Vik Iceland

After a day on the road we’re now in Vik, in the south west of Iceland. The accommodation we’re staying in is called “A … guest house” and as is an option in a lot of places here we’re using our own sleeping bags but sleeping on their beds. 3 of us in the one room. It’s nothing flash, but we arrived at 9.30pm and then went straight out for dinner to the only place serving dinner this late in town. (Population 290 ) returning here just after seeing a midnight sunset.

We started the day with breakfast at the youth hostel we stayed in last night. Our cereal with fruit contrasted with a gourmet breakfast a couple there had cooked for themselves, but I felt like nothing more complex. We headed out and the fjords were surprisingly spectacular. Waterfalls galore, and quite a rugged landscape not softened by the trees Norway has in its fjords. The towns coloured with wooden houses, but some towns a little more industrial, yet never overpowering as there’s so few people in this part of the country to begin with.

Then we hit the glaciers. Turned a corner from one fjord into the next and there before us were 5, 6 maybe 7 glaciers glued onto the mountains and often spilling onto into lagoons at ocean level. The amount of ice up there is huge, unfathomable really, and when we got to the first lagoon filled with glacial debris – small icebergs floating around in various stages of melt, it was quite simply stunning. I was in my element photographing it all, though the overcast sky probably took some of the sparkle away. After that it was a desert of laval flows of the past forming a huge flat by the ocean criss-crossed by glacial streams.

We’ve been eating various local foods and while Sylvain hates the supermarkets at the best of times Dennis and I have been enjoying trying out new things. We’ve had quite a variety of salmon and herring and all things fishy and various chocolate / sweet things that aren’t exactly healthy choices, but then we’ve also been eating nuts and berries and yoghurts of all kinds, today’s specials were fresh blueberries and raspberry & peach ( I think) yoghurt. The yoghurt the other day with 6 grains… was actually quite nice – chewy but quite novel. It was also a little warmer today – up to 10degrees max. So no frost bite today.

Our last full day tomorrow, and Dennis’ last day. See what we can manage.

skogafoss

A handful of photos from Iceland

A handful of photos finally to keep you up to date.

Here you see cascades coming directly out of the rock here in Iceland in this impressive display of nature's wonders.
This photo below was earlier today in the boiling mud pools in the north of Iceland. We got to a low of ZERO degrees, and despite the heat from these pools and steam vents it was FREEZING out there...
As you can see here below, where it is in fact snowing - middle of summer and all (yes this is me in my new raincoat keeping slightly warm, and also cleaning my shoes from a climb to the top of a crater)

Dennis warms up in a geothermal lagoon

All kinds of Water

Geysir - an eruption begins

Godafoss

Gullfoss

We’re in the north of Iceland, in a place called Akureyri and when we arrived last night in the rain (it has been snowing at one point on our way here) we headed straight for the pool which was awesome. Probably 6 or 7 pools all up – but I didn’t see all the indoor ones. A chilly 3 degrees out it was between 28 and 43 degrees in the water depending on the pool. We managed to do some laps and take on the water slide, steam bath, huge heated water jets and some of the hot pots before checking in to our accommodation and then out to a degustation dinner at a place called Rub 23 – sensational, and leagues above the previous night’s $15 burger that I would have complained about if it was more than $3 in Australia.

The previous night we stayed in a place in the middle of nowhere – simple cabins where we slept in our own sleeping bags – and it was great, though there were no showers in the massive complex, which perplexed us a little. Certainly the glacial river running through it wasn’t going to be our bath was it? The daylight never ends up here and I had a jacket and some t-shirts hung over the windows there to exclude some light for a less interrupted sleep. We’d traversed a 60km stretch of dirt road on our way there in our 2wd (our 4wd packed it twice in back in Reykjavik and we elected to bar it from our trip – taking the Mazda 6 wagon instead – not so good on dirt roads though). The moonscape on this overland trek was speckled with life and topped with glaciers. Spectacular even if Sylvain was swearing at the road every 100m. We’d come from being drenched in the mist from Gullfoss – a mammoth waterfall, and almost drenched by an enormous Geyser, which would have been quite a bit hotter! Spectacular all around.

