We’ve stopped the car as the snow descends on us. The wind blowing the flakes into a whirling patter that covers the road. The car is moving ever so slightly to the left as we sit amazed against this white wash. This is our road trip through Iceland.
Leaving Reykjavik we head north, slowly climbing the mountains which frame this magnificent country. Our next stop is Grundafjordur, where our home for the night turns out to be a 60 person hostel all to ourself. Let’s put our feet up, today’s drive was a long one. After veering through snowy mountains, driving over frozen lakes and visiting a dodgy abandoned petrol station, we earned it. As I pull the curtains shut, on our day in the hills, I see something I've dreamed about for years. I grab my camera to make sure it’s not just clouds. After 30 seconds the lime green fills my screen and I grab my coat. Balaclava on, I run; shoe laces flapping, my gloved fingers struggling to release the legs of my tripod, little did I know, I didn’t need to rush. 4 hours later, 3 has dropped to 2 and now both my big toes are numb, I’ve got it, two photos for my website and memories I will never forget. I slump into bed and pull the covers up above my ears as I curl up into a ball smiling. Squeezing my eyes shut, suddenly it’s a new day and i’m back to searching for the ringing under my pillow. Slam the door, adjust the mirrors, stall once, bloody female drivers, lets head north.
Unbeknown to me, one of the musketeers has a license bus hasn’t driven in 5 years, or ever unattended. The time he chooses to tell us, whilst he’s skidding on black ice as we venture up a cliff side. My heart has heard the news and has stopped moving to help balance the car, I can’t breath. After a few minutes I vacate the death seat and jump into the back, holding a map in front of my face to avoid the views. We stop frequently to capture the vast landscapes and cascading mountain sides and waterfalls. The sky blends with the hills and the hills blend with the road. It’s a white wash and I can’t take my eyes off it. I have my face pressed against the window, the tip of my nose cold and red, my breath fills the window and then cools before hazing again.
Now I know from booking the hostels that this next one is a little more remote. We rock up by the shore with no idea where we’re going and half a tank of gas. Rock paper scissors means the eldest is asking for directions and as we watch him silently through the car window i’m thanking God I’m the youngest. 3 men are emptying containers they’ve lifted off a boat; fish guts and blood spill from the box, odd ones slapping the gravel as each section is filled. James stands there unfazed by what’s in front of him and continues getting directions, myself and the vegetarian turning our noses up and looking away. Notebook in hand, we head to the outskirts, coming across cabins we will sleep in tonight. Hands shielding our eyes we press our faces against the windows of number 1. It looks bleak. We grab our key and step into the coziest place I’ve ever been. Beds built into the corner, heating on. I slip my frozen feet into some slippers and sink into the sofa cushions with my jug of tea. I shiver as a I warm up and my shoulders slowly drop as the tv fills the cabin in the hills.
I give myself until 1.30am before getting into bed. Lifting the blind to check the sky, I see those clouds. Waking up the guys with the shuffle of my salopettes, we head to a church which stands coloured by the northern lights. Heavy eyed with a full memory we trudge back to the cabin, crack open the beans and discuss our next excursion.
Dropping down into the town of Hvammstangi, we’re heading East, back through the twists of Northern Iceland, the farmhouses demanding your attention as they burst into view each time we corner a mountain.
A quiet quant town awaits us, and as we pull in by Akeryri Backpackers we are greeted by the warm glow of hostel lights. A bar with coach seats is where we spend the evening, laughing over pints of Gull as travelers busy themselves in maps of the town. The hostel has a sauna and I really want to go in, the cold hasn’t been as bad as I thought but I’m going to pretend it has to convince my body we need a sauna. Another early night and back in dusty we jump. I think the next stop will be interesting. I imagine houses lining the coast, with pebble beaches and grey cliffs. Not quite, it’s better! We sneak up on the town in the dead of night winding down the gravel roads, lights appear in the distance. A valley of tiny lights. My eyes are like saucers, I wind down my window and push myself as far out as I can, taking my camera with me. I take a breath of the bitterly cold air that’s sweeping the hair from my face and hold it, press the shutter and just wait a second. The wind that passes the car as we speed down the open road is drying my eyes and I can feel my lips cracking. I love it! I slump back through the window into my seat. When we park outside the hostel we all take a breath, the feelings are mutual here.
