In the planning for the holiday there was always going to be one long day to the eastern side of the island, 4½ hours by road away - and we had aimed to have this on our first full day in order to leave the rest of the holiday more relaxing and enjoyable.
 

Getting up early we left the apartment by 7:30am and headed straight away towards Eyjafjallajökull - the infamous volcano that caused travel chaos in Spring 2010. Around this volcano was not only beautiful scenery, but also some super impressive waterfalls.

The first was the fairytale Seljalandsfoss - a large waterfall dropping into a pool, with a walkway behind. A little further up the road was Gljúfrafoss, a waterfall inside a canyon, giving it a mystical dark feel.

After the short break we continued up the road to the other side of the volcano and Skógafoss, a large waterfall that crashes to the floor.

After these short breaks we continued up the ring road making a petrol stop en route before another hefty drive and our goal point, the stunning Jökulsárlón - a glacial lake at the bottom of Vatnajökull, the largest icecap in non-Arctic Europe. Even in summer, the lake is filled with melting glacial icebergs that sit metres from the road, surrounded by sea lions and tourists on boat tours.

Taking in the stunning views we then headed back towards Reykjavik stopping off on the other side of Vatnajökull at the hexagonal waterfall of Svartifoss.
 
Our last stop on the drive back, roughly halfway, was the hilltop peninsula of Dyrhólaey. After a bit of off road driving we made it to the top for views of the coast and the black beaches before the sunset.

Finally heading back down we then made the trip back to the apartment in Reykjavik after a 14 hour day, and a well earned lie in the following morning.