Author Topic: Iceland was Nice  (Read 3921 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Iceland was Nice
« on: August 24, 2012, 07:37:10 am »
So the girlfriend and I packed up our camping gear and headed to Iceland for 2 weeks.
It was quite nice, definitely a different looking country up there.
All in all it was a great trip, the weather was alright most of the time, mid to high teens and only a couple days of rain and blistering winds.
I'd recommend it to anyone that likes the outdoors and wants to see something different.

Anyways, here's a few pictures from our trip.

We spent the first couple nights in Reykjavik at a guesthouse, which is the main city and where 60% of the population of 350,000 people live.
Guesthouses are the way to go in Iceland if you don't want to tent it. They are about half the price of a hotel room and are usually much nicer.
























Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2012, 07:51:18 am »
After a few days in the city we were excited to get out on the road and see some of the country side.
The first day out of the city was spent seeing the main tourist spots.




Kerio, a small lake at the bottom of a volcano crater.


Strokkur, the geysir that erupts every 10 minutes or so.


Gulfross waterfall










Thingvellir National Park, where the North American and European tectonic plates collide.


The camp grounds were fairly nice. They were all kept really well, and most had flush toilets, showers, and a spot to make supper/do dishes etc. It was different camping without a fire pit, due to the lack of trees, but we were usually so exhausted from our daily adventures that we were ready for bed early anyways.

AWDFTW

  • Guest
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2012, 07:55:29 am »
Awesome pics man, I'd love to do that!

That church is nuts!

Offline My Dad

  • Inarguably bearded
  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • ****
  • Posts: 2362
  • 9K all day
  • Location: Off the grid
  • Ride: 12 STI Hatch/ K20 Hybrid EK Hatch
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2012, 07:56:23 am »
Very cool!
I remember flying over Reykjavik on my way to England earlier this year, looks awesome from on the ground too :)
Likeing the volcano lake.
I love long walks on the beach with my girlfriend, until the LSD wears off and I realize I'm just dragging a stolen mannequin around a Wendy's parking lot.

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2012, 08:03:12 am »
From there we headed to Snaefellsjoekull National Park, but the weather didn't co-operate with us and we didn't end up seeing much besides fog and rain.





We ended up pretty much driving through the park with only stopping at a couple sites that we could kind of see.

The next day we caught a ferry that would take us to the Westfjords, with a stopover in the tiny island of Flatey.















Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2012, 08:07:49 am »
The Westfjords was what we were looking for. Very few people, wide open spaces and fantastic scenery!






















There were 'hot pots' on the side of the road that you could sit in if you needed a break!


Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2012, 08:10:20 am »
There were waterfalls everywhere!














Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2012, 08:14:44 am »
And finally just some randoms from museums and stuff...
Sorry for all the pictures. We ended up with almost 3,000 from the trip.


































Flying over Greenland on the way home... I think they mixed up the names of the two.

Offline Zaider

  • WSC Supporter
  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *****
  • Posts: 12621
  • <shifty eyes>
  • Location: Calgary, AB
  • Ride: Oh look at the kitty!
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2012, 08:23:50 am »
Awesome pictures. My wife spent 6 weeks in Iceland several years ago. Before their banking system collapsed, they had a program where if you had Icelandic heritage, you got a free trip to Iceland. Spent two weeks in Reykjavik, three weeks living with a distant relative in a very small town (they're all related in Iceland), and then a week on an adventure tour.

No pictures of the Blue Lagoon?
Go home Subaru. You're drunk.
Quote from: seat safety switch
audis are disposable suicide machines with 700lb of stupid interior itshay glued to them and 200 more horsepower than it needs so that their owners can never bring on track or drive anywhere more aggressively than a camry except when weaving in and out of traffic and letting the traction control soak up their incompetence

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2012, 08:27:21 am »
No pictures of the Blue Lagoon?

Just a couple from after we got out. It was nice but not worth the $50 per person entry fee when you could go find your own personal hot pot in the Westfjords.


Offline Motohead

  • Patchy Faced
  • ***
  • Posts: 354
  • Location: Edmonton
  • Ride: LGT
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #10 on: August 24, 2012, 09:14:22 am »
Beautiful!

excellent pics, thank you!

Iceland has been added to the bucket list.

How was the food?

Were there many adventure/extreme sports tours operating in Reykjavik (mountain biking, rafting, off road excursions, eco-tours)?

Offline Zaider

  • WSC Supporter
  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *****
  • Posts: 12621
  • <shifty eyes>
  • Location: Calgary, AB
  • Ride: Oh look at the kitty!
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #11 on: August 24, 2012, 09:21:44 am »
Did you try the rotten shark? Its a delicacy in Iceland.

Also, apparently the hot dogs there are ridiculous. 4 years later and she's still talking about them.
Go home Subaru. You're drunk.
Quote from: seat safety switch
audis are disposable suicide machines with 700lb of stupid interior itshay glued to them and 200 more horsepower than it needs so that their owners can never bring on track or drive anywhere more aggressively than a camry except when weaving in and out of traffic and letting the traction control soak up their incompetence

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2012, 09:24:12 am »
How was the food?

Were there many adventure/extreme sports tours operating in Reykjavik (mountain biking, rafting, off road excursions, eco-tours)?

