Reykjanes Peninsula and Reykavik Days 96 – 97 July 15th to 16th 2019
Leaving our little cabin on the horse farm we all tried to pretend the end was not in sight. The weather reflective of our mood – dismal and raining.
The next morning it was the completion of the circle as we passed the road we had left from Reykavik four weeks ago. Our destination today was the Reykjanes peninsula on which Reykavik sits. I confess I was not expecting a lot so close to Reykavik.
It quickly became one of my favourites. The Reykjanes Geo Park is UNESCO listed with multiple sites forming the Geo Park
What a drive – through dark coloured lava fields, lichen covered rocks, basalt cliff faces and the bright green.
Lunch was not the familiar picnic, today we stopped at Bryggian Café where bottomless Lobster Soup and bread was served. Busy – understandably popular – we sat on the deck in momentary sunshine. Polishing off bowls of well flavoured lobster soup complete with large pieces of lobster. We followed this with Icelandic doughnuts telling ourselves this was the only Icelandic delicacy we had not yet tried. That was not strictly true (fermented shark missed) and the doughnuts were not a huge hit expecting the sweet version we are used to.
After lunch our last drive took us from Grindivik to the coast where craggy rock forms lined the sea forming large rock pools.
So much to see – the Bridge Between Continents was a geological phenonema though a little underwhelming to the less geologically minded in the group. A major tectonic plate boundaries for a trio – Europe, North America and Reykjanes peninsula. With a symbolic bridge reinforcing the meeting.
Enroute to find the geothermal area we passed alongside a deep blue-green lake.
The last stop of the day was the geothermal area reminiscent of Rotorua in New Zealand, with a strong sulphur smell, the bubbling boiling pools. Across the landscape hissed steam venting across the area. A stream of boiling water ran through the park – it was a tad horrifying watching a couple pass beyond the bridge onto the thermal soil to photograph themselves near the water.
And finally into Reykavik where we had extraordinarily expensive (to our pockets) rooms booked in the Downtown Hostel. The hostel had a kitchen separate to the Hostel building – an old house now a cosy kitchen where we sorted all our food. In doing so we got chatting to a group of Girl Guides who had finished their dinner and offered us their substantial leftovers which we gladly acceptesd.
Later as the red wine flowed for us, the Girl Guides returned, swapping stories and addresses with our resident Scout supporters. A fun and reasonably raucous night.
17th July Icelandic Journeys End
Last day and last night. Unbelievable that it is over.
Liz and Gerd had a last activity climbing into a volcano. I preferred to stay home and wash the car!! Chris and I washed, filled with petrol and returned our major expense – the car – unscathed to Blue Car Hire. High fives and great relief – after hearing many, many horror stories about car hire in Iceland. Enhanced by meeting 2 young women driving a car with a metal piece hanging underneath scraping noisily with sparks flying along the road – hire car (not Blue Car unconcerned).
Close by Blue Car was a large outdoor supply store and the Maritime museum so we ventured into both. The latter to learn more about the history of fishing and fishing folk in Iceland. The museum had many exhibits including boat replicas of the fishing industry. My favourite was exhibits of aspects of life with a video or audio story from people of the time. An engineer talking about working to survive being caught in a severe storm, a woman describing life as the wife of a fisherman, stories of Christmas aboard.
Afterwards the best fish and chips from a cart on the harbour – sitting in sunshine. Followed by a return to the hostel and finally pack for our separate journeys.
We had agreed our final meal would be a lamb dinner. Our initial plan was to cook it ourselves until Liz and Gerd found a deal close by – a shared lamb shoulder roast. Saeta Svinid Gastropub had been where we had watched Australia in the World Cup and seemed a fitting place to end to our Iceland trip 5500kilometres later. The lamb was perfection – huge serves but cooked to pink. It was not a late night for those of us who had a bit of a night the previous night!
Returning to the hostel was not the cosy nights sleep envisaged. Chris had received less that great news from Australia and despite desperation for sleep the night was spent preparing to go our separate ways – Chris to Australia and me to the Faroe Islands.
