10/6/24
Mon: Got up at 8am and we checked out after breakfast at 9.30am. While driving,
we saw school kids that were dressed up while they crossed the road. It was
impromptu I saw Urriðafoss on Google Maps while on the way to Kerið Crater, so
we decided to stop by there in the morning. *said to be the most voluminous
waterfall in Iceland~*
The
wind was chilly but Urriðafoss did not disappoint. It was huge and hearing the
sound of water gushing can be so therapeutic. There were quite a few people
fishing on this private land. We saw one person returned with a huge fish about
an arm’s length-long!Arrived
at Kerið Crater carpark at 11.30am and spent the next 45 minutes walking there.
The entry fees was 1200 ISK for two (S$11.78), albeit a Chinese couple before
us walked in without paying haiz. Kerið Crater was formed about 6500 years ago
and the depth of the water was estimated to be about 7 to 14m.
PotaTOHs
first walked along the rim of the crater and saw that pool from below which
looked quite cool. *The walk was slippery with small loose rocks, but I’ve
got Potato behind me!* After that, we walked the steps down to close to the
water. It was clear but I doubt any fishes are found in there.
Got
back to the carpark and Potato posed for me keke~ very “hot” hor? After
experiencing snowstorm a few days ago, we went through a “real summer” here…
hot and sunny. Drove 45 minutes to Gullfoss Panorama Restaurant for lunch at
1pm. It was quite packed in the visitors’ centre cum restaurant. I wanted
chicken burger but the staff obviously didn’t hear properly and gave me a vegetarian
burger... not that I mind, albeit it was all fried stuff in it. Tasted meh. He ate
fish and chips which was also only okay and the bill came up to ISK 4790 (S$47.01).
Walked
out to the Mountaineers of Iceland meeting point just right beside and we were ready
to hop onto the “monster truck” for our 45-minute drive to the base camp at
Langjökull! The driver hit the road at 2pm and at first, it was all concrete
road and “deserts” all around but we slowly moved into higher grounds where sheets
of ice and snow were present.
After
we arrived at the base camp, we were given insulation suit, helmet, bandana and
gloves. PotaTOHs were all geared up as we made our way to Langjökull. Getting
down the truck and walking on the endless slippery snow was not easy. My feet
kept sinking in. The main instructor gave us simple instructions on driving the
snow mobiles and we had to stay in a single file as he brought us across the vast
snow plain.
We
spent about 1.5 hours on the glacier and snow-mobiling took up about an hour. The
ride was broken into “20-10-20”. The first 20 minutes was to drive over to our
break stop. *It was really quite bumpy and even if I could take one hand
off, it’d be hard to take photos or videos, so I did not.*
One
operates the snowmobile like an ATV by using the right thumb to control
acceleration. *Poor Potato’s thumb was trembling after the whole ride haha!*
It was so surreal to see snow all around us~ now it was even more confusing when
people say it’s summer la haha! It was quite cold but we were very well-wrapped
I’d say.
At
the break stop, we got down for photos. I did snow angel for the first time too
haha. *Reminded me of how I fell at skiing in Japan six years ago and also
took a similar picture with Potato like that haha.* At one point, the whole
group was having fun and everyone tried to “attack” the second instructor with
snowballs but he was quite good at dodging and obviously enjoying it lol.I
thoroughly enjoyed the breeze and the adventure, albeit there was one point of
time I felt the mobile almost skidding and flipping to its side. Luckily,
Potato controlled it well. Took the truck back to the meeting point by 5.30pm
and we walked to Gullfoss nearby.
We
didn’t get to go to Dettifoss earlier because the roads were closed but
Gullfoss was amazing too. We could feel the “power” from the strong gushing sound
of waters coming from it. *There were rainbows seen from every angle~* It
was only a short 15 minutes of time spent there, and although there are
numerous waterfalls in Iceland, I did not get tired of seeing them and these
huge ones never fail to impress me. *Bought three coasters (1170 ISK, S$11.48)
for my students too.*
Had
dinner (7980 ISK, $78.59) at Skjól Bistro at 6.45pm. Their Plokkfiskur had
melted cheese and much as I enjoyed the mash potatoes with fish, I removed half
of the cheese haha. His lamb Schnitzel was not bad too.
As
with the usual “zoom zoom” us, we finished our dinner in half an hour lol. Drove
over to the Geysir area to see Strokkur mainly. We waited for it to erupt every
six minutes roughly. Saw it erupt five times in total and it was amazing! It
even erupted twice in a row on the third and fourth time, probably just seconds
after one and other! *It’s funny how Potato was “stunned” when he was
recording and it suddenly erupted haha.*
Reached
Hotel Gullfoss at 8.15pm. Went into our room and first thing that caught my
attention was a photo of E15’s eruption in 2010. It was massive and stopped air
traffic in Europe for a week. Had some Icelandic lager at night (ISK 1700) at
their restaurant. *It was 9pm. Basically, the daylight was 24/7 when we were
there lol.*
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