Fire & Ice: a pandemic escape 2021 July-August - part 1.

 

Fire & Ice: a pandemic escape

(part 1)

2021 July-August

 


Our trip to Iceland was founded on a desire to do some more exploring, within the limitations created by the Covid-19 pandemic. We had planned a “big trip” to South Asia for 2021, then when it became clear that this was not viable, we thought we’d spend six months wandering around Canada, during which we could visit friends and family. This too proved impractical: quarantine limitations coupled with a ban on visits other than for critical purposes meant that it would not be feasible. We had been doing some short trips in Colombia (see https://alanymarcemoreexploration.blogspot.com for details) however our wanderlust led us to seek other options and when Iceland’s need for tourism income resulted in a welcome to fully vaccinated visitors we decided to spend a month exploring the country, having successfully completed our vaccinations in June. 

It would have made no financial sense to ship our own vehicle, nor to consider buying one to sell again, so we decided to rent a vehicle. To have access to the “F roads” we needed a 4x4 and to make the trip economically viable we needed to camp. There is a big business in Iceland renting campers and we chose a small 4x4 (Hyundai Tucson) with a roof-top tent (RTT). This would be our first experience with a RTT so would be an interesting experience compared with our previous approach to camping (converting the vehicle to have a bed inside). 


 

 

Our travels can be viewed in some main chunks:

 

- en route (New York)

- South-east Iceland (Keflavik, Reykjanes, Reykjavik and the surrounds)

- Snæfellsnes Peninsula

- The West Fjords

- Northern Iceland

- The East Fjords

- South Iceland

- the (uncertain) return trip…

 

Reflections on visiting Iceland:

 

Daylight hours – at the beginning of our time in Iceland there was no night – the sun does set for a few hours however it remains light all night, and so this creates the opportunity to explore until late. We frequently arrived at our campsites at 2300h, made dinner, enjoyed a tea of glass of wine, and went to bed at midnight, having spent far long in our exploration than is possible in tropical places, where, especially in Africa, the lights go out at sunset, which is at about 1730h or so, and so in Iceland we had five or more hours more light to enjoy our wandering.

 

Traffic – there is little traffic around Reykjavik and Akureyri, very little in most of the coastal areas, and hardly any in the West Fjords and Highlands. The only time we were in what could be described as a traffic jam was in Selfoss one day, where we were held up for at least three minutes. 

 




 

 

“Free” car wash – the roads other than the main ring road and a number of other primary routes are “gravel” , which basically means volcanic dust, and so vehicles get extremely dirty very quickly, especially when it rains, which it does occasionally (!). So there’s a need for car wash facilities, and somewhat surprisingly these are available at no charge at almost all service stations. We became accustomed to washing down the vehicle routinely, which makes camping more pleasant, compared with the few occasions on which we prepared dinner with a dirty rear doorway. 

 


 

 

Security –  Iceland is known to be safe, and we had direct experience of this when we inadvertently left one of the car doors open (as in – wide open) while we walked up to the main viewpoint to see the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall Volcano. This left the vehicle completely accessible for about three hours, in a car park where hundreds of visitors were coming and going. On our return to the vehicle we found everything untouched, which would not have been the case in many parts of the world.

 

Hot springs – there are reportedly 107 hot springs in Iceland, although we suspect that there are many more which are not publicized. They range from the “top end” springs like the “Blue Lagoon” with shops selling spring-related products and souvenirs, and with a fairly high entry price, to natural hot springs all over the island, with no facilities at all (the changing room is Iceland). We enjoyed lots of these, and found them to be one of the most enjoyable features of the country. 

 


 

 

Statistics:

 

Accommodation:

 

Camping – 25 nights

Hverafellir Hut (in the Highlands on a very cold and windy night) – 1 night.

Hotels (on arrival in Keflavik and Reykjavik, twice to be able to run workshops remotely, and prior to departure to relax for a couple of days) – 7 nights

 

Distance and Fuel  

 

We used 438.04 L of diesel, at a cost of ISK 103,664, which works out at an average of ISK 237/L; for those less familiar with the Icelandic Krona this is equivalent to USD 822.73 at USD 7.11 per US gal. We drove 5900 Km or 3688 miles so fuel consumption was 7.42 L/100 Km or 31.9 mi/US gal. As a comparison, had we been able to use our own vehicle we would have used more than double the fuel and it would have been petrol/gasoline giving an approximate cost of USD 1930.00 for the trip.


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan & Marce, 2021 July/August

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