Trial by Fire

So imagine you get up in the morning, jump in the car and drive for 45 minutes in the car to the airport through these strange multi-laned round-abouts through a foreign country with signs you can’t read.  Now forget everything you just learned and completely reverse it.  Driving on the left side of the road, all the controls are backwards, and you’re driving a standard changing gears with your left hand.  Well, that was me today but instead of driving with one or two lanes, there were 4 or 5 driving out of London.  Thinking I was driving with the flow at 60 mph and having people wailing by you doing 100 mph on the freeway being 3 feet away well... let’s just say it took a bit of time to get comfortable.  All I can say is thank god they didn’t change the clutch, brake and gas pedals or I would have been really buggered.

So I digress for a minute.  Here are a few tips for any of you that might be thinking of travelling on a cheap flight airline.  When the stewardess comes around to ask if you want juice or water, just say no.  Thinking it was the complementary juice, water, coffee thing, I said yes.  Six pounds later, we’ve got the smallest juice I’ve ever seen and a small bottle of water.  Surprised they didn’t charge for the ice.  Lesson learned!  

Lesson number 2 – Read the fine print!  As we were flying over to England, I actually took the time to read the fine print on the car rental agreement... international driver’s license.  Well, I didn’t see that before and sure don’t have one of those.  So we get into the Luton Airport and clear customs, etc to wonder if they’ll rent the car and if not how in the world are we getting to Shropshire?  That and where did they hide the car rental company?  Well after walking out of the airport, which was way smaller than I ever thought landing in London, and seeing nothing we started asking around.  Getting pointed in the right direction, we jump on the correct bus to get deposited in front of the car rental building a few minutes later.  So the moment of truth.... and it goes off without a hitch.  Lucky, the fine print isn’t as important as I thought after all!

So we get upgraded into the beautiful new Toyota with not a scratch on it... not sure how long it’ll look like that!  After doing a few loops, stalling the diesel car in a few round abouts, we finally get on the right freeway and start off.  My first round about, I looked the wrong way and got surprised when I saw a car coming our way....got away with that one!  First driving lesson in England learned!  It funny the sights you see and the nice people you meet when you’re totally lost.  Needless to say we met a number of them!  Part way through the drive, Shannon asks me, “wow, isn’t the English countryside beautiful!”  We’ll all I can tell you of England at this point is it’s got a white hatched line down the middle and cars coming at you really fast!  Three hours and nerves completely shot we finally reached our destination.  Rich!!!!  I unhook my claws that have been clenched around the steering wheel and gave him a big hug.  Man it’s good to see you!  So begins the adventure in England!

Sun & Surf in Iceland

Initially we were thinking of taking it easy around Reykjavik but I was still feeling we hadn’t experience the ocean in our travels so far.  Checking into the things to do in West Iceland we decided to head northwest toward the most photographed mountain in Iceland, or so it said.  Once out of Reykjavik there is really not much for people....a few farms the odd small community, gas station and store.  In between its a mix between the volcanic flows of Hawaii and the prairies in Canada.  It definitely has a northern Canada feel, or at least what I think it would be like with shrub brush and scree slopes.  Put that together with high volcanic mountains with lots of ice and you have Iceland.  The other notable condition is the wind.  It seems it’s always windy but then again if that’s the price for beautiful blue skies, I’ll take it.  So with the kids crashed in the back we headed north to see the west coast of the country.

The first interesting site was just north of Reykjavík where there were lots of signs we couldn’t understand and next thing we’re going under water in a tunnel.  Six kilometres later we popped up on the other side to find a toll booth, 1000 krona which is roughly $10 cdn but well worth the short cut as it was almost one hour detour around the inlet.  Up through a mountain pass with the little rental car shaking away, and over the top into the little fishing town.  There are these crazy estuaries that go way inland so they build their highways on a dyke with a bridge in the middle.  Under the bridge the water is just cranking

as the tides move 6 meters from high to low.  The current ripping upstream looked pretty wild and combine that with the wind it makes for some choppy, unfriendly looking waters.

We stopped off at the most photographed mountain for a quick run up the boardwalk.  Once again the wind was whipping to the point you have to open the car doors very slowly or they rip out of your hand and try to rip themselves from their hinges.  A photo shoot with the budding artist, Alyssa and trying to cross the bridge over the falls without getting too wet and we were back in the car.  The wind was so strong there were a number of waterfalls that weren’t falling, they were going up!

