Day One of my Magical Mystery Tour had me headed to Reykjavik in Iceland.  Despite it being an ideal stop-off point on the way to Europe, I have never been.  It’s a country I have wanted to visit for a long time, so I was excited by the prospect.

Heading off from Seattle to Iceland in March is such a joyful movie, the views out of the window are a match for any Hollywood blockbuster.  The natural flight path takes you across Canada in daylight hours and the snow-covered views are magnificent.  It’s a tapestry that changes.

All Seeing Window

I wiled away time listening and laughing to a Rob Brydon podcast gazing out of the airplane window and watching the changing scenery.  As the sun was going down it glistened the brightest red off the airplane wing, the sky was lilac, and the ground a patchwork of winter.  As the sun went down I dreamed of seeing the northern lights.

It’s a cool easy 7-hour flight, but also +7-hours time difference, so landing in Iceland meant a night of sleep was lost as day 1 morphed into day 2.  The common sense thing to do would be to head to a hotel and play sleep catch up, but I had no time to waste.  My adventure choice was to get straight into a hire car and head off to the Golden Circle!  When I inquired what to do with a short stay in Iceland the message from Tour Iceland was simple, “get a car”.

Golden Circle Adventure Begins

At 7:30am I head off into a snowy morning driving away from Reykjavik airport not knowing what lay ahead..  The Golden Circle has several attractions, jaw-dropping attractions as it turns out, and the March snow made for a great backdrop, but not so great driving conditions.  It was a bit treacherous at times as I weaved my way between Thingavellir National Park, Bruarfoss, Geysir, Gullfoss and Kerid Crater.  It took nine hours all told.

I wandered these wonderful places there were footsteps and miss steps as I tried to navigate underfoot, and not let it be known that these boots weren’t made for walking in this type of snowy conditions.  The snow stormed down, then the sun came out, and from nowhere blue skies blossomed.   In the blink of an eye the sunshine disappeared and snowy winter was back.  It was a comical back and forth of what number of clothing layers were needed from one minute to the next.

The glorious Thingavellir National Park is situated on the border of two tectonic plates, which makes for a unique landscape.  I enjoyed my visit enormously. The snow cascaded down and wreaked havoc as I climbed the steps to meander up, down, around, and through the jagged gorges. Whilst there I managed to block in a camper van in the parking lot, it was totally accidental, and was not directly just my doing, but I certainly contributed.  The snow had covered all the parking bay line spaces and it was a bit of a free-for-all, and the guy in the camper van got boxed in.  I sheepishly drove away. quickly!  

Thingvellir national Park, if you only go to one place in Iceland, Go Here!

My Golden Circle highlight was Bruarfos, I loved this place. To get there you have to drive down a winding road that was covered in snow and a bit of a challenge, but it is magnificent, no other word for it.

The Golden Circle was radiant.  I am forever in the knowledge that when we visit various tourist spots around the world we don’t all have the same experience, there are so many variables in a day.  As I got to the next stop on the journey, to Gullfoss. we were in a full snowstorm. I couldn’t see properly in front of me as headed to the impressive waterfall. The below photo was taken a few minutes later, like I said, the weather was all over the place.

Don’t Crash The Car

Driving the final stages of my day trip the tiredness began to catch up with me, keeping my eyes open at the wheel was getting challenging and I have to say a little dangerous.  The drops of a few feet at the side of the road made this a mistake not to make.  One false move and the car would be gone to the great ditch in the sky.  A quick break was needed & taken.  My hire chugged along navigating my way almost 200 miles around the Golden Circle route.

I thought I had packed a lot into the day, but there was more as I headed back out to the Blue Lagoon and the lighthouses as Gardskagi.  The sun shone again as I got the the lighthouse of Gardskagi. I do like a lighthouse, it’s a long-held fascination, and the two that sit side by side at Gardskagi were wonderful in the afternoon.

I’m not much of a spa sort of person, or have an interest in geothermal seawater, but the Blue Lagoon is famed for its iconic blue water and it was something I had to see for myself.  Spending $100s to experience it was not on my list though.  Iceland is the second most expensive country in Europe.  For Blue Lagoon kind of money, I would want to see Burnley FC play at Wembley!

I know I was charged handsomely for my 1 day hire car,. The cost of petrol would be a crime in other countries, but whatever I paid for that day, it was worth every penny.  What a brilliant day. A magical day.
A perfect start to the ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, the days ahead have got a lot of work to do to keep up!