Roadtrippin’ In Iceland Part 2

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After an amazing night’s sleep in Hofn on the South East coast of Iceland, it was time to get up and get at our 2nd day of the road trip which would take us back across the south coast and up to Iceland’s famous Golden Circle.

Here’s the roadtrip map of where we went:

Stop 1 – back to Jokusarlon Glacier Lagoon

So, it was REALLY cold in Hofn. So cold that you sprint when you are outside, to get back inside! Once we had our bags in the car and got our driving rotation sorted, we were back on the road and headed back to Jokusarlon. I was excited.

About 40 minutes later we had arrived and found that there was an actual parking lot and a much easier access to the lagoon than what we’d used the night before.

Again, I cared for no one and nothing else but getting my face full of glacier.

In the midst of my wow-ing, Splodge/Koala had lost her phone and was freaking out that we’d have to drive back to Hofn to get her phone! After a little help though, the phone was found, in the boot of the car, and we got to go back to the wow-ing again.

Jokusarlon is awe-inspiring. Magnificent. How are these glaciers there and why haven’t they all melted? And why is this lagoon a hop skip and jump from the ocean? How can I take this all in and have a visit I know will end? Yes, I really have fallen in love with Jokusarlon.

I don’t think my photographs on my dear old iPhone 5 will ever do the place justice. It’s certainly one you need to see for yourself to take in its true beauty.

Okay, enough sap, Jokusarlon rocks, and then we left on a journey back to the west side of Iceland.

Stop 2 – OG

We only stopped for food (naturally…and yes, we had more burgers) along the way to our next destination a few hours drive away, being the OG. And by OG I mean, the ORIGINAL GEYSIR!

This is the geysir that geysirs were named after! So naturally I was jazzed ALL DAY about the thought of seeing this.

We did not make it to the OG until dusk (just our luck!) and so we didn’t have too long there before night fell. I attempted to take a video of the Geysir erupting, but my phone would not work and turned itself off due to the freezing temperatures. My phone would literally not work due to the cold. Now, that’s a new one for me!

After many failed attempts to get my phone back on long enough to film the eruption, I gave up and we began our search for our cottage.

An Evening in a Cottage

We stayed at a small cottage not far from the Geysir called ‘Uthlid’. This cottage was perrrrfect for us!

We had a living room with a dining table, kitchen, separate shower and toilet, and 2 bedrooms with 2 double beds (which meant we got to snuggle with a friend that night!)

As we had spent most of our day singing along to our playlist in the car, we were all in such cheerful moods that this night went similarly to the last. We played card games and drank wine and filmed ourselves slo-mo dancing, you get the idea.

I miss the cottage.

In the morning we got away nice and early from the cottage as we had a big day ahead.

Back to the Geysir

As I had failed to film the geysir erupting the previous evening, I begged the gals to let me go and watch it again and try one more time. I failed. I don’t want to talk about it.

Gullfoss

We drove up the road to the Hercules of waterfalls – Gullfoss!

Gullfoss is an incredibly large and fast flowing waterfall. As we were there in November in below zero temperatures, a lot of the waterfall was frozen! However, you could still see the force and realise how big this is and how tiny you are. 

As there was nobody but nobody around, when we saw the “DO NOT PASS” sign, which showed paths that we were not allowed to walk on (but that took you much closer to the waterfall) what do you think we all did? Disobeyed the rule and went for it!

Naturally Burke and Wills were the front runners of the adventuring towards the edge of the waterfall.

Unfortunately because the weather was so cold, again, we could only stay for so long before our everything was numb and we had to get out of there and back to the car.

Gullfoss was up there with seeing Jokusarlon.

A spot of lunch if I may?

On our way to our FINAL destination of the vacation, we were yet again starving. Dingo/Canuck saw a building along the drive to the Blue Lagoon which had KFC and Taco Bell – so we knew this was a message from god and we had to pull over.

While we were gazing at all the wonderous foods we could order on the menu, one of the gals Splodge/Koala spotted some familiar faces…

No, it wasn’t the Russians….it was the Hofn boys! They had the same idea to come to KFC and Taco Bell and again, there was no one else in there but us and them! Oh gee, their lucky day.

We all fell to the floor in fits of laughter, trying to say hello to the boys. They barely mustered so much as a grunt or a nod.

They came and spoke with us about their adventures and our adventures and we decided we salvaged our reputations with a somewhat normal conversation with them – phew!

The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon is something pretty special. It has thermal waters which I’m lead to believe have healing properties. This was great news to my ears in the hopes it would heal my cut up knees from the selfie stick fall.

At the Blue Lagoon you can go to the in-water bar and get alcoholic drinks, have massages, and use the free mud pack located along the outer sides of the pools to put on your face and body, which are meant to be great for your skin.

We four gals spent our time in the waters covering ourselves in the free mud, washing it off, covering ourselves again. I don’t know what kind of miracle we were after!

Once we’d spent a good deal of time exploring the waters, we were bored. Well, I wasn’t but some of us were – so it was time to go.

The Blue Lagoon has showers with free shampoo and body wash so that you don’t have to leave mucky.

After the Lagoon, it was time to head to the Airport and the vacation was over.

Final surprise

We had not gotten to see the Northern Lights while in Iceland, as we had poor cloud coverage. However, after our plane had taken off, we heard a message from our pilot saying “If you take a look out of the left side of the plane, you may spot the Northern Lights.” Cue the four of us freaking out!

We all had a turn looking out of the window and were able to see the Aurora Borealis dancing among the black of the night – incredible! How could my Iceland trip have been any better!

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About Lesley

Australian expat, married to a Dutch guy, living in Amsterdam. Previously lived in London for 3 years, too! Lover of travel, coffee, brunch, beaches, fresh flowers, and family. Now a new mum, navigating life with a baby!