HILL OF TARA AND NEW GRANGE

SUNDAY- Went of to see the Hill of Tara this morning.  The rain seems to have gone for a while.  THe Hill of Tara is a pretty significate site for the Irish as this is where the ancient Irish Kings where annointed.  Really very low key.  After a quick walk around with a guide we could just wander ourselves.  The views from the top of the hill are great.  This is the highest spot around which of course was why it was chosen by the ancient people.  We were finished wandering and had had lunch by 1.30 and a little at loss as to what to do for the afternoon.  We have been warned not to go to the other sites after lunch as the bloody tourists flock to them in hundreds on tour buses.  After a bit of a debate and with Lonely Planet in hand I said to Ian that is says to throw away the guide book and go to some of the little places along the Royal Canal.  We spent the next 5 hours following this virtually unused canal from Kilcock to where it comes out into the Shannon River just west of Longford.  A great thing to do.  The skies were overcast and the reflections in the still waters just beautiful.  Loads of little old stone bridges and on Longwood the canal flows over an aquaduct with the road underneath.  It was 8.30 when we arrived back at the B&B which was half time at the World Cup and a nil all score so watched the second half and the extra time.  It always seems a bit sad to me when teams play for so long and a winner is decided at the last minute.  Anyway I was hoping Spain would win, so a good result for the Spanish fans.

MONDAY  -  Went off to New Grange today.  This is an extremely organised site.  Huge car park, then the Centre and a walk across the river to where the buses pick up to take you to the sites.  Each person is given a sticker to say what time you catch the bus.  We went to Knowth first.  This is a collection of passage tombs.  The guide we had there was a bit of an actress but went over the 6,000 years of history in about 6 minutes and gave a great background.  These are actually about 500 years older than the pyramids.  The stones that we used to built these came from miles away.  It is all pretty mind blowing when you consider that some of the outside boulders are up to 10 tons.  Pre wheel days they believe they brought them up the river and then used logs to roll them to the hill.  The celtic engravings are still visable on many and they are quite intricate.  It was then time to catch the bus to New Grange site.  This is a huge single passage tomb.  Virtually the same as Knowth however you can actually go into the tomb.  The construction is pretty amazing and also acts as a sundial.  Both the mid winter and summer suns reach down the passage to the tomb through a box opening above the entrance and along a long narrow passage.  Whilst there we started chatting to a fellow Australian only to discover he grew up in Hunters Hill and knew people Ian did.  Finished up having lunch with him before heading off to the Battle of Boyne site.  Bit uncanny really because today is the anniversary (12 July).  We looked through the exhibition there but were both over the history tour by then and just drove back to Carlanstown.  Great sunny day with nice blue skes.

TUESDAY - Heard on the news this morning that 80 police were injured in Belfast last night during marches.  Although 'The Troubles' are over the problems and resentment still exist.  So glad we were there last week and night this week.  Left Carlanstown this morning and drove to Slane where we thought we would walk along the tow path that was marked on the map near the old canal and river however it was really non existent.  We walked for a while but gave up as the canal is completely overgrown with tall grass and we were away from the river.  Drove on towards Mellifont via the Hill of Slane.  Went to the Mellifont Castle which must have been beautiful once but now just a ruin.  The original priory lavabo is still fairly much intact and some nice pieces of stone work still visable.  Had lunch at Monasterboice and then headed for Dublin via the coast.  Had a drive around Skerries, Rush and Malahide but by now the rain had really set in again and you could only just see the headlands and out to sea. 

We have now arrived back into Dublin.  Pouring with rain.  So ends our driving around Ireland.  

NORTH TO SOUTH

WEDNESDAY - Spent a relevantly quiet morning in and around Armagh.  Ian went off for a walk whilst I found a giant size coffee in a cafe with a internet so was able to catch up on the last week's blog and emails.  We discovered a fantastic outdoor photography exhibition around the city entitled 'Earth from the Air' a ten year project by a french photographer (about 100 in all - at least 2 m x 1 1/2m placed in parks, squares and shopping malls.  Amazing images and we wandered around looking at them.  After lunch we went off to the Navan Fort.  An ancient mound or hill where a fort has been the archeologists work for many years.  Interesting and makes us wonder just how many of these are out in fields all over Ireland and other parts of Europe.  These are pre-viking invasion so date back to BC.  There is a very informative Information Centre there as well as a reconstructed 'cottage'.  The thatch and basket weave walls are fantastic. 