The food was pretty good. We only ate out at restaurants a couple times but when we did it was fantastic. Lots of sea food and lamb. And hot dogs, there were hot dog stands everywhere!

There are quite a few different adventure tour groups running out of Reykjavik. We had thought of going on a day trip with one of them but ended up not having time with doing our own things. http://www.extremeiceland.is/ seamed to offer it all.

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2012, 09:28:48 am »
Did you try the rotten shark? Its a delicacy in Iceland.

Unfortunately not, we were at a little restaurant that served it and witnessed some french tourists try it... it didn't look that delicious.
We did pick up a bottle of Black Death though!

Offline Motohead

  • Patchy Faced
  • ***
  • Posts: 354
  • Location: Edmonton
  • Ride: LGT
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2012, 09:29:20 am »
Wow that website is a one stop shop. Thanks!

Offline DeleriousZ

  • Patchy Faced
  • ***
  • Posts: 485
  • Back in a Suby
  • Location: Calgary SE
  • Ride: 98 2.5rs, 88 300zx x2. 04.5 GLI.
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #15 on: August 24, 2012, 09:52:51 am »
Wow!!! Iceland just skyrocketed to the top of places I want to go. Very cool!!

Offline Klautt

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 991
  • Location: Fort McMurray
  • Ride: 05 STi -> Volvo V70R -> 09 WRX Hatchback.
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #16 on: August 24, 2012, 10:41:40 am »
Thanks for posting all that

Offline pistachoo

  • WSC Moderator
  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *
  • Posts: 4024
  • Messing with kids' minds since 2001
  • Location: Vancouver, BC
  • Ride: '06 STi
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #17 on: August 24, 2012, 11:46:50 am »
So many breathtaking photographs! Thank you for sharing. This is now higher on my list of places to see than before (dammit! it's expensive there!!)

Have you heard of the Icelandic photographer Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir? She's one I've enjoyed following for years on Flickr. Her photos are what put Iceland on my "must see" map in the first place.

She is an artist, and so her work includes all kinds of interesting photo set ups, drawings, as well as a book on Icelandic ponies (so cute!) and her other creations, hand-knit unique designed sweaters made from Icelandic wool.






 









Want to go! Wanttogowantogowantogo!!
'Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.'
~ Calvin ~

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #18 on: August 24, 2012, 12:57:45 pm »
(dammit! it's expensive there!!)

Depending on how you go about it, it can be quite reasonable. If you stay in hotels and eat out for every meal then it will cost you an arm and a leg.

If you do your research on where you stay and pick guesthouses with cooking facilities you can save a lot of money. The local grocery stores were about 15% more expensive then here on average. We stayed in a few guesthouses with private kitchens that were under $150 a night.

Gas on the other hand was $2.20+ a liter. It was a good thing we rented a Corolla!

If you're not opposed to camping then a tent is the way to go, it was around $8 per person per night at most sites. And even then only if someone came around to collect. I think there was only 4 nights that we actually ended up paying for.

Other then that, book your flight early and keep your eyes open for a good sale and you can save a bunch more. The cost of our tickets was nearly half of what they would have been if we would have booked them a month before we left.

She is an artist, and so her work includes all kinds of interesting photo set ups, drawings, as well as a book on Icelandic ponies (so cute!) and her other creations, hand-knit unique designed sweaters made from Icelandic wool.

For it's size, the amount of music and art they produce is remarkable.
Icelandic wool clothing is sold everywhere there. I bought a sweater for my girlfriends birthday.

Offline canehdianJ

  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *****
  • Posts: 4137
  • Location: Impostor that owns no Subaru's
  • Ride: 2016 Golf GTi
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #19 on: October 02, 2012, 08:31:50 pm »
Arctic turns.

Love those birds!  havent seen em since resolute

Offline Airboy

  • Vendor
  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *
  • Posts: 2183
    • Airboy Tuning
  • Location: Calgary
  • Ride: 06 WRX
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #20 on: October 04, 2012, 10:33:34 am »
Did you go around the island?  We were there in 2004 and rented a Suzuki.


looks familiar  :)

Gain 50 ft-lbs, ask me how! :-)

Offline trevoroni

  • Beards Comin in Nice
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Ride: Justy | Outback 3.0R | Crosstrek | STI
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #21 on: October 04, 2012, 10:43:29 am »
Did you go around the island?  We were there in 2004 and rented a Suzuki.

No, we stuck to the South and Westfjords. We rented a Corolla and it was good for 95% of the roads. There was a few places it would have been nice to have a 4x4 but the Corolla got us where we needed to go. Did you rent the Jimny?

Here is the map of the places we went.
http://goo.gl/maps/qsMe2

Offline Airboy

  • Vendor
  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *
  • Posts: 2183
    • Airboy Tuning
  • Location: Calgary
  • Ride: 06 WRX
Re: Iceland was Nice
« Reply #22 on: October 05, 2012, 04:52:10 pm »
Don't remember the model name of the Suzuki but it had 4-Low setting and we did a little offroading.   Realized it was not the best idea (haven't driven 4x4 offroad before)...




Gain 50 ft-lbs, ask me how! :-)