VELKOMIN TIL ÍSLANDS!
- Hannah McDonald
- Jun 30, 2022
- 8 min read
Keflavík • Þingsvellir National Park • Geysir • Gullfoss Waterfall • Kerið Crater • Selfoss
We transitioned from the tropical volcanic island of Kauai (trip video here) to the subarctic volcanic island of Iceland! Immediately after touching down, we packed our first day with logistics and sightseeing, mostly forgetting to orient ourselves.
Arrival: Campervan Reykjavík (aka Rent.IS) and Nettó (grocery shopping)
--- Map Point A ---
After spending much time at home weighing and then deliberating whether the quantity of food we were bringing (all our meals for 10 days and some snacks…) would pass customs, we made it through no problem, and our checked bags arrived. Two big wins to get us started!
The next challenge… getting our camper van. After asking the information agent at the airport, we began walking around in search of a shuttle, until Joelle checked her email and saw we would be picked-up at arrivals with a sign (how fancy). After 20 minutes of trying to identify that sign (no, it did not say “McDonald”), Joelle spotted it, and we were in the front seat of the shuttle van, getting our first glimpse of Iceland. The first thing we notice? Beautiful purple and white flowers covering the ground. Joelle asks our (very nice and conversational) shuttle driver, “what are these flowers,” and he explains they are an invasive species that now cover the island. After Joelle expresses her thoughts on the flowers (beautiful), the shuttle driver quickly responds, “they are very pretty colors but they are uh garbage.” That one gave us a good chuckle.
With a couple signatures and a tap of our card, we rented our first car ever (manual transmission, of course)!! We get a (very) quick tutorial, and then Joelle calls dibs and runs to the driver’s seat. She confidently says, “I think it’s in reverse,” and looks behind her. We then lurch forward; that definitely was not reverse. Quickly getting it in actual reverse, we are off! A big shoutout to Mom and Dad for teaching us how to drive stick.
First stop: We need gas. I have filled many gas tanks in my driving years, although none as eventful as this. The progression of events goes something like this:
The gas station is close, and we easily find a pump.
Joelle hops out to fill it, looking for the lever by the seat to open the cover. Not finding anything, she realizes it is not locked, and she just needs to pull it open.
She quickly returns for the key. Confused, I hand it to her, and she goes back to the gas tank.
A few minutes later, she asks me to come look at it. There is a lock on the cap…interesting.
We cannot figure out how to get the key to even turn because the whole cap is spinning. Eventually we get that turned, but it does not seem to do anything. After many minutes and contemplation of returning to the rental office for a tutorial, I finally wiggle it around enough to open, and we start filling the tank. Phew.
Now, having to manually hold the lever, we are afraid of overfilling it. Fortunately, it eventually stops, and we assume the tank is full.
I spend many minutes messing with the locking cap to get it closed, all while wondering why this was not in the brief demo. Eventually, I get it locked; we hop back in the van; and we turn it on.
The tank is only three quarters full. We get back out, wiggle the locked cap open, tap our card, start pumping, and nothing happens. Evidently, that pump ran out of gas.
Once again, I wiggle the gas cap back to locked, and we pull around to another pump.
The gas cap saga is repeated, and finally, we have a full tank of gas. I still do not understand the gas cap, but the tank is full and some wiggles allowed us to open and close it.
As Joelle pulls away, a red warning light appears, and we both stop. We are about to drive around the entire island in this van. We cannot have any warning lights.
Joelle opens the car manual and begins searching. Without much initial luck understanding it due to the Portuguese, we contemplate (again) returning to the rental office.
I quickly look at the manual again (the English section) and say, “oh my gosh, Joelle, the parking break is on.” Good thing we did not go back and ask about that one…imagine the look they would give us.
Second stop: We need food. Most our meals are already packed in dehydrated form, allowing us to avoid the typical $30-$40 per person restaurant meal. We just need some pasta sauce and snacks, so we drive up the road to Nettó, one of the grocery stores. We begin scouring the shelves, with a mix of languages on the labels. Some were in English, but many were not. Naturally, we must know the ingredients in each item. After trying to decipher it, Joelle remembers her Google translate! Now, on each item, we hold the camera over the label, and it all translates (mostly) accurately. We also look for a rough currency conversion in anticipation of the overall cost, seeing as we are told food is pricey in Iceland. We fill our cart and manage to score some apples and bananas (fresh produce treat for each day). By some miracle, we only spent $80, although we did not find a place to fill our water jug.
We successfully completed three out of four logistics: (1) Get camper van, (2) get gas, (3) get groceries, (4) get water (not yet completed).