THURSDAY - We went off to Belfast today driving as far as Lisburn and using the park and ride into the city.  Once there we took the city tour bus around Belfast.  This took us out through the dock area and then to the Parliment House which is huge, back into the city and then to the Shankill area which is very much the protestant area of Belfast.  They were preparing for the Battle of Boyne celebrations on 12th July.  Union Jacks were flying everywhere and shops decorated with flags and red, white and blue balloons.  Men and boys were starting to build huge bonfires, mostly out of pallets and they were already 3 or 4 metres high.  I feel this must inflame troubles but was told by a lady that 'they' (the catholics) have their celebrations in August and they do the same.  We had been warned to take our Australian flag out of the back of the car because it is possible that some radical would see it as a union jack and put a rock through the car window.  Bit sad.  No photos.

FRIDAY -  It is time to get out of Northern Ireland before the weekend so we have driven south today towards Cavan.  The only way you know you are across the border is by the line markings on the road and you start seeing different number plates on cars.  We wanted to see an old castle built on a mound in the middle of a lake outside Cavan.  We must of missed the turn through a forest park and kept driving around, almost in a circle looking for the entrance.  Finally decided to have some lunch at Bellturbet which was north of where we had started.  We then set off again and finally found the entrance to the lake (a well hidden place for a castle).  After driving down a little narrow lane about two ks we pulled up and walked towards the water.  Sitting there with fishing lines was an old couple - no car in sight - with everything imaginable for a days comfort and fishing.  They told us they came from Leicester in England by train and ferry and heavens knows how to this little remote spot and have been coming for the past 40 years to fish on this lake.  That's dedication.  The search was worth it, the castle is a fairly well intact ruin but a beautiful spot.  The overcast sky gave nice reflections in the water.  We then drove on to Carlanstown, near Kells where we will stay for the next four nights. 

SATURDAY - It has been really wet today, even the locals are saying it is really bad and unusual at this time of the year.  We went off to Kells this morning and managed to walk around most of the things of interest without getting wet.  This is the area where the famous manuscript (The book of Kells) was hidden in a monastry, stolen, buried and then found much later - we saw it at Trinity College in Dublin).  The monastry no longer exists.  While wandering around we saw a lot of activity outside a club house and asked what was happening.  The all-Ireland Handball grand finals were on and they invited us in to see it.  Four players were on the court (similar to a squash court) playing fast and furiously with a ball about the size of a tennis ball that they bounce around the ball and onto the back wall.  A glass wall at the front protects spectators.   Later we went off to Trim - it was pouring by this time so we found a dry, warm place for lunch and the rain eased a bit by the time we finished so we went to Trim Castle.  This is where Braveheart was made.  Huge Castle with lots of history of course.  The rain continued and after we had been through the castle we walked across the river Boyne to get a view from the top of the hill.  Whilst crossing the river we saw two fly fishermen standing in the water that looked freezing up to their knees.  We were feeling wet and cold enough.  Anything for a fish I suppose. 

Whilst travelling around I have just loved looking at the begonias.  They are in flower all over Ireland in the most beautiful colours.  Parks are full of them, hanging baskets, street boxes and the rain doesn't seem to do too much harm. 

BIRTHDAYS - 7/7

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCEL AND MARY.  

NORTHERN IRELAND

FRIDAY – Today we continued to head north into Northern Ireland. We stopped at Enniskillen to change Euros to Pounds sterling. This came out in Twenty Pound notes and we had to pay 30 pence for the car park. I thought I’d had a good spit at the pokies when the change kept dropping out – all I could do was fill my pockets with change. We stopped at Omagh and had lunch then walked around till we found the memorial for the victims of the Omagh car bombing in 1998. There are signs in shop windows asking for a full enquiry into this bombing still. We then took a few country roads through little villages and came across the mountains to Coleraine where we booked into a B&B for the next 3 nights. This was a nice drive and occasionally the sun broke through cloud which really showed just how green the hills really are. We went looking for a pub for tea and found these in a lot shorter supply in Nthern Ireland than they were in Ireland. We finally ended up in a Pizza place that was packed. There were at least 8 waitresses and I have never seen waitresses move so fast. They literally ran in the tiny spaces between tables. The couple next to us finally asked what part of Australia we came from and told us they had lived there for three years but the wife wanted to come home after she had had their first child. He certainly hankered to go back.

