Iceland's Waterfalls & the Northern Lights - Day 2
Packed and ready early for our start of the two day trip along the south coast of Iceland, we couldn't wait to explore more of this country after the taste we got yesterday. Once again another recommendation from a friend to use Extreme Iceland for this tour cause it wasn't too big a bus, just 18 of us, so was perfect to travel with.
With wet weather to begin with, our first stop is the Seljalandsfoss waterfall! We were dropped off at a smaller one first and given instructions that it was hidden behind the rocks. Not knowing where we were heading and me in hind side being completely stupid to carry my dslr with me, we peaked through the crack we found and what we saw was spectacular. The force with which the water was falling was ever more real since we were so so close!
Short walk later we were at the bigger one, the one we can actually go behind as well. Stood under the rock getting completely wet and cold with the mist of the waterfall, the thrill of it all completely took over and every rationale side of my brain seemed to have vanished cause I was stupid enough to have my camera there with me. Too late to take it back to the car since she had left us, my poor attempts of keeping it hidden under my coat failed and so just at the very start of the trip, I ruined my camera, but not before I caught some beautiful shots.
Getting back into the car I tried to revive it but to no avail and so I was left with one half working device (cracked my iPhone screen the day before) for the rest of my trip. Luckily the beauty of this place just can't make you mad, I was livid with myself but the next stop over we saw the even bigger waterfall, Skogafoss and it was stunning as well. Not risking breaking anything else I didn't make it too close but sat along the river and took in all its beauty.
Next stop was along the black sand beach by the southernmost town of Iceland, Vik. Before leaving the bus the warning we got didn't still quite prepare us for what we were to expect, Dora our guide says 'don't turn your back to the sea', within 2 mins of walking towards the sea we knew why. The ridiculously strong gusts of wind would literally blow you off your feet if you didn't control yourself, which was super hard to do when everything you had was flying in every direction. Once you've found your bearings and actually notice the landscape, as every other in this country, it's got something unique. The stretch of black basalt sand cornered by basalt pillar shaped rocks reminded us of, yes the Harry Potter cave that Dumbledore and Harry go into. Also I found out later that there is actually no landmass between this beach and Antarctica and hence the Atlantic rollers (which we caught) can be felt in full force.
This being our last stop before heading to our hotel we were exhausted and ready to take a nap. I really wanted to but honestly I just couldn't close my eyes. Even while sitting in the bus the views I could see were taking my breath away. Within an hour we could see Europe's largest ice-cap glacier, Vatnajokull, in the distance. 11% of Iceland is covered in glaciers and this one alone covers 8% of the country, it's massive and we would only find out how massive tomorrow but for now we saw it, though our window for the next 2 hours of our journey.
On one side I had a view of this mammoth glacier and on the other there was nothing. Nothingness spread across until you could see the ocean. The only thing visible were the electric lines across the coast. Looking out into this nothingness during sunset with some perfect country music, I was lost for an hour of the journey, once again soaking it all in.
We finally saw our place for the night, a sweet small country hotel that was tucked away in one of the national park's corners. This was the moment of truth for us when it came to the possibility of seeing the northern lights. One of our best chances would be out far away in the middle of nowhere and holding our breaths when we asked Dora what the visibility could be, we were ecstatic to know that we'd get clear blue skies and so even with a 2 visibility radar (the radar goes up to 8) we had really good chances.
Now once again I was devastated my camera wouldn't turn on but there were two lovely girls on our tour from Mexico who were sweet and kind enough to offer their camera for me to take some photos and stand with them. So all was not lost. Dinner eaten and clothed up we made our way further out, away from the hotel lights, with hope to see the northern lights. We saw a streak at the very start, right at 9:30 pm but didn't think we'd get so lucky so soon and kept thinking it was a cloud until Dora came and confirmed that it was indeed a faint aurora... and so it began.
We stood in 2 degrees for 3 hours, me and my new Mexican friends; Valerie and Adrianna and we saw them, again and again, in various formations, the green light floating across the sky, rising from behind the mountain, two separate ones literally meeting in the middle to form a huge one, all luminously green in that dark night. I was happy. It was one of those surreal moments when life felt complete. I saw something that's been on so many peoples bucket lists, on my own list and I saw it when it was unlikely and when I had nothing but my iPhone to capture it with but I saw it and it was spectacular.
At midnight when we decided to head back indoor for a break, it was hard to get back out and so we opened our hotel window curtains to see if anything was visible and low and behold, there they were, right outside our bedroom window - dancing! There were dancing! It was even more amazing, how could we get so lucky?! Guessing all that technology bad luck had to pay off in some way and wow it was something else. I slept so happy and content with life - a big thing off my bucket list was crossed off.