Driving into Reykjavík
--- Map Points A to B ---
The airport is about forty minutes outside Reykjavík, and I am now in the driver’s seat, getting us to our first destination–a national park. Joelle pulls out her paper map, which she highlighted and marked to include our route for the entire trip. The drive is going smoothly, until I take my first wrong turn. No worries! We pull into a parking lot, turn around quickly, and are back on track. That is until we see a sign for Keflavík, where the airport is located (i.e. we were supposed to be leaving there). Oops…must have missed a turn. We get off the highway and do a quick U-turn. (Pro tip: Our little camper van does not have the turn radius of my Subaru.) Now we are headed the right way and Google maps is running.
Lunch at Þingsvellir National Park (pronounced things-vel-ear)
--- Map Point B ---
Iceland is beautiful! Everything is so scenic. We are cruising along when we see a beautiful lake and a lookout point. I quickly pull into the parking lot, so we can enjoy our first “official” view. We try out the travel tripod and stretch our legs. Noticing our hunger, we set-up our camp stove on the picnic table and begin rehydrating our first meal packets of the trip. Since we still do not have our water jug filled, we use what water is left in our bottles. There is a lot of anticipation for these meals, and we will be eating them for the next nine days. Hopefully they are good!
In trying to capture the beauty with our camera, the wind catches the tripod, and the UV protector is shattered against the gravel. (Pro tip: Do not use a tripod in the wind.) Now, we have a shattered camera lens cover and are waiting for the water to boil as our stomachs remind us how long it has been since we last ate. We roughly measure the boiled water into the meal packs and continue to wait. Food is sounding so good. After several minutes, we stir the packets to find one looking pretty good and the other flooded with water. (Pro tip: Do not just pour “the rest of the water” into a packet unless you want a very watery rehydrated meal…oops.) Moment of truth: How do they taste? “Mm pretty average.” Yikes, we have a week and a half of these for lunch and dinner. At least they were cheap and easy, and we have a variety of meals. We eat as much as we can and then munch on them as we continue our first day of sightseeing.
Þingsvellir National Park: The Visitor Center and The Almannagjá Fault
--- Map Point B ---
The Mid-Atlantic Rift divides Iceland, with part of it on the North American tectonic plate and the other on the Eurasian tectonic plate. This national park is where the tectonic plates are drifting apart, creating a seismic rift you can walk through.
As we walk up from the parking lot, we see a pathway between two rock walls. Is this the fault? Where are the people who, presumably, were on all the tour busses in the parking lot? Quickly, we snap some pictures, thinking we got lucky. Walking past the visitor center, we find many more people and a much larger rift. Turns out, that would be the Almannagjá fault, and the other was simply a pathway between parking lots.
Bonus: We filled our water jug at the visitor’s center! Not sure if we were really supposed to do that, but we needed water. That is successful completion of all four logistics!
Geysir
--- Map Point C ---
Lots of steam and the occasional spout of water indicate we are close to the Geysir. The Great Geysir is currently dormant, while the Strokkur geyser next to it ejects water every five to ten minutes. After parking at the visitor’s center, we wander around searching for what we are supposed to see, even accidentally leading another group astray in a campground (the opposite direction of the geyser). Joelle remarks, “we just saw the steam from the road…it has to be here somewhere.” Soon, we follow some others in the right direction, evident by the steam rising from the ground. The active Strokkur geyser reveals itself by unexpectedly ejecting water, making me jump. While waiting for the geyser’s next performance, we wander around the other pools, some of which radiate blue (indicating it is very hot). After a few Strokkur geyser performances, we are back in the van, headed to our next stop.
Gullfoss Waterfall
--- Map Point D ---
Our first waterfall of the trip! This one is two tiered, massive, and runs down through a canyon. With multiple outlook points, we were able to walk around for a close view, and the powerful water gave us a little misting. Some interesting history is shared in our Lonely Planet guidebook, including a farmer’s daughter walking barefoot to Reykjavík in protest of it being sold.
Kerið Crater
--- Map Point E ---
Rapidly approaching 9:00pm (although you would not know it based on the daylight), we stop at this crater, just off the road on our way to the campsite. Unlike some craters we have seen, this one actually looks like how you might imagine a crater, probably because it is relatively small. There is a lake at the bottom, making a pretty view.
Gesthus Selfoss Campsite
--- Map Point F ---
After a long day of travel, logistics, and site seeing, we are exhausted and ready for bed. Selfoss is a nice town with a (huge) river running through and, like most towns, a campsite for RVs, campervans, and tents. We pull into reception and ask to camp for the night. Although this particular site is busy, we easily reserve a spot, and a man on an e-scooter shows us to a good opening.
The kitchen is filled with travelers and stocked with stove tops, a sink, and several tables. We make and thoroughly enjoy our spaghetti and pasta sauce (a treat meal compared to the meal packs)! After a quick campsite shower, it is midnight. Nonetheless, the sun still shines bright in the sky, and the campsite is hopping with some campers playing guitar and singing. While a lovely scene, Joelle and I pull on our eye masks and put in our earplugs in hope of a restful night to prepare for the adventures ahead.