SATURDAY – Ian went off on one of his long walks around Coleraine this morning whilst I had a rest. I am really feeling very tired because I have trouble sleeping whilst it is so light and not many of the places we have stayed have very dark curtains. After lunch we went for a drive around the nearby headlands to Port Stewart and Port Rush. Point Stewart has what is known as ‘the famous long white beach’. For 4 pound 50p you can drive your car onto the beach almost to the water. There were heaps of cars there along with a couple of Ice Cream vans. It was overcast, blowing a gale and freezing but a few hardy people were ‘surfing’ in the surf which had a few good waves. Port Rush is very much a seaside resort, loads of apartments, the usual fair grounds etc. This is where the really good surf is apparently. The cliffs are fantastic. Again it was very overcast and drizzling with showers. We sat in the car and waited for the sun to break through the cloud over the cliffs but it didn’t really happen. We will drive back there on Monday and hopefully this weather will have cleared by then. Finally found a pub for dinner.

SUNDAY – We caught the train to Derry (Londonderry) today. Again the showers continued and the wind is just awful. Derry is a walled city and we walked around the wall (always against the wind) then down into the city itself. There was a great police presence at each of the wall gates and we were talking to one. Apparently they play a pro-active role in case of troubles. He said it will be a long time before the troubles here are over, so much is handed down from one generation to the other. The Bogside fly the Irish flag whilst the other side fly the St George flag. The orange people were just getting ready to march as we passed the Apprentice Hall however we found out later they were laying a wreath at the memorial to commemorate the Battle of the Somme. I found the place a bit depressing. Ian walked into the Bogside area to have a look at the murals. I was happy to find a coffee shop and wait out of the wind. We caught the train back to Coleraine. The train journey was described by Michael Palin as one of the nicest in the world and it certainly is nice – only about 50 minutes through mountains on one side and the rivers Bann and Foyle on the other

MONDAY - Today has been a big day even though we only travelled 81 ks.  Again it started out overcast and we retraced our steps around the coast to Port Rush and then continued on the Causeway Coast.  We saw a little steam train steaming up and Ian was ready for another train ride.  I went along with him on this real Thomas the Tank engine.  The smell of coal was very strong and the steam really going full force.  It was only a couple of miles and most of the journey was through a golf course. The golfers seemed to accept that they had to wait for the smoke to disappear before they hit across the line to the green.  We then went to the Giant's Causeway.  What an incredible formation this is.  Much bigger than I imaged it would be.  We did the cliff walk around the top overlooking the causeway and then down the steps onto the rocks and bassalt formations.  Later found a great pub nearby for lunch which we felt we really deserved after the climb up and down the cliffs and back up again.  A Guiness went down well today.  Thankfully we were blessed with some sun during the day and the wind calmed down a bit.  It is so unpleasant walking against it.  We drove on around the coast to Cushenden which is a pretty little village on a bay - they call it a beach!!!

TUESDAY - We continued around the Causeway Coastal road today driving along a road that was build almost on the shoreline and fantastic cliffs and mountains on the other. Really quite spectactular.  Once we reached Larne we headed inland and are now at Armagh tonight and have decided to base ourselves here for the next three nights.  We will go into Belfast on a bus or train and also do the various historic sites from here.  Again we have been through overcast and showery weather today.  It is nice when you get some sun occassionally.  Starting to look forward to some ozzie sun and blue skies again. 

South to West

SUNDAY 27TH - We have travelled around the Dingle Peninsular today which I think was more spectacular than Beara. There were some really nice coastal views, although can’t say the beach was as good as Shelly however certainly pretty with nice cliffs around them. There has been loads of ancient and medieval ruins to look at. It was really only a long mornings drive around and we were back to Dingle in time for a late lunch. We discovered Seafood Chowder today. Yummy. We then continued our drive north and finished up at Bunratty, probably more famous for the ‘Durty Nelly’s’ pub then anything else. It was packed when we went there late this evening.  Top image is Ian climbing to the top of a hill for a bit of exercise.

MONDAY – Our first stop today was at Craggaunowen where there is a restored Castle and reconstruction of earlier forms of housing from pre-historic to 6th Century periods. I wanted to have a look at some Lake houses that were there. It was raining gently so didn’t spend a lot of time there. Continued on towards Doolin and had lunch along the way. We have been seeing Bacon and Cabbage on the menu everywhere however we actually saw the real thing and decided to try this national dish and it wasn’t bad. Ian saw a little train steaming up near Kilrush and stopped to take a photo to discover it was about to do a short trip. He loves steam trains so hopped on. It only puffed up about 2 miles but he enjoyed it. The spokesman for the train museum was a character. His accent was very strong but he told some interesting tales. When we arrived at Kilkee the cloud was so thick down on to the ground that we could barely see 50 metres however as we drove around the coast it cleared and by the time we arrived at Doolin it was a lovely clear evening.