Iceland is a place of trust and adventure. We push open the door of the hostel and remove our shoes, a Scandinavian tradition. I spot my name on the desk with a note that says ‘find a room you like, I’ll be back soon.’ With the place to ourselves we are a little cautious, I head to the kitchen and put on the kettle, it’s been a long day and we all need a drink. We hear a womans voice greeting us from down the hall. We say hello back, pay the owner and we get an instant upgrade to on en-suite. She’s lovely, exactly what you'd expect in Iceland. We make ourselves at home as she leaves for dinner with friends. The night is relaxed; we go for a wonder and find a pub where we only stay for one as we are the only customers. One adventurer down, two of us go out later to photograph Seyousfjordur at night. We decide to go to bed not long after and give the search for northern lights a miss.
Now this is where the trip takes a turn. We head off as usual, the sun bouncing off the frozen ground, Ben Howard keeping our shoulders bopping. We take a left onto the main ring road and don’t see any other cars for miles. The roads are getting worse but we’re in a 4x4 so we turn up the music and carry on. I can’t help but feel at this point that we may have made a mistake, 45 minutes down this road we are unable to control the car, the wheels slide with the wind and visibility is so bad that we can only go by the Sat-Nav. I’m starting to panic and have been on the edge of my seat for a while now. The road is conveniently winding between lakes and cliff edges and now I’m pretty sure I’m about to die. (I’m writing this so at least you know its got a good ending) The tyres drop and begin to spin but the car isn’t moving, the snow is up to the bonnet and we’re stuck. The guys begin shoveling the snow from either sides of the car but the wind is bringing just as much back. We’re not getting out of here anytime soon. What I should have mentioned is that when we took that left there was a big sign that appeared to be flashing, we were too excited to stop and figure out what it said. Mountain rescue later informed me that it said the road was closed and a 4x4 was never going to get down that road in those conditions. The cars starting to get cold and the guys insist on digging through the snow. From around a corner, a car appears. This was the Marks and Spencer of cars; the wheels where the size of our car almost, a real Icelandic vehicle. To cut a long story short, 3 english 20-somethings had to be pulled out of the snow by a ginger Icelander and sent back where we came from. Without him we would have died in that car, icicles hanging off our noses, my bag of ginger biscuits untouched and never enjoyed! After driving for 7 hours, we are back where we started.
It’s too funny not to laugh about at this point. We set off from a petrol station at 10am and it was now 4pm and we were sat outside the same one, with the same map, figuring out the same journey. The sun is going down and we still have a 4 hour drive at least before we get to Vik. We head towards the coast and begin driving down the road which snakes around the east of Iceland. We stop to photograph the sun dipping behind the cliffs and fill our water bottles with fresh Icelandic water that trickles down the mountain sides.
It’s dark now and we finally pull up to the glacier lagoon, which I’ve been telling the guys all about. Going on and on about how great it is and how breathtaking it is. But it’s pitch black and you can only see a few icebergs sliding through the water. I set up my tripod and leave my camera on a long exposure to capture the nights sky with the moonlight bouncing off the water. We’re 2 hours away from our hostels so we jump back in the car and quietly drive. Arriving in Vik was like approaching a real life postcard; a church stood solemnly on the top of a hill looking down over the town beneath which graduated down onto the beach. The hostel is small, with wooden floors and a fireplace which to my disappointment isn’t turned on. Board games litter the coffee table in the living room so after we’re showered and my feet are back in fluffy socks, we huddle around the table with our new friends and talk about our travels whilst we play games.
Reykjavik is our next stop and marks the end of our journey in the snow. We have a big day planned as we arrive back in Reykjavik by mid day. I head off into the mountains of Keflavik to ride horses through the snow whilst the boys spend the afternoon eating pizza and drinking Icelandic lager. We meet back up that evening to go to the blue lagoon which we find out is the best way to finish the trip. We cheers over chilled beer as we soak in the lagoon. 2 hours we spend there and when we being asked to leave we realise we’re the only ones there. The freezing air makes my nose feel none existent but yet my whole body is tingling with warmth, I don’t want to get out.
We have an early start to get to the airport, so as we squeeze into the mini bus that takes us out of Reykjavik, we are all silent, watching the town get further away. We arrive at the airport, join the queues and reminisce about the best trip I have ever been on.
