Beautiful Iceland

After a week in New York we were on the move again. We decided to take a private car to the airport which was waiting for us at the door of the hotel and cost  the same as a taxi. But it still took us over an hour and a half to travel from Manhattan Island to JFK airport. Traffic was crazy!! Luckily we had left with plenty of time to spare. The driver also had time to tell us his life story which was pretty sad as he had lost his job due to the GFC and lost his house to Hurricane Sandy.

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We arrived in Reykjavik Iceland about 5 hours after we left New York. The flight was packed, probably with people returning home for Christmas. We tried to sleep most of the way as we gained a day on the way over (had to do the 19th Dec all over again!). But the seats were very uncomfortable and if we had to do it again we probably wouldn't go with Iceland Air...although there might not be much choice!

We arrived at around 9 in the morning and were met by a guy from Blue Car Rental. He drove us to his office and we picked up our rental car. We stayed around the Keflavik area for a while so Steve could get used to driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car. We picked up a cache too!

We settled into our hotel the City Centre Hotel which was very modern, clean, very central (that's why they gave it that name) and served yummy breakfasts! 

The next day we drove out of Reykjavik and headed north east for a day trip. Our first stop was to do a cache where there was also a museum. We couldn't reach the cache because ice made it way to slippery and as yet didn't have spikes for our shoes. We didn't want to spoil our holiday by breaking any bones! The museum was very interesting and we learnt quite a bit about the family and famous writer who lived there. Well worth the visit if you're in the area. For me one of the most important things this place had was a toilet! We were trying to acclimatise but it was very very cold, but Iceland being Iceland, even the outside toilet had a heater!

Gljúfrasteinn Museum

Former home of the Nobel prize winner

Halldór Kiljan Laxness - writer.

This is what we were hoping wouldn't happen to us. The guy in this car was fine, probably just a bit embarrassed. I must admit I was feeling pretty nervous driving on the wrong side of the road in these conditions.

We stopped at Þingvellir National Park (the last time we saw the sun for about 2 weeks)

 Þingvallavatn

There was quite a bit of ice around so I had to buy a pair of spikes (which were more like coils)  for our shoes...they did the job while we were there but we bought better ones once we got to Vicki's.

Steve - a shot taken for a virtual cache.

Þingvellir National Park, so beautiful!

From there we went to the Strokkur Geysir

We were here last time we were in Iceland in 2009 but it is so nice we decided to come back again

Steve and the Geysir

Then onto Gullfos Falls - It was a little bit cold FREEZING!!

 Partly frozen

Spectacular!!

Very beautiful in summer and just as beautiful in winter

By the time we got back it was dark and the streets looked very pretty with all the Christmas decorations.

 The next day we spent walking around Reykjavik collecting a few caches along the way...

...so pretty!

The Hallgrímskirkja - Lutheran Church of Iceland

We wanted to go inside but it was closed for a presentation ceremony

 A skate park for the kids....

 The next day we left Reykjavik and drove to Saudarkrokur where my sister Vicki lives.

We stopped at a tower to find a cache. The wind was blowing (as you can tell by my lovely hairstyle) and it was absolutely freezing....we signed the log and we were 'out of there'!

** TO BE CONTINUED....**