TUESDAY – The main reason to stay at Doolin was for me to go across to the Aran Islands by ferry. Ian has no sea legs at all so he stayed and did some walking around the Cliffs of Moher. I had a lovely day on the small Inishere Island which is pretty much the same as it was 100 years ago and the least commercial one of the three Aran Islands. On the way back we cruised around the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher which are really fantastic. Very rugged and high. The birdlife here is prolific. (Tried a Guiness today after my walk around the island.  It wasn't bad.

WEDNESDAY - We spent a lovely day today amongst wild flowers growing amongst the limestone rocks on The Burren.  We called into a Perfumery that use these wild flowers to concoct some lovely fragrances.  The small wild orchids are just starting to flower.  They are so fragile looking amongst the rock.  We had nice weather this morning however this afternoon the clouds turned dark and by the time we arrived at Leenane where we planned to stay it was very wet.  Each time we travel we alway manage to pick one lot of accommodation from hell and this is it.  When we arrived a young girl showed us to our room - she was having trouble speaking English and we discovered she was a student from the Czec Republic on a working holiday running the place.  It was old, very cramped and not really very clean but it was dry and warm.  Ian went down to ask if the heaters could be turned down but she didn't know how and told him "man back tonight".  Obviously the man came back because all of a sudden the room was cold - heaters off.

THURSDAY - The rain continued all night and the wind blew and rattled the old windows very well.  Miss Manuel managed to make the B&B another Faulty Towers this morning. 

We went down to breakfast and she was in a flap.  She said we had to sit in sitting room and wait - she could only serve one table a a time.  We did as we were told till told to go to dining room.  Breakfast was another laugh - lots of raised eyebrows.  When we were leaving she told us 'wind so bad tomorrow and did not sleep tonight'.  Poor kid, bet she is being paid pittance.  It was still very overcast but we decided to stick with our plans and do the Coonemara mountains today.  This is a fantastic mountain range on the west and runs down to the Atlantic.  Lots of great valleys, lakes and the only fjord in Ireland.  Would have been great to have a sunny day however we are pleased we made the effort.  After we came out of the Park we drove towards the centre of the country and tonight we are at Carrick on Shannon.  It is raining lightly again but much more pleasant than last night.

DRIVING AROUND IRELAND - WEEK ONE

MONDAY – We successfully navigated our way out of Dublin and drove to Glendalough through the Wicklow Mountains. It was a great drive into the country. As we drove out of Dublin there was a mist rising from the river which was really pretty. ‘Suppose it was like we call a sea mist. Glendalough is the site of St Kevin’s monastery which was founded after good old Kevin (a monk) went there around 498 AD to live as a hermit but soon other monks came to join him beside the two lakes in the mountains and a monastery was founded known as St Kevin’s. The walk around the ruins was interesting and the lake walks lovely. The day was really hot and we both got very sunburnt. Ian lost his hat in Dublin and I didn’t bring one. We had lunch in the restaurant at the site and both felt we had over eaten. The meals are huge and there certainly isn’t a potato shortage these days. We then drove south down through Wexford and bypassed Waterford to get to Cahir where we had booked into a B& B for the next few nights.


TUESDAY – Set off this morning to Rock of Cashell. Another monastery site sitting on top of a granite hill. Found our way easily and did the guided tour here which was extremely interesting. St Patrick baptized one of the Ancient Irish Kings here in 450AD. The site was originally a fortress built by King Connor in the early 5th century and later owned by Brian Buro (O’Brien Clan). Guess it was another battle for power – nothing has really changed has it. WE lunched in another Pub in Cashell before heading to Kilkerry. This is not our favorite place. No names on the little streets which were hard to navigate and no direction signs to places. We eventually found the Castle, parked the car and walked up the million steps but were happy to just walk around in the garden and look around. These places were all built near streams or rivers and the surrounding areas are pretty. We found our way out of Kilkenny and then drove through some great little villages back to Cahir stopping occasionally to look at various things. Had a walk around Cahir after a snack for dinner – another Castle here and we wandered around the park like grounds there.

WEDNESDAY – Neither of us felt inclined to go charging off to another city this morning so we drove up into the Knockmealdown mountains (over probably 20ks away) and found a lovely little stream that was hard to leave. It was so peaceful. Leave we did, and drove into Lismore just down the road, another b***** castle by a river. We then drove back towards the coast and into Waterford. After parking the car in a carpark we walked down to the harbor, found an Irish Pub and had some lunch before walking around the city. We managed to fill in the afternoon and drove back to Cahir along yet some other country roads.

