Lathams News: DAY 31 – FRIDAY 4TH JANUARY, 2019

Our first full day in Iceland today. We still haven’t seen anything of the countryside as it was dark by the time we left the airport last night to travel to our AirBnB. The first thing we did when the sun came up this morning was explore the area around our cabin. We are situated in the heart of farming country with an Icelandic horse farm right next to us. It was nice seeing the horses roaming up towards our cabin. We wandered around and took some photos of our cabins before taking off for the day.

Views from the front deck of our cabin at Hestjall - Iceland

leafless trees around our cabin in Iceland

the granny flat and hot tub attached to our cabin in Iceland

Our hire car in Iceland

the old shovel and broom to help with the snow...

Our cabin

Our cabin in Hestjall

Horse stables next to our cabin

Our hot tub -- we made good use of it whilst in Iceland

We decided today to drive along the main highway and check out two of the waterfalls. It was almost 11am by the time we left as we all slept in this morning. The sun does not even rise here until 11.15am.

Car park at Seljalandsfoss

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall in Iceland

There was a kiosk here that served hot drinks

Lovely walk into the waterfall

Our first stop today was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. There are an almost endless number of waterfalls in Iceland. High and low, broad and narrow, this island has all the varieties. But, they all share a common feature; they are gorgeous in their own way.

Seljalandsfoss waterfall is one of the most photographed waterfalls in Iceland and is situated along Iceland’s southern coast. It is fed by melting water from the glacier capped Eyjafjallajokull volcano. This was quite a powerful waterfall and one of the highest in Iceland, cascading over 60meters down steep cliffs into a pretty meadow below.

Steve and Pete together at Seljalandsfoss

There was a path that ran behind the curtain of water and this the main attractions of this waterfall as you could walk in behind it and enjoy a really unique viewpoint of the waterfall. I chose not to do this part of the walk as it can be very slippery, but both Steve and Pete took off to do the walk and they came back pretty wet from the drizzle and light breeze from the falls. It didn’t take them long to dry off and both of them agreed that the walk and views from behind the falls were well worth it.

Views from behind the falls...

The walk behind the Seljalandsfoss

Steve and Pete then wandered off along another walk along the base of the steep cliffs to investigate a couple of small waterfalls that we could see cascading over the cliffs. I wandered as far as the second waterfall and then headed back. The boys had caught up with me by the time I had arrived back at Seljalandsfoss. Maria had stayed back at the car to feed Theo as he had woken when we arrived at the falls. Pete then decided to take Maria for a walk back down to the falls so that she could check them out and I stayed in the car with Theo for her.

I was rather surprised that we actually had to pay for parking at these falls. It cost us $8 just to park the car. Mind you there were no other charges to go and see the falls or wander around the meadow.

We probably were here for a good hour and a half before heading off to check out the next water fall on our list today.

Peter takes Maria to check out the falls.

In summer this area of the coast is also a breeding ground for the famous puffin birds. Unfortunately, we were here at the wrong time of the year to see them but it is on my bucket list to check out if ever we get back to Iceland.

The second falls on our list today were Skógafoss. It is located on the Skógá river and is visible from the main road. It is one of Iceland’s biggest and most beautiful waterfalls with an astounding width of 25 meters and a drop of 60 meters. You can walk right up to this waterfall but you need to be prepared to get drenched from the drizzle and breeze created by the falls. Still it is worth the walk up close to experience the sheer size of it and the sheer volume of water cascading over the cliffs. It actually can feel quite overwhelming when standing next to it.

Icelandic landscapes

Skógafoss

Majestic falls - Skogafoss

Skogafoss Waterfall with the steep path leading up to the top of the falls

The river from the base of the falls flow out to meet the ocean

View of the lookout at the top of the falls..

Amazing cliffs around the waterfall - lots of birds nesting around here also

I would loved to have visited here on a sunny day as due to the amount of spray the cascade produces, at least one rainbow is present any time the sun emerges from behind the clouds. Unfortunately at this time of the year the sun is rarely out.

Skógafoss can also be viewed from the top as a steep staircase (almost 500 steps)leads to an observational platform above the cascade. Many nesting seabirds can be found on the route up. Steve, Pete, Maria and Theo all did the climb to the top. I chose to stay at the bottom and walk right up to the falls. My dodgy knees don’t like stairs and these were pretty steep, so figured the pain I would have to endure for the next couple of days wouldn’t have been worth it.
The views from the top were definitely worth it according to the others.. There are amazing views to be had of not just the waterfall but also expansive views of the south Icelandic coast as you watch the river from the base of the falls flow out to meet the ocean.

View from the top of the falls, as the river runs out to meet the ocean...

The steep climb up to the top of the falls

Whilst Pete and Maria headed back down to the car, Steve wandered further along the track at the top of the falls to where the river divided. He had met a few other tourists who said that it was well worth the walk, so he probably wandered another 500m or more along this track.

By the time he got back to the car, it was almost dusk, and as we had already been out for a few hours, and Theo had been really good we didn’t want to push our luck. We also needed to do a bit of a grocery shop so stopped off at little town called Hvolsvollur to stock up on a few things we would need to prepare meals for our stay in Iceland. It was well and truly dark by the time we got home. Even though it was probably only around 6pm it felt much later as it had already been dark for a couple of hours.