Today they predict rain (click here for our Iceland weather forecast) , but there's already some sun shining through, so hopefully they'll be wrong again.

Chilled out in Iceland

It's sunny and warm (ie 15 degrees at times - but in the sun that feels like 24) and since arriving I've felt very at home here. Reykjavik is a great city - very interesting in terms of colour, architecture, surrounds and the people. It's just teaming with swimming pools and their 'hot pots' which are very social gathering places and last night we spent time in the late late sun swimming and doing what the Icelandics do - spend time soaking in the hot pools and steam baths and the like. The hot pots are heated pools kinda like big spa baths and in the place we went to yesterday they had 38, 40 and 44C pools you could meander between - I could live here - quite seriously (in the summer at least). The pools are open all year with geothermally heated water and there is so much water and geothermal energy that, coming from water deprived and Carbon rich Australia, we feel decadent in it all.

It isn't as expensive as I was lead to believe (thankfully) we ate out at a restaurant last night and it didn't blow the budget. I think though that this may have more to do with the powerful Aussie dollar at the moment though, so we've VERY happy about that, and the meal was great too. So far so good. Our friend Dennis arrived from London around midnight last night (the sun was hovering just below the horizon, the sky blue), and we've all recharged now ready to go exploring this so far fantastic place! Well actually I'm still waiting for everyone to come for breakfast, so that's why I've had time to post here.

I'm very excited about being here. It's even better than I expected.

Back to Sweden

We spent a few days back in Sweden catching up with our good friends Marcus & Helene and their now three kids Vega, Isak and the brand new (but already HUGE) Finn. We spent time in their family summer cabin on the coast south of Goteborg and exploring the region together. Our newly named mascot E6 was handed back to the Swedes after the sad loss of B71 (photos that will ultimately follow will explain this to those not in the loop here) . A great time as always and then we left for Iceland having breakfast with Anders & Joanna, also of Gothenburg, on the way to the airport.

Isak & Vega

Isak, Marcus, Finn & Helene

Vega and the chocolate cake

The newly Christened E6

West Coast Sweden

E6 Handover with the Team

Breakfast with Joanna and Anders

G´day from Norway

Greetings from Oslo!

The sun has just come out as I type! It has been a day of rain after arriving in Oslo late late on Saturday night. (ie more early Sunday than late  Saturday). We´re staying with friends Kari & Ove and their family though they had to be away the weekend for a wedding in the far north (where we just came from). Typing from the mac in their kitchen. The house is stunning, a very modern scandinavian look.

Despite the rain we explored the city, and for me it was revisiting old memories of when I studied here in the past, which was really great, but also exploring some places new. The architecture has grown in the past decade and we got to see the stunning new Oslo Opera House. It´s so new they don´t even have finished pictures on their website, but I have some of those, so watch out for more soon... but it is stunning - I love it. A lot of white and right on the water it looks like it´s floating there. They´re comparing it with the Sydney Opera House, and I can see why - though the actual look is completely different. 

The days in the North of Norway have been fantastic - we covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. There are thundering waterfalls coming out of your ears! I think we both exclaimed "wow look at that waterfall!" seriously more than 100 times. And they´re not just trickles they´re like massive rivers flowing down the mountains. Od course the midnight sun was spectacular - but what´s most brilliant is that the Norwegians still go to bed at kinda normal times which means we had the whole landscape to ourselves in the sunlight. Brilliant and eery all at once. 

Ove & Kari up late

Kari & Ove have kept us well despite it being for such a short time. We stayed up very late last night (until Ove was falling off his chair) catching up and it really would be nice to stay longer. But today we´re headed back to Sweden and to catch up with our friends Marcus & Helene and their kids there and hopefully also Anders & Joanna and family before we fly off to Iceland. 

Missing still are my photos, and I do apologise, but bear with me - hopefully I´ll get a chance to sort the technology out soon. Just not today. Sweden is waiting.

Our first intersection on arriving in Norway, North Cape or Tromso...?

Camping out under the midnight SUN

We hiked up along a beautiful creek /waterfall and found this...a secret lake.