THURSDAY - Driving towards Dungarvan this morning, saw a sign pointing to a waterfall so decided to take the little lane and have a look, both of us just laughed at the trickle of water falling down the mountainside. Bit different to the falls we saw in Iceland.  After a cup of tea in the car park decided to go to Youghal which was a very old port town with a nice harbour.  Had lunch here then on to Blarney Castle.  No, I didn't kiss the Blarney stone even though Ian tried to convince me that the attendant wipes it with antiseptic after each kiss. The gardens and parklands were lovely though. 
 
FRIDAY - Packed up and left the B&B at Cahir, it was starting to feel like home.  Had a quick look at an old thatched roof cottage before driving on towards Coachford where we had lunch in a pub owned by a Jim and Mary Cronin.  They were great and had a long chat to them both.  Mary would have taken me off for a game of golf if we had had the time.  We stopped at the Drombeg Stone Circle not far from Skibbereeh which is where the Potato Famine really hit the inhabitants at the time.  I went through the Heritage Museum whilst Ian went off to see a railway bridge and was devastated to discover it was a very ordinary looking iron bridge that now serves as extra space for customers of the nearby pub to sit on.  We then drove on to Glengarriff where we booked into a B&B for the night.

SATURDAY - Today was spent on the Beara Peninsular.  Everyone had recommended this as the best Peninsular to visit.  It was not what we expected however very interesting.  A very rugged area with huge mountain ranges like a spine up the centre.  It is often hard to see a lot as the hedges are quite high.  We drove up to Healy's Lake.  This was an incredible drive up the mountain on a very narrow road however the view once up there was fantastic.  The lake was lovely.  It has been very overcast all day so hard to take photos as the clouds created so much shadow.  We drove to Dursey Point which has a cable car to go across to Dursey Point however it was not running till later in the day so gave that a miss and started up the other side of the Peninsular.  The houses in the little villages are all painted in fantastic bright colours and they really stand out against the grey rocky covered mountains.  We are now on the Dingle Peninsular which, from what we have seen so far, is just as we imaged Ireland would look like.  Lovely rolling green hills running down to the water.  Although it was very overcast and rained tonight they still looked fantastic. 

DUBLIN

THURSDAY 17TH - It was a long day as predicted.  The flight from Iceland to Paris was three hours, we then had a 9 hour wait in Paris and filled in the time around the airport eating, reading, wandering around the shops and more eating and coffee drinking, then a one and half hour flight to Dublin arriving at the B&B at 11.00pm.  We were happy to see a bed in the room.  Both felt like we were getting too old for this carry-on.  The taxi driver that picked us up at the airport had great affection for Australia.  He was there for three and a half years, met his wife there (English) and was finally deported for overstaying his welcome but obviously enjoyed his stay.


FRIDAY - We said we would go to breakfast at 8.30 so I dragged myself out of bed and pulled on some clothes and joined Ian who was up, showered and ready to go.  New country, Ian was ready to explore.  Off he went whilst I went back to bed for a bit more sleep.  In the afternoon we went into the City.  What a buzzing place Dublin is.  The number of people was a bit overwhelming after quiet Iceland.  Ian went off and found a car rental place whilst I went to the Touring info place.  We will pick a car up on Monday.  Trinity College was the easiest place to walk to so off we went, did a tour with one of the students (who looked like Tom Cruise but a much nicer person) then went and looked at the Book of Kells and other ancient manuscripts then went to the Long Room which houses a copy of every book published in the UK with an ISBN.  Just amazing number of books.  Unfortunately no photos here so can't share this with you. We then walked back and looked around the CBD, checking out the bullet holes at the GPO - the result of the 1916 Rising and generally got our bearings.  We caught the bus back to the Clontarf Village, near where we are staying and had dinner in a restaurant and walked back to our B&B.  There is a TV in the room so Ian has been watching the World Cup whenever he can. 

SATURDAY - I purchased tickets for the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus which is the first time we have ever done this however the places of interest seem to be so far apart so we hopped on at stop number one and listened to the commentary till we reached the Kilmainham Jail.  We did the guided tour here and found it very moving.  Many of the Easter Monday (1916) leaders were interned here until they were executed by firing squad in May of that year.  The conditions in the jail were just horrible as they always are and 4,000 prisoners were sent to Tasmania on the Success as convicts in the late 18th Century.  At one stage there were 9,000 in the jail which was built to house about 500.  Many Irish tried to get into jail during the potato famine just to get some food.  How sad is that.  By the time we did the rounds on the bus again we decided it was really too late to do any other 'sights' so filled in some time around the city centre and then had an early dinner in town before catching the bus back to Clontarf.