We decided to take a short cut up and over the next pass to find this incredible high plateau that still had a pile of snow.  We only had a few kilometres of gravel road but in our tiny little car, we had to drive pretty carefully.  Around the corner and started to head down we found the perfect tobogganing slope.  This was where we invented the next new Icelandic sport.... dadsledding!  Alyssa

didn’t quite have enough weight to get going very fast but combined with her dad, we had lots of gravity.  It even made for the new chiropractic adjustment for the old back!

Back in the car to drop back to sea level where we found this incredible beach down a small side road.  There was tonnes of fishing floats and net debris and an awesome round cobble beach.  We decided to stop for a little sun bathing (we had the whole beach to ourselves!) and a kick back to listen to the waves rolling in.  About as close as we’ll get to Greenland on this trip. 

Back in Reykjavik, we decided to find a restaurant.  Once again the kids wanted to hit a pizzeria and dad decided to try the Icelandic brew.  It was so good, I had to buy some more to share with Rich in England (the beer that is).  Had some incredible pizza and then we got sweet talked into finding some gelato.  Back to the room to organize and pack for the flight first thing tomorrow.  And so ends the time in Iceland, next stop England!!!

Rain from Below

               Well today wasn’t half as long of a day as yesterday. Well at least we didn’t stay out till 9. We got home at 7:20. We are all excited that were going to England in 2 days. Well today was another eggs and bacon day. We headed out after breakfast to a glacier.

 We stopped at some waterfalls on the way. The first and main waterfall had a trail behind it. Mom, dad, and I went behind it but Jenna wanted to stay behind. However mom, dad, and I had rain jackets on and Jenna didn’t. By the time I got around it my pants were soaked. I can’t imagine what it would be like not having a waterproof jacket and hood.

So overall she missed out on the short fun but she was dry in the end. We walked down a paved trail to see the other waterfalls. After we climbed a trail to get a view that wasn’t through a rock of one waterfall. There were chains to hold on to while you climbed a rock. There was on section where it was about a foot wide trail. There was a very scary drop off after you climb up a small non screwed in ladder.

So far the landscape has been beautiful while we drive. I bet you that there is enough sheep here that they could fill an ocean. It would be called the Wooly Ocean. Almost every were you look you will either see a waterfall, farm, river, or lake. We’ve seen about five thousand sheep. Their little baby lambs or so adorable. We have also seen baby foals. Yesterday one little baby foal tried following us in the car but the mom wanted to head up the hill. We have also seen a few cows and a lot of cow guards. Gosh there are a lot of them and they are really bumpy!

By the time we got to the glacier it was later in the afternoon. We walked to the glacier but it didn’t take long. We walked down to the actual glacier. We walked on the rocky ice. We had to stay on the middle of the ice in case of caving. After we got off the ice and back on the ground I found a rock and started chipping of the dirty ice off of some ice burgs on the ground. We ended up eating and touching clean Icelandic ice.

When we got back in the car we started the drive home. It took a long time to drive home some time to get home but we did. We stayed home for dinner and had spaghetti. After dinner me and dad played a crib game then went to bed.     

The Land of Rock, Fire & Water...and Gnomes

After an interesting night of ups and downs...down at 9pm, up at 12:30 a few up at 5 and then dragging our sorry butts out of bed around 9:30, we had a good slow start to the morning.  The place we’re staying in is a house with 5 rooms (12 people) and one bathroom and kitchen.  It made for a pretty tight fit and a long line

for the bathroom but pretty great way to meet other travellers.  After breakfast we got in the car for the day around noon and headed out to see if we could navigate the streets of Reykjavik to get back on the highway.  After a few wrong turns but the fortunate finding of a Bonus (the local grocery chain) we headed north in search of geysers, waterfalls and anything else that we might stumble on.

 They call the circuit the Golden Circle so our first stop was Pingvellir where you can see the tectonic plates pulling away from each other.  It started pouring rain so we didn’t do the walk but managed the drive by.  From there we headed up to Geysir where apparently all geysirs are now named after.  Got a nice hike in, saw about ten ... geysirs? and back to the car for the next stop.  At Gulfoss there is a beautiful waterfall and the wind was crazy... could barely stay on our feet. 

