Iceland 1 - Day 1 (March 15, 2014)
We arrived about 1/2 hour early and the luggage was already on the carrousel when we go to baggage claim. It was raining, torrential at times when we got the the car rental building, all very smooth and efficient. Getting the rentals was another story - it took over an hour to get the 4 suv’s despite pre booking and payment. The 7 of us finally get to the hotel where we have been moved because the hotel we originally were booked in was overbooked. In one way tho seas great because this is a very luxurious 4 star hotel. We checked in and went down to have an excellent buffet breakfast. We met up with the rest of the group who had come in a day earlier.
Though it was still raining we headed out to the Reykjanes Peninsula. The word Reykjanes means Smoky Point in Icelandic. We traveled paper and semi paved roads through lava fields to Grænavatn a green tinted lake that was created within a volcanic crater. The wind was constant and blowing furiously 50 MPH or more. It was virtually impossible to hold a camera still. The next stop was Seltún a geothermal field with mud cauldrons, hot pools and steam vents.
We spent a short while photographing the lighthouses of Reykjness. One is a yellow/orange lighthouse named Hopnes after the lava spit of the same name.
After a lunch at a local village N1 we drove to another Geothermal Area Gunnuhver where once again the wind intense. The smell of sulfur is everywhere and the vapors here are dense. Beautiful mineral tones adorn this field. The geothermal is is named Gunna a legendary woman who was accused of murder and thrown into the boiling hot spring.
The final stop of the day was the ocean area called Valahnúkur. This is a beautiful coastline with high jagged cliffs all formed by volcanic eruptions and lava. As it was the whole day, here too we were greeted with high winds and major ocean spray making photography a challenge.
On our way back to the hotel we drove by the tallest lighthouse in the region built on Bæjarfell hill. With the forecast and dense clouds we decided not to venture out for Aurora activity this evening.