SUNDAY - We have been much more into the sight seeing today.  We used the Hop On again and went out to Merrion Square which has been closed off for the weekend because the Bloomsday celebrations have continued since Thursday.  A great carnival atmosphere, as only the Irish can do.  They just get into it.  We then walked through St. Stephen's Green and around to Christ Cathedral but there was something happening there today so couldn't go in.  I then spent a couple of hours at Dublina - a museum that tells the history of the Viking and Medieval Ireland.  Ian, in the meantime found a paper and sat in the sun and read that.  After lunch we went to the Dublin Castle, looked around here and then walked back through Temple Bar, the drinking, eating part of Dublin.  Pubs almost outdo restaurants two to one I think.  We walked back to the bus stop and caught the bus home.   Today is Father's Day in Ireland and all the nearby restaurants were full tonight so we settled for a pie overlooking the harbour which was just lovely.  A few more light meals like this certainly want hurt us.  There weather has been lovely, always a keen little breeze however out of that the sun is just lovely. 

LAST DAYS

Sunday-Well the sun did shine last night however the light was not as magic as the night before.  We were deeper into the Fjord and there went behind the mountain before it reached the water level and there was cloud.  Today we went to Akureyri - this was to be the place to play golf however it was very overcast and cool so we went up to the golf course, had a look and I decided it really wasn't worth probably the equivalent of $150 to play when a game at Emerald would be just as exciting for a lot less money.  The pro shop wasn't very encouraging either.  Ian and I both left feeling pretty disappointed as this is where the Artic Open is played in a couple of weeks.  We visited a Santa shop then had lunch in a nice resturant.  By this time it was drizzling with rain and getting colder so decided to call it a day and go back to the hotel which was out in the countryside.  The setting was lovely.  A very responsible 18 year old was managing it for his parents whilst they were away on holidays in Italy.  I think he will be glad when they get back though.  There was a lot of washing after two coach loads of people from last night.  The rain did stop and the cloud cleared a little and I took a few more night shots.

Monday - We decided to divert from the program and drive north again however when we got to where the map showed a tunnel going through the mountain from Olafsfjordur to Siglufjorour was not finished we gave the 80 odd kilometres of dirt road a miss and back tracked and drove around the bottom of this huge mountain range which was a lovely drive any way.  After lunch we were driving along and saw a huge mob of Icelandic horses being mustered so stopped and watched.  They really are beautiful animals, small but with this great flowing mane and tail which seems to fly when they are moving around.  The last port of call tonight was to Kolugil canyon with yet another enormous waterfall and then the long canyon with water gushing down.  We still had a long drive to our hotel at Laugar for the night and were very glad to arrive there as the rain was really coming down again.

Tuesday - The drive back to Reykjavik wasn't all that far we drove down to Borgarnes where we had lunch and then north to Eldborg Crater then around the Hvalfjorour Fjord and on to Reykjavik  This Fjord was a very large base for allied warships during the WW 11.  We arrived in Reykjavik about 4.00 in plenty of time to return the car after giving it a badly needed wash.  Ian is always relieved to hand the cars back in good condition when we rent them.

Wednesday - I went off this morning on a small boat to the outer harbour to go Puffin Watching.  What funny little creatures they are.  There are about 5,000 pairs on the little island we went out to and it was great watching them flying around and diving into the water.  They are very heavy birds and have trouble propelling themselves up out of the water to fly off.  Ian met me at the wharf and we walked up around the CBD, had some lunch, warm soup, it was wet again today.  Then visited the Art Gallery before walking back to the hotel and packing up.  We have an early start in the morning.  Wake up call at 4.00am to go to the airport for a flight back to Paris and then to Dublin later in the day.  It will be a long day.

Thoughts about Iceland.  An interesting place.  The landscape is very different.  Mostly mountainous with some valleys in between.  Colours are very black and white - there is snow on most mountains still - frozen glaciers, thermal geysirs and mud pools, water like we just dream of in Australia.  I've mentioned the big water falls but there are small waterfalls just everywhere tumbling down mountains into the rivers, streams and fjords.  The grass is a beautiful green and at present the dandilions are in flower along with the lupins so you get yellow and purple carpets in various places.  Plenty of bird life however no other wild animals.  Sheep, cattle and the horses are the main farming things.  Fishing is the big product. 