A touch of Finland

There was a spot of Finland on our way - it was reasonably late and everything was pretty much deserted despite being completely daylight. No towns to speak of either so I'll just ultimately have a few ethereal photos to post here - but otherwise it was a little more hilly and quite pretty leading into Norway.

a baby reindeer

From Stockholm to Northern Sweden

I left you a long time ago in Stockholm...

There's been a lot of km traveled since then, but before we left we did manage to get to the Vasa museum, which contains the remains of the ship raised from the deep after centuries of nothingness down there, as well as exploring some of the designer stores and ultimately finding our way back to the swimming pool in that great city for a last swim before heading out into the wilderness of the arctic north. Highly recommended, and not just the pool. Driving out of the city we both felt a bit sad - in a short time we'd met some great people and it felt like we could have spent a whole lot more time in Stockholm alone. Who would have thought!?

Both from Gamla Stan - Stockholm

The trip north was punctuated by a lot of lakes! We camped beside one on the way. The theme for this journey was lush green, copious blue and a lot of small towns with occasional largish ones. It was fun to explore but it was quite flat really and we were hanging for the mountains of Norway. The people were fun though - and we did manage a swim in a remote university pool on the way... as you do.

My photo editor is on the blink, so can't show you any yet unfortunately... hopefully that will be rectified soon.

Absolut Stockholm

Stockholm welcomed us with a huge rainstorm. The Saab we thought we'd booked became a Toyota Avensis - which didn't quite fit the Scandinavian trip we were planning - but it works and will do the job well I expect, though all it's done has been taking us into Stockholm where it's been parked as we travel with other means.

Checked into level 10 of our hotel which has been fantastic - The Hotel Clarion Sign. Of course we haven't done a lot more than eat and sleep here, but central and funky and great views! (and good beds!) Headed for a swim in a 50m outdoor pool (about AU$11) where I got rid of my jetlag (Sylvain's swim gear was left in our hotel - so he missed out unfortunately) - I want to go back!

Our Stockholm hosts have been Mats & Robert who have been keeping us going non stop the past 2 days. (Yes the rain cleared and the sun came out.) So much achieved in such a short time... a party, a picnic, a boat trip and so much more; I feel right at home. Not sure I want to leave Stockholm - but tomorrow (Monday) we do - heading northwards...

Mats

Robert

Lars & Klaus above took us for cruise on the waterways of Stockholm. A fantastic outing and very generous & warm guys. Thanks again!!!

Mats, Alvin, Sylvain, Trevor, Robert, Lars, Klaus & the Swan.

I'm out of time to write though (ie I need to sleep) - so you'll have to wait for the next installment for more. And there is a whole lot more.

Waiting in Copenhagen

We made it to the plane on time - quite a feat given we both worked non-stop right up until leaving for the airport. Flying with Singapore we tried out the new A380 monster jet.
First impressions:
Quiet
BIG
Smooth
I don't have to duck!
Great big screens and so much entertainment we could have watched movies, TV shows and listened to new music for weeks here alone. (we both managed 3 movies) The food wasn't too bad either - and plenty of it. Why am I always hungry on the plane? Maybe it's because I hadn't eaten all day before leaving.
We managed to secure exit row seats too - which is heaven for my legs.

We arrived at the new Singapore terminal 3 - it feels like an upmarket shopping centre - nice. We met up with an acquaintance from Sydney who was on our same flight (jealous of our seats) but that was very cool. If you're reading this Matt in London - you know who it was...

And now after the longer leg in a slightly older plane we arrived reasonably well rested in Copenhagen - now awaiting a connecting flight to Stockholm. But the waiting here ain't so bad. Sunny day outside and inside, for those who appreciate the Scandinavian look in their men - this is what you'd call heaven (for those who prefer this look in women - ditto - but I can't go into detail for you...).

Unusually for us we're already overweight in luggage allowances (our camping gear hasn't helped) so we're gonna find it hard to not buy some of the great design we've already window shopped here at the airport.

I know I'm not in Sydney any more, but I'm not quite feeling like I'm on holiday just yet.

New Tour Starts June 13th

First Stop : Stockholm, Sweden

stay tuned for details.