We ended up on the moon

iceland

I atttempted to fly to Iceland with the motley crew and ended up on the moon. Maybe I was sent there by the Danish police at Copenhagen airport who didn't take so kindly to my swiss knife being 'a bit' longer than the legal size for Denmark, let alone a little sharp to be carried on the plane. Maybe I was sent there by the ice queen at Reykjavik airport who thought that so many alcoholic bottles clanging in one bag surely couldn't be below the customs limit. Regardless of whether I was in Iceland or on the moon, I was somewhere other-worldly.

Reykjavik is the northern-most capital in the world, and although they say there are more hours of sun each year than any other city, I suppose the wintery hours of darkness have taken their toll on the Icelanders. Reykjavik has an eery feel to it. I'm not sure if it's the modern, monolithic, mormon-like church in the centre; or that it has as many people walking the streets as an old ghost town; or whether it was because everyone living there who we bumped into was quirky at best. Admittedly we missed the key drawcard of Reykjavik - the most incredible and infamous Friday and Saturday nights out imaginable, we are told. But there's always next time that I'm in Iceland.

The entire western half of Iceland is subject to intense geothermal activity. Not too far south of Reykjavik is an area imaginatively called the 'Blue Lagoon' for its misty blue waters. It's a very comfortable 38 degrees and was our playground for an afternoon. The area is 'famous', if Iceland can be famous for anything, for it's silica mud which is meant to be great for your skin. That morning we had spent riding Icelandic horses through lava fields, fording streams and generally having a great time, and so an afternoon lazing in the lagoon was just the ticket. Hot springs quickly became an important part of our trip agenda, although we traded the horses for a RAV4.

The most amazing part of this, our first full day, was the jaw-droppingly wierd scenery. I can't recall seeing a tree across the entire country and the ground is shaped by lava formations in the west; glacial erosion in the east. Apparently, and dubiously, our RAV4 was deemed sufficiently suitable for 4wd driving, and we took full advantage of this. "Should we take the fast asphalt road or the dodgy and treacherous gravel road?" was not a consideration for Jochen, Seth and myself. The girls weren't given the option. But our road less travelled approach provided us with magical rewards - bumping over moon rocks and around craters; boulders strewn across the landscape; the weather turning from sunny to 'slightly inclement' in a matter of seconds while we crossed a narrow road between snow-capped mountains.

Even more surreal are the plumes of sulphurous steam that billow from fissures throughout the western half of the country. This is the geothermal activity that heats the hot springs and pervades the senses with the unmistakable smell of sulphur. Mmmmm... rotten egg. The RAV took us across such everchanging scenery that we soon realised that we had no idea what would be around the next corner, and no hope of guessing.

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the road trip

This was a six day adventure to remember. The motto was 'Can you believe it? We're in Iceland!' We took the RAV places Toyota never conceived existed when they designed the car. The offroad tracks were winding, and even the main ring road, road number one, could sometimes degenerate to gravel. There are no railings and sometimes no warnings at all that you are approaching a cliff with a double blind turn. The first and second gears certainly got a workout.

Sections of road turned into rally driving, which certainly received no complaints from the driver. I'm not sure whether the new squeaking is the suspension or not, but I'm glad it was a hire car.

Our staple Icelandic diet was skinke (ham) and ost (cheese) from the most budget supermarket possible. Everything is so outrageously expensive that we had to choose the most gelatinous skinke they had, where the slices merged into one gooey mess. The plus side was they make some damn good bread over there, and Seth was on the ball in bringing a jar of Nutella. The backseat of the RAV was at times a veritable smorgasboard! And although our food was budget, we ate to the most magnificent views - on top of a glacier for lunch one day, at a volcano the next.

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The Red RAV

The RAV held up well for the most part. When we visited the tumultuous Dettifoss waterfalls by a back road, we drove about 80km along a 4wd path ranging between first and third gear. Coming through a puddle of mud I lost vision until the windscreen wiper kicked in; the corner was closer than I thought; the rear shifted out and we slid gracefully towards a boulder on the side of the road. Since I corrected just in time, we sailed away smoothly - the boys wanted more, the girls thought it safer to keep their eyes closed.

Only shortly after, and just as we reached road number one, the right rear tyre blew. Embarrassingly, we put the jack in the wrong place and had to prop the back axle with a roack while we moved it. Beverly was self-appointed supervisor - looks like she did a good job.

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Iceland was so fantastic that I'm not sure I can do it justice in words and pictures. Not since when I first flew into Bangkok have I experienced something so different. We were away for 6 days and every day held enough activities for a week of travelling; for months of living at home. Seth and I are working on making a movie or a flash site from our collection of videos and photos. This could take a little while, so in the meantime I'll post pictures in an attempt to convey our road trip.