Reykjavík, Reykjavíkurborg, Iceland
Woke up at night and noticed it is light outside. The arctic circle passes just north of Iceland, through a small island. So now in July the midnight sun is definitely visible.
Our first action today is to rent our remaining camping equipment. We have our own - well used - tents and sleeping bags (good to -7C). But we need chairs, table, cooking gear etc.
We check out of the very simple Ice Hostel and drive to the rental company. Fortunately they are experienced and have all we need. It’s located inside the bus terminal and there is lots of people around.
We carry everything to the car - except for one essential item. It was placed on the counter, away from our pile on the ground…
Then we go to a Bonus supermarket where we stock up on enough food to last us a few days. It’s hard to get everything arranged in the car so we decide to drive a few hours and stop early at a camping. There we can organize ourselves.
We decide to go north, and soon we leave Reykjavik. For a Dutchman, the statistics of the size of Iceland are very interesting.
Holland is about 40.000 square kilometers (3x the size of Connecticut) and it has 17 million inhabitants.
Iceland is 100.000 square kilometers (2,5x Holland) and it has 0.4 million inhabitants. So it has about 2% of the inhabitants, but is 2.5 times bigger. Vast country, no people.
They are obviously hard working and civilized people. After the economic crisis of 2008 when Iceland basically went bankrupt, they have repaid all their debts. The country functions well. Roads are reasonable, information is well indicated. The city is clean and organized. Decent nordic country.
It’s amazing how it sometimes reminds me of Galapagos, especially when we drive through fields of lava debris.
As we move north mountain ridges appear. At some point we see a snow covered mountain.
Around us are undulating fields, mostly covered with yellow grass and moss - some with many stones. Sometimes there is a truly green field with bales of hay.
A few times we see horses, I presume the famous Iceland horse.
By midafternoon we reach the Hellissandur campground, a rocky field next to rocky hills, where we put up the tents on a patch of grass.
The sea is a hundred meters (yards) away, but I see no beach activity. The weather is good, the light clouds disappear and we look at a beautiful landscape of grass and moss interspersed with rocky outcrops.
And here we discover what we left behind in Reykjavik… the cooking pans. I feel really stupid. Here is the intrepid explorer of the world. The man with experience. And he forgets his cooking pans. What a letdown. We’ll have to go back.
But fortunately the campground has a good kitchen and soon Sisi is in full swing cooking chicken and spaghetti while Didi and I set up camp and organize all our gear, so we can find it back in the future.
We enjoy a marvelous early dinner and now I sit in the evening sun. The air is cold and fresh but there is no wind so it feels good.
The camping slowly fils with campers. Quite a few small campers, but also caravans and tents. There is no vegetation, neither is there privacy. Children are playing, people are reading.
We walk to the deserted beach. Dark sand and pitch black marble size smooth round stones. It’s low tide and a field of seaweed covered rocks descend towards the water.
Casually we walk along the shore. A small dune on one side, beyond it the snow on the mountain top.
The sky is blue with thin grey clouds in the distance.
Writing these words with only the sounds of playing children in the silent cool air. No airplane, no engine, nothing.
Iceland…
Gijs P.
2023-07-31
Mooie trip weer, Rob. Ik was daar in december 2014. Toen waren de dagen erg kort, d.w.z. het werd rond 10.30/11.00 pas licht om vervolgens rondom 15.30/16.00 uur weer donker te worden. Succes met het Noorderlicht!
durieux
2023-08-01
Dag Gijs, ik ga in je voetsporen. Maar nu gaat de zon nauwelijks onder. Ik hoop nog iets van het noorderlicht te zien, maar heb weinig hoop.
batchie
2023-08-02
wow. very nice adventure. seeing the beautiful scenic view elsewhere in the world .