Hafragilsfoss was almost deserted. We had the most magnificent view for the beans we cooked on our camping stove. This was one of the most memorable views of the entire trip and we spent a couple of hours taking it all in from different angles.
Our lunchtime view at Hafragilsfoss.
Dettifoss was the most astounding waterfall of all. This side of the waterfall was reached after 29 bone jarring kilometres on a volcanic ash road. The people on the other side, had driven on the comfort of tarmac but we got Hafragilsfoss thrown in as part of our deal (see other gallery). The volume of water and the maelstrom below looked like a vision of hell.
Driving through the south, we encountered hundreds of square miles of the thickest, softest moss on earth. It was over a foot thick in places and covered what seemed like the world's biggest collection of boulders. Unbelievable.
Gullfoss was the first waterfall we saw in Iceland and it was stupendous even though the weather was miserable. The scale of it was hard to take in as it consists of several cascades and then one giant leap into a narrow abyss. Mesmerising. This image was shot from one of our phones. I don't think it came out too badly considering!
skógafoss is astonishing. It just thunders over the sheer cliff and you can walk as close as you like to the downpour... providing you like to get soaked by spray. The noise is heart stopping. Then you can climb up to the top and take in the views from there while seagulls wheel around you. Wonderful... but we had miserable drizzly weather.
This was as close as we came to a glacier. It's hard to see in this photo but this glacier is huge. Sheena is standing on the edge of a cliff. The ice below here towers about 15-20 metres high.
The glacier filled lake of Jökulsárlón was one of the highlights of the entire trip. The ice had to be seen to be believed, such were the incredible shapes and colours.
Words cannot really describe the scale of glaciers like these.
As we drove into Bakkagerdi where we were staying with an Icelandic family, we were welcomed by a rainbow across the beautiful mountains over the bay.
Hengifoss is a long walk up a steep path but the valley is beautiful when you get there. The thin red layers are caused by irons in old soil layers that have been solidified by lava flows that have settled on top of them. In other words, you can look back in time here and see several eruptions as they built up the cliff.
This valley was a surprise when we decided to take a shortcut on a dirt road. Didn't see a single other car on the 30km we travelled. But we did see a view!
No picture can capture the hissing, the gurgling and the truly nauseating smells that emanated from the otherworldly landscape which we encountered as we approached Myvatn in nothern Iceland.
Myvatn Nature Bath water emerges from the ground superheated by pressure to 200 degrees C. It then rests in this bath until it is cool enough to heat the buildings and fuel the baths themselves. It's even used to keep the car park tarmac warm in winter so that it doesn't ice over!
The Myvatn Nature Baths are bright blue and the lovely, warm water soft and cloudy.
The area around Lake Myvatn in the north sits atop a very thin layer of the earth's crust. As a result, geothermal energy is in abundance and literally seeps out of the ground. This is harnessed to meet the country's need for hot water and electricity.
Lake Myvatn is dotted with the amazing remnants of history's past volcanic eruptions.
So much of Iceland was a violent combination of land and sky. This photo captures both.
Lake Myvatn
The hardy Icelandic pony has to endure some of the harshest conditions (and haircuts) on earth.
So overwhelming is the landscape that the eye at first fails to see the lonely cottage. There wasn't another building for miles.
Coming over a rise in the road, we spotted this gorgeously situated house. We could only imagine how living in such a spot must impact your senses year after year.
On the last day of our trip we were heading back to Reykjavik and stopped at a beautiful lake. Behind us the road we'd travelled described a perfect ark to the horizon.
