Icelandic Rendezvous

Hi, This is Darryl, your Globetrotting Grandpa I am on vacation this week, so I asked my friend Jerry to do a guest blog for me. He has recently returned from a trip to Iceland and is posting his adventure. Jerry has been all over the world and is one of the most well traveled people I know.  Enjoy the post, I’ll be back next week 

My Icelandic Rendezvous

A couple of weeks ago I had the great privilege of finally taking my long awaited bucket list dream trip to Iceland. As much as I had anticipated and prepared,  Iceland still overwhelmed me, with its majestic jaw-dropping, eye-popping non-stop graceful beauty, Pace and pristine qualities.  It truly was an adventure of a lifetime. 

My two brothers Richard & Ravi joined me in this quest and we spent 11 glorious days there.   We rented a  Happy Camper and drove clockwise on the one Major Highway  (# 1  Known as the Ring Road ).     If one only stayed on the Ring Road to see the sites along the way,  one would encounter over 100 mesmerizing  photo stops and Scenic vistas to enjoy.  Among these are 3 dozen unique and beautiful waterfalls,   gorgeous gorges, ravines,  alp-like snow-capped mountains,  Scandinavian-like Fjords,

Friendly colourful small fishing villages,  glaciers,  geysers,  rifts,   lava rock formations,  and emerald green grass.  The whole entire country will take your breath away.

Yes, it is that scenic.    Beside the above,  we spotted:   Whales  near the coastline,  sea lions & seals,  wild Shetland ponies,   reindeer,  puffins  &   terns.

The weather was a tad chilly for us,  dropping to 33 F  at night, and all the way up to 44 F  in the daytime.  1^st of June,  while we were there,   it is the land of the midnight sun.

The sun only partially went down for about 2 hours but the glow was still as strong as twilight. Because much of the Island Country is wet, damp, frozen  etc, one can see numerous rainbows at least expected times.   

Because of many areas appearing as ‘other-worldly’, many movies have been filmed there to take advantage of these natural ‘wow’  spots. Star Wars, Star Trek,Game of Thrones, Thor,  Noah,  Batman Begins,  Laura Croft:  Tomb Raider &  Secret Life of Walter Mitty to name a few.    Of course, we had to check out each and every one of these locations.

We also visited their famous natural mineral thermal hot-spas, for which you will easily find one in every community-  it is their national pastime.

Iceland is the Seafood capitol of the world,  so when you visit there, take advantage of this menu and enjoy.

FOR 4 OF MY FAVOURITE PHOTOS – PLEASE SEE BELOW.

 

My 2 favourite spots in Iceland are shown below.    #1 Loneliest spot on Earth (Ellidaey Island) &   #2  The Ice Lagoon   (Jokulsarlor)  both on the south coast of Iceland.      

 

This,  # 3   below: was a great adventure for me.  it is  Seljalandsfoss ,  a unique waterfall in the South of Iceland, that has a treacherous path that goes behind it.  It is very dangerous as the path has eroded drastically,  the rocks are jagged and the entire path is slippery.   One must use great caution here, as I did.   The path in the very extreme back rises & drops dramatically and I was forced to literally crawl on all fours in order to cross and carry on.  

Not for the faint hearted.   One false move and one would easily fall straight down about  30 or 40 feet onto giant boulders.           

 

# 4 photo below,   is one of their most scenic, famous and remote  other-worldly Rock formations.   It sits off the northern coast in a harbor, yet one can walk all the way within 20 or 30 feet of this majestic natural structure.   

 

Thank you for joining me in my Highlights of Iceland Journey.  Hope you too get to visit there someday, or if you have already had that experience,  hope you get to return.

 

Jerry Shipman,  friend to the Globetrotting Grand