We stopped into another very typical Parisian bistro and got to try "Escargot". It was a very French way to finish our time in Paris.