No Northern Lights last night – though there were faint colours in the cloudy sky
A very early morning check of the sky was a slight disappointment. No Northern Lights but there was a crunchy, crisp frost on the ground. The morning also involved turning every bag inside out, as Alistair had misplaced his reading glasses. We were beginning to check spaces three times (a certain lost diamond ring came to mind) and mentally tick off all the places visited. The last possible place was the swimming pool from the hot pool visit the night before. The tour group were very understanding and … hoorah, the glasses had been handed in.
Off we set, visiting ice crusted waterfalls (did we mention that Iceland has a just few waterfalls?), travelling through stark rocky high country along lonely highways, stopping infrequently to marvel at the views. One lonely roadhouse (my translation) was remarkable for its total isolation, turf covered roof and walls, automotive warning example and expensive petrol.
The geothermal wonders of the high country are varied and amazing. We visited Hverir, a very active sulphurous (think smelly) steamfest. Fumaroles and bubbling mud pools were noisy, plentiful and remarkably colourful. Our souvenir of the walk through the area was a lingering smell of sulphur on our clothes and in our hair and stinky, mud caked boots.
Another steamy destination was the cave Grjójtagjá, used in the Game of Thrones series (John Snow and Ygritte get all hot and romantic). A later visit was to Jardbodin, a series of thermally heated outdoor pools. Relaxing in steamy 40ºC bright blue hot water, holding a glass of red wine, while enjoying the sunshine in a 2ºc day was a terrific way to end our trip.
Our hotel was very elegant, the dinner was delicious (probably the best yet) and we were pumped by the cloudless sky. And we were not disappointed. We had the most brilliant Northern Lights display. Standing in a bitter, howling wind was not a problem, as we kept warm by marvelling at the spectacular bands, coronas and ribbons dancing across the sky. It was beyond magical. Often the Lights are only visible through cameras, but these auroras were so bright and colourful … very obvious to the naked eye. After 1 ½ hours of excitement and awe, the cold drove us indoors. Imagine our delight when we discovered we could lie in bed and watch the Lights from our window.
Result!
See separate post for more Northern Lights photos.
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