In the end today was a long day, we left around 10:30am and didn't get back to the apartment until around 8:30pm. It was a little different to the one that we had planned, at least it started as planned but changed considerably.
On our way over to what we did have on our itinerary for the day, we were stunned as about 10 miles outside of Reykjavik it was thick with snow. All you could see was white, apart from the black road dissecting the vista. Neither of us had expected this as apart from on the hills we had seen nothing in the south-west of the island that suggested snow this thick. Thankfully though when we reached our destination it wasn't thick in the white stuff, as if it had been we wouldn't have started our walk.
Most of our day was going to be taken up with a hike up to Rekjadalur Valley north of Hveragerdi, where you are able to bathe in a warm river, but the route was not as we had expected. We thought it was simply a hike up a valley, not realising that firstly there was a steep climb of about 1.5 miles to get up into the area, but as the gravel path soon changed to mud and ice we decided to abort the trip and think of something else to do.
Last time we were in Iceland we had visited the Kerid Crater but as it was dusk you couldn't get a feel for the colours, so as it was only around 20 minutes from where we were we headed there. And we weren't disappointed, the colours are fantastic, and as a bonus the water in the bottom of the crater was frozen with all sorts of geometric shapes in the ice.
A little further up the road we came across a great waterfall. it was a complete fluke as we had simply noticed a couple of coaches full of tourists pulling over so investigated. I can't remember the name of it but it's well worth a visit and you can get right next to it to sense the power.
We continued about 45 minutes up to the fabulous Gullfoss, another place we visited when here in October but as we'd seen it via webcam almost completely frozen for the last few weeks we thought it worth a visit. Ok a lot of it has now melted but it just adds to the immense power of the falls; truly an amazing sight. You couldn't however visit the edge of the falls as the path was still frozen, so unless you wanted to face the wrath of the stewards then you had to suffice yourself with looking from the many viewing points up above.
And lastly to another place we had previously visited, the famous Geysir. The thermal area with bubbling mud pots, steamy streams, crystal clear hot water pools, it never ceases to amaze us. And of course the regular 'explosions' of water shooting up from the hole in the ground it a real force of nature.
The drive back to Reykjavik was around an hour and a half, but although it had been a long day and a little different to the one planned, it was still a great day out in a great country. And one thing for sure tonight, once back at the apartment the door is staying well and truly closed.
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