We first went to Iceland at Christmas about four years ago and had a bloody awesome time. It was dark most of the day, buses drove us everywhere, we saw a lot of things (except the Northern Lights) and it was probably one of our favourite holidays ever. As part of this five-week round-the-world trip, we added in a visit to Iceland to see what it was like during summer.
Turns out it rains. A lot.
We landed at about 10am on Sunday and met our shuttle bus to take us to pick up our car. There were a lot more tourists here than the last time, or perhaps there were just the same amount then but because it was so dark we didn’t see them.
We picked up thecae and then started driving. I’d forgotten how far out of the capital the airport is. Glen was getting hungry so found a burger place for us to go, which we didn’t end up getting to, and instead drove into the centre of Reykjavik to find somewhere else to eat. I could have done without getting into this tourist-heavy part of town but we were both hungry by that stage and likely to kill each other and everyone around us if we didn’t do something about it.
We got our burgers though Glen’s was mostly raw and rather than request a replacement (or at least for it to be thrown back on the grill), he ate around it and left feeling worse about the whole experience. We got back in the car, went around in circles a few times, and then managed to get onto the 1 Highway going east towards Vik.
The benefit of coming here in summer is that we can see a lot more of the countryside, which is also green (from the grass) and purple (from the lupins). It’s stunning with volcanic peaks and waterfalls everywhere. The roads are a bit narrow so ogling the landscape is a take-your-life-in-your-hands activity.
Our first proper stop was at Kerið, a volcanic crater-cum-lake that Julian and Simon had been to so therefore we must go to as well. From their photos I thought the red stuff was tiny flowers but it turned out to be red gravel instead. We walked around the top of the crater, the sky getting greyer, offsetting the blue-green of the lake below. We then went down to the water at the bottom and then set off again. It was a mini-volcano.
The rain started to threaten from then on. I can’t remember when Glen drove but he did for a bit which gave me a chance to pass out in the passenger seat (probably from the stress of being a passenger…I know Glen gets stressed out with my driving too).
We spotted the Seljalandsfoss waterfall in the distance and drove off towards it with the other eleventy billion tourists. You have to pay to use the car park but it only takes card and wouldn’t accept either of ours so we left…and parked back at the car park at the turn off to the main road and walked back.
We took some photos from a distance rather than go up to or behind it. We’d seen this waterfall during our last trip, nearly killing myself scaling the frozen steps to get up a bit higher (and then sledding down on my arse to get down at the end). It was impressive enough from a distance away and besides, the rain started to come down.
We high-tailed it back to the car, getting wet along the way, and then zoomed east. The rain kept up for the rest of the drive. We turned off at Reynisfjara, the black sand beach with the black basalt column cliffs, to relive the last time we’d been there, except this time it was raining.
We ran down to the beach—Iceland’s most dangerous beach probably because idiot tourists stand too close to the shore taking their photos with their backs to the waves—took our photos and then ran back to the new cafe for a hot chocolate.
On the drive back to the main road we picked up a hitchhiker, a Polish woman who works at the visitors’ centre and was heading back to Vik. All the while during the drive, as she talked about what she was doing there and giving us ideas of places to go, I was wondering if she was apprehensive about getting into a car with two unknown men and was doubly conscious of not doing anything that might be construed as creepy (though what that was I couldn’t be sure). Anyway, we dropped her off at Vik, very grateful she didn’t have to walk all the way, and continued on.
The rain kept up for the next hour or so as we got closer to our hotel (Hotel Klaustur) and then checked in. I think we arrived about 6pm so it was already pretty late by our standards. The distance was only about 300 km and was probably the same amount of time from Perth to Margaret River…but much more interesting.
We had a delicious and extremely filling meal at the hotel and then snuggled into bed at about 8/8:30, the sun still up outside and the man in the room next to ours snoring his head off.
Travels with Dan 
What do you say, eh?