Across the top of Iceland

Saturday - We left Raufarhofn this morning and drove across the top of Iceland.  The most northerly point is not on the road however we could see the marker clearly so not too far from the tip.  The temperature went down to 4 yesterday and reached 9 however today it reached 19 degrees so great range in two days.  We then headed south and after checking that the road was open and okay went to two waterfalls.  The first, Hafargilsfoss, was pretty spectacular and the second, Dettifoss is said to be Europe's most powerful waterfall.  It was fantastic with huge sprays of water as it hit the bottom this created rainbows in the canyon. Very hard to get clear shots.  After leaving there we had a slow 30 k drive along a very rough gravel road before getting back on the sealed road again.  Our next port of call was at some geothermal area (similar to Rotorua) with thermal pools spitting sulphur mud with lots of steam vents and bubbling mud.  The surrounding area was very bare but interesting shapes in the surrounding hills.  It was 3.00 when we went into Reykjahlid where we found somewhere to buy a salad roll for lunch.  This was on the Myvatn Lake and we later drove around it and then went for a walk through a Lava Field with contored crags and pillars.  We stopped at some pseudo craters nearby (really just small craters above ground level and then on to another waterfall, Godafoss - this name was given to the falls because some chief became a christian in the year 1,000 and threw his pagan idols into the river so it is known as waterfall of the gods.  Whatever it was a really nice waterfall and a nice end to the day.  We are now at Porisstadir in a hotel overlooking a fjord.  There are two coach loads of Germans also staying here and enjoying their shooters and wine in the lounge with much giggling and frovolity. We don't dare mention the war.  It's

11.30 pm and we are waiting for the sun to go which must  happen soon.  Last night the colour was just magic about this time so hopefully it will be the same tonight. 

EAST, SOUTH , WEST THEN NORTH

Monday – After picking up the car we set off from Reykjavic east to the Pingvellir National Park. Already we are in some volcanic landscape. After walking up through a valley overlooking the park we had lunch and then set off to our first waterfall – the Oxavarfoss (foss means waterfall we’ve discovered). This was worth the walk – very pretty. It was sunny and when we got back to the car we wondered why we were carrying all those layers of warm clothes. Soon found the aircon and drove along in comfort. Our next stop was at Geysir – the first geysir was discovered here and the reason all geysirs are so named. The original one doesn’t erupt very often however one nearby ‘Strokkur’ is very active and goes off every 6 to 10 minutes so we spent a while here watching it. Probably not as spectacular as ‘Old Faithful’ in Yellowstone NP, US but certainly more prolific. Close by we walked down to the waterfalls of all waterfalls. The Golden Falls at Gullfoss – these were just fantastic. Absolutely huge and the power of the water coming over is just amazing. We climbed down the steps to the bottom and then back up again and walked around the rim – every angle was different but each beautiful. We drove on from here stopping at other places of interest. The sun disappeared behind cloud and we soon turned off the a/c. Our first night was at Leirubukki. A small community south east. We had dinner in the restaurant and were surprised to see so many women in the restaurant. We found out they were from the local area and met there once a month – one group were a bit like a View club the other group were made up of more professional women who have a lot of input into the local area. Sounded good to me.

Tuesday – After breakfast and hearing about the local Icelanic horses – these are in mobs in paddocks like we see cattle – we quickly moved into the real volcanic area and seemed to spend the day walking through fine black volcanic dust. It was a very overcast day and couldn’t see the top of any of the high mountains but could certainly see the devastation of the recent eruption of Eyjafjaklajoksell – Joksell means volcano, I think – it was really dark and cold around this area. Interesting though. More waterfalls – Seljalandsfoss – there were three in this same area and then Skogafoss – this one fell from a great height and Ian climbed up the steps to the top whilst I happily stayed down the bottom taking photos. We finally found the last sandwich at Skogar about three oclock. Any sort of shops are very infrequent and really no villages at all just farm communities. It is extremely isolated. Why would you want to live around volcanoes that could go off anytime anyway. This was really only a short driving day but we managed to take about 8 hours to travel 200 ks. There was just so much to stop and look at and once we got out of the real volcanic area we came into some very pretty mountainous country and onto the east coast.

