Day 8 – Narrated by Alaina
When we woke up, I was magically hoping Mike would be 100% back to his old self. This was not the case. One situation that wasn’t getting better was that sad lonely bird looking for its mate. The issue is that this bird was seeing his reflection in one of the huge windows and pecking at it all day & night!
So early in the morning, we would hear a tap tap tap. While funny at first, it became rather annoying and it was keeping us up!
Mike was still not sleeping well, and I wanted him to get his rest, but we had to be out of the house by 12 and on our way. I did everything I could before waking him and it still wasn’t a good situation. He groggily showered and fell into the car. We immediately headed for Vik with the hopes that a pharmacy was open to get some sort of cold medicine. We arrived, and fortunately for us, the pharmacy was just closing but we were able to squeeze in! With drugs in hand, our day was finally on the up-and-up.
Being in Vik, I wanted to make sure we visited the town chapel and walked their famous Black Sand beach that overlooks the Reynisdrangar sea stacks, three huge stone rock formations.
The mountains of Pétursey, Hjörleifshöfði and Hafursey stand towering over the village of just 450. Beautiful, but dangerous. Vik lies directly under the Myrdalsjokull glacier, which itself sits atop the volcano Katla. Katla last erupted in 1918 and speculation is that a big eruption is brewing, which would be way more powerful than the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. The eruption could melt enough of the glacier to trigger a flash flood, obliterating the village. The village church, high up on a hill, is believed to be the only building that would survive the flood.
The chapel was lovely and had a million dollar view:
We then ventured down to the beach and walked the shoreline. In Iceland, there is a huge concern of “sneaker waves” where people don’t think the waves are as big as they look and then boom, they are hit with a wave and sucked out to sea. They are not a joke here as there have been several fatalities over the past few years. While the ocean was relatively calm while we were there, you could still see the power of the waves. It was impressive.
Having gotten our fill of the beach (and Mike was already fading), we hopped in the car to hit all the sights from Vik, west.
Next up was Reynisfjara black sand beach and the famous basalt stacks that you can sit on and climb. This is the beach where sneaker waves are notorious so the warnings were in abundance, including press clippings from deaths. Definitely a tourist spot (numerous busses were in the lot) and while it was cool, it was quick stop. Mike had passed out at this point so I let him rest and went to check it out on my own.
I continued our drive west and right around the corner was one spot that I was really excited about, the Dyrhólaey lighthouse. This lighthouse sits on a cliff and how our trusty Yaris got us up this road I have no idea. The stones and potholes were the biggest I had seen. Sidebar: Iceland’s main roads are great. Everything else is gravel, including parking lots, driveways, and many roads into landmarks. Next time we will be driving an SUV, or maybe something like this:
We arrived up to the parking lot and I may have checked the car and tires to see if everything was ok. But, the scary drive was worth it:
The view of the beach, the famed arches, the lighthouse, the massive snow covered volcanoes… it was so stunning, it was impossible to capture on film.
Poor Mike was completely passed out at this point and missed the entire thing, but it may have been for the best as we were on a massive cliff:
When I got back to the car, Mike was slowly awakening and it seemed that maybe the worst had passed? We ate our PB&J’s and we were off to visit our first Icelandic waterfall.
We pulled up to Skógafoss and while I had already seen it twice in passing, but when you get up close this fall is a monster. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and all I wanted to do was see how close I could possibly get. It was so refreshing and somehow it didn’t feel that crowded as there were no tour buses at the time.
Mike and I continued to take pictures and selfies and all of a sudden, a nice Australian gentleman came up and asked us if we would like him to take our photo. Of course I was thrilled and told him what I would love. So we ran about 50 feet away and posed. All of a sudden this guy was then directing us on how to pose, telling us where to move, etc. When we ran back to him, he introduced himself and told us he was a wedding photographer in Australia and just had a photo go viral… aka this one:
He then showed us the picture he took and we were so floored, I couldn’t believe my eyes:
Soooooo this has basically become the photo of the trip. The fact that Mike was actually wearing a color for the first time? Pure luck. So thrilled James was kind enough to offer his talents… and considering this happened to us in NZ:
I feel like now we are just getting spoiled!
We then climbed the hundreds of steps to the top, but will admit it wasn’t very exciting.
Onto the next set of waterfalls!
Continuing our way west towards the Golden Circle, we arrived at Seljalandsfoss. This waterfall is super cool because you can walk behind it! With our rain gear on, we began the mini-hike and it was so much fun!
Being able to get behind a waterfall, getting pelted with water and laughing is the way everyone should spend their day. This was also when we were really happy we invested in a GoPro for this trip:
Once again we were treated to more rainbows and prettiness.
Think we were done? Ha! Where Seljalandsfoss is located there are three other waterfalls. Two that are in plain sight and one that is hidden. I had read on a few blogs that you can get to Gljufrabui if you 1. Seriously cover yourself in rain gear 2. Have good waterproof boots 3. Are willing to walk in a stream.
Knowing all this in advance was key to allowing us to do this:
I was so excited we were able to get to experience a hidden waterfall and be the only ones there! We got completely drenched but I also felt so alive. These are the experiences I live for. Now I need to find these secret spots in Maine!
We had hit our waterfall limit for the day and began our trek to our last Airbnb which was an awesome cabin centrally located in the Golden Circle. We arrived to a gurgling brook, wi-fi and a comfy bed. Couldn’t ask for more than that. Onto another day of exploring!
Your videos are so exciting that I was living vicariously in your boots. Lord, you are adventurous. The sound of the rushing waters was music to my ears. There are few things I enjoy more in life than the sound of water rushing to the sea.
Well done!
This is amazing. I don’t think I would have persevered and endured the discomfort that you guys did in trying to find the hidden waterfalls! So beautiful!