ICELAND - Day 2

​Jetlag sleeps are great – we both slept for 10 hours! After a quick breaky of porridge and banana (and peanut butter) , we hopped in the car and headed off on our epic road trip. This would be the longest day of traveling but we are only here for 4 days and must jam as much in as possible. Our first stops were Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi ( try pronouncing them) which are 2 fantastic waterfalls located about 2.5 hours from the Airport on the Southern coast.

These are both really impressive. Seljalandsfoss is the largest and can be seen from the road, easily located at a tourist trap car park which costs about $10NZD to park but you can walk behind the falls which is cool. The highlight of this stop was not Seljalandsfoss but actually Gljúfrabúi or Gljúfrafoss, as it is hidden behind a crevice in the rocks and is super impressive, I made it half way in before my camera was nearly crying I had got it that wet so left soaked but happy. TRAVEL HACK – Drive a couple of minutes and park at the camping ground which is free and then visit all 4 waterfalls, saving yourself enough for an overpriced coffee at the end! 
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Next on the list was Skógafoss, another breath-taking waterfall about 25 mins away from the first.  You can get a great view from the bottom of the waterfall – actually if you get there with no people, it’s an EPIC view as check this shot of Leo below… but it is also stunning from above.  There are stairs to the right of the falls that take you up to a viewing platform and trails. If you are quick and stupid, try it in less than 6 minutes like we did, and I nearly have stroke at the top! The trails lead along the river which we walked for about 30 minutes, loving every second. This is a fab stop, unfortunately, it is over run by tourists but if you are friendly and offer to take their pic, they usually do the same in return and then move out your way.

​The weather so far today was awesome! It pissed it down leaving the accommodation this morning, so we were both a little down, as we don’t like walking in the cold and wet but as soon as we were about 1 hour out, the sun was splitting the sky! At about 2pm we headed to our last stop of the day Dyrholaey in the hopes of seeing puffins. I have been desperate to show Leo these little clown birds and had my fingers crossed the whole day we would experience them. WELL… upon arrival we saw heaps! More than 100 at least and my day was made. By this time the weather had turned again, and I was freezing but the puffin encounter made up for it massively!

On the way home we made a quick detour to Sólheimajökull – a huge glacier located only 7minutes from the main road. We couldn’t spend long here as Leo was falling asleep at the wheel as way I, but it looked amazing and a there were plenty of day trips you can do the climb the Glacier.
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Tonight, we are staying in a farm in Arabaer and it is beautiful. Far off the beaten track and full of horses we pretty much have the whole apartment to ourselves so if coming this way, I would highly recommend ‘Arbaer holiday homes’ – can be found on Air B n B.  Apart from the expense of Iceland, we are really loving it so far! Can’t wait for the next day of adventures tomorrow!