From there it was south to Fuldir where we were in search for the Secret Lagoon.   No idea where it was but the towns are pretty small in that area.  The landscape is rolling hills with some larger snowcapped peaks and farms distributed between the rock piles.  A slow drive through Fuldir and we stumbled into hotpools to find the oldest hotsprings pool in Iceland.  Turn of the century, it was built of large squares of lava rock with a small geysir that fed the pool.  Every 30 minutes it would gush in hot water that made you pretty quick on your feet when it flooded in.  We even managed a few minutes where we were the only people there.  Don’t think we’ll find that at the Blue Lagoon.

It’s sure hard to tell time around here when it really never gets dark.  Turns out it was 8pm and the only way we knew was Jenna’s stomach clock.  Out of the pool for the sleepy drive home after the soak to get some sleep for the adventure tomorrow.  Off to Vik and east for glaciers, falls and a little trek.

What Day is it Anyway

Well what can we say about today? Well first of all we're finally in Iceland!  However lesson number 1 is that we like detours.  When we got our car and hit the road we drove around Keflavik looking for food.  We figured out Icelandic people like Subway and KFC.  We found a bakery and ate. After that we took a very detoured but beautiful root to Reykjavik,

which was were our hotel is.  On the way to Reykjavik we stopped at Seltun Springs which was a whole bunch of pools of which some were so hot they boiled! It was also quite a smelly place because of the springs.  We also stopped off at a few other places and took some pictures.

               Well we got to the hotel but it took a bit to get checked in because the guy had to clean our room.  However some of us were quite jetlagged from our plane ride because of our 7 hour time change. Jenna and I decided to crash on the downstairs table.  Well later we got dinner at an Italian restaurant with a very funny Italian guy after sleeping for half a day.

               We took a little personal walking tour around town after eating super.  We saw an enormous church.  It was a Lurthern Church.  It was monstrous!  After we went around town and saw a huge battle ship.

               Well we walked back up to the hotel and crashed after our long adventurous day.

 

 

 

UP UP and AWAY

So the bags are packed and we did get a bit of sleep last night but the excitement level and anxiousness is building!  After the pack weigh in we have a winner.... Shannon wins with a whopping 31.1 lbs constituting 30% of her body weight.  Jenna and

Alyssa are tied with 24 lbs (21%) and 18.2 lbs (21%) respectively and I think everyone is feeling sorry for me and my back so I ended up with 32.2 lbs giving me a 17% of my body weight.  For some reason I don’t think that trend will continue and I’ll have to step it up and carry my weight!

We managed to say goodbye to most everyone, and those that we didn’t, have a great summer and drop us an email.  Its always good to hear how much fun everyone is having and find out what is going on.  It was tough to say goodbye to friends and family and Ellie but now that we’re out of town, we’re looking forward to our adventure over the summer!

So Shannon thought we should get an early start and get up early but that wasn’t an issue.  5 am and I was running through all the things that we forgot or should pack.  On the road with no issues so we fired right through to Kelowna.  Given the fact I got an emergency call yesterday saying the van was making funny noises.  So off to Grizzly Auto for a quick look and fix.... man we owe you Tom!!!  That and a small bike crash yesterday made it an interesting day but we made it to departure day relatively unscathed.  What a great start to the trip, nice and mellow with no hiccups.... I can already feel myself falling into the mellow, stress free mode of travel.

Right now we are about to head out to Edmonton for our stop over and then Iceland here we come!  And so starts the adventure!!!!

  P.S. Everyone at school or work have a good day (-:

First try on the packing front!

With officially 17 days

to go we thought we'd try to see just how much room there is in our new packs.  We've got the list down pretty tight but the girls thought we should test the limits.  So for the first run I think we did pretty well....everything fit!  Not sure if we have everything but there is still a bit of room for most of us at least.  Think Shannon might have some reorganizing to do.  So the girls are getting their first dose of packing which will be followed by unpacking and then packing again.  They

haven't experienced the joys of living out of a backpack for 3 months!!!  They should be pretty proficient at it by August.

I'm sure the next two weeks will fly by but its feeling pretty relaxed at the moment.  Think we've got everything we need; Passports, check, flights, check, travel insurance, check.  I'm sure there's something we've overlooked but we'll deal with that when it comes up. 

Until then, lookout Iceland, here we come!