Wednesday – Well if yesterday was volcanic today has been Glacier day. We only drove about an hour when we came upon the beautiful glacial part of Iceland. The ice is also dusted with black volcanic dust but they stand out so white and are just huge. We seemed to be driving towards them for miles and stopped to have morning tea outside Skaftafells National Park and from here we had a great overall view of the Skaftafellsjokull, Vatnajokull, and Svinafallsjokull glaciers. Once in the park we walked to the ‘snout’ or face of the Skaftafellsjokull across the various levels of vegetation that have grown as the glacier has retreated. The final kilometer is across the dry river bed which was very rocky and then the water where the glacial run off flows. After lunch back at the National Park Headquarters we decided to drive into the other Svinafallsjokull glacier which the Fromers book tells us the road ends just 500 metres from the face of the glacier which it did and it was fantastic to be able to walk up and look down onto the face. Unfortunately the road was very stoney (probably an old river bed) and we hit a rock which damaged the rim on a back wheel which meant a flat tyre. After repairing this and driving on with the spare which is only a temporary tyre we drove on a lot more cautiously sticking to the main roads. We stopped at Jokulsarlon where there is a glacial tidal lake with small icebergs float. This is just beautiful – it was like a fairy land with beautiful blue tinted blocks of ice in a variety of shapes floading along with the tide. Today has been a big driving day 460 ks. The rest of the drive to Eglisstadir has been around fjords – up one side and around the other with mountains on the other side. A fantastic road and just so pretty. (You guessed it jokull means glacier).

THURSDAY - The program gave us today as a free day which was great as it enabled us to have the rim and tyre repaired which didn't take long at all this morning.  We then went for a short drive up to the top of the mountain and back down the other side to a small village, Seydisfjorour, which was settled in the 1800s by Norwegians. It is now a place that a lot of artists and writers come to now and you can understand why, it is very pretty and a lot of little timber cottages sit around an small inner lake.  We had lunch at the local pub and a wander around before driving back to Eglisstadir where we are staying again tonight.

FRIDAY - We have now reached the far north eastern part of Iceland and are staying tonight at Raufarhofn another fishing village.  We are staying at the only pub in town which is run by a bit of a character who has spent the last 12 years planning an Artic Henge which is under very slow construction many due to lack of funds.  This is a sun dial similar to what Stonehenge once probably was.  The trip here was interesting.  Not a lot to stop and look at but the road took us on top of a very flat mountain and we were able to see 360 degrees for quite a while which is not something we have been able to do very often since leaving Reyjkavic.  There is still snow and ice all around on the highest parts of the mountains which in the main are black so you get this very black and white landscape.  We had lunch at a pub at Porshofn.  The Fromers recommended the clam chowder in this pub and we weren't disappointed beside the fact that it was freezing cold and some hot soup really helped warm us up.  Somewhere a long the way I needed to find a loo and we stopped at a village and I asked a young fellow where they were.  His comment was 'I'm not a native of here, just here for the summer but I think you will find some toilets at the camping area'.  I had trouble not laughing when he said he was here for the summer because it was 4 degrees according to the thermometer in the car. 

ICELAND-Days 1&2

Our hotel

Saturday/Sunday - Our departure from Paris and flight to Iceland was pretty uneventual.  The airport is about 50 ks. We caught the shuttle bus in to the hotel.  Our first impressions of Iceland were very much 'oh what have we done'.  The landscape was just dismal.  Very flat, volcanic rock with very little colour - just black - not much else. As we drove into the city it did improve although the suburbs are very lego land type housing - some painted in bright colours others continue this grey colour.  Our hotel is a walk away from the CBD.   

Ian walked into town this morning, I chose the bus option.  We managed to get our wires crossed as to where to meet.  Eventually we caught up with each other, had lunch and then walked around the centre of the city which the locals call 'down town' this is where the eat streets, museums etc are.  We went to the Art Gallery and saw a couple of interesting exhibitions.  Back to the hotel for a while and then the walk/bus fun all over again.   Ian walked - I bused however the bus didn't go where I expected and when I asked the driver (he couldn't speak english) a young fellow explained that I was on my way to the outer suburbs and it would be best if I went to the end of the line and caught another bus back to where I wanted to go.  This was about an hours fun and games and I have now seen lots of Reykjavic.  Ian was waiting and we went off and had some dinner in a local pub.  We are impressed with the food.  So far no half sheeps head, whale and horse meat, puffins.  The lamb I had last night was just fantastic.  It is chilly out and about but the rooms are so heated we are sitting around in very little.  Tomorrow the next lot of fun starts when we pick up the car and start our self drive tour around Iceland. 

Top photo: Houses in the centre of city

Centre: Some young lads who stopped and asked us where we were from and why we were visiting Iceland.  None of them knew where Australia was.  They start a 10 - 12 week school holiday next week.

Bottom photo:  Lunch time dancing in a square - much fun it seems.