Camping and Volcanos

We left Tuesday morning to go camping in the interior of Iceland. See how big the wheels are on the van. It's because the roads are unpaved and have lots of lava rocks in them. We also had to cross rivers. It was fun bouncing our way through Iceland. We stopped at many places along the way. The first stop was a place where they round up sheep from the hills.

Each summer the sheep are left on their own. Then in September, all the farmers go up and get the sheep and bring them down to a giant pen. Then they sort them. Each sheep's' ear is marked differently by each farmer so they can tell who's sheep is who's.


After we drove awhile we stopped and our guide Ingi started preparing our lunch. I helped. We had cheese and dried fish, lamb jerky, and apples.


Then we went to see one of the original settlers homes of the Vikings. It's been reconstructed on the original foundation. We walked on a hike from the house and we had to cross a couple of rivers.
See
here I'm crossing
part of the river with Grandma.

Then we drove some more and went to several waterfalls. This one was neat because of the rainbow. It also just appeared in the middle of nowhere.

Then we went up higher toward the Volcano of Hekla. It's one that is still active. This lake is formed on the side. It's fresh water.

We spent the night in a little wooden cabin by a river. Ingi our guide grilled a leg of lamb and we had a delicious desert called Skyr. In the morning we left to go higher up into the mountains and see a glacier up close. There was even snow. When we got back to the apartment. Grandma and I went over and fed the swans and ducks. It was really fun adventure and we saw lots of cool places.


We head out for the airport in a half hour for the airport. See you tomorrow!!!!

Cemetery, National Museum and the Zoo

My mom and dad have been looking for cemeteries to visit (they like to find the old graves). Today, we found the Reykjavik City Cemetery. We split into teams (mom and grandma/dad and me) and went searching for the oldest grave. Dad and me won--we found one from 1846. The way people are named here is with their first name and

then either their mom or dad's name as their last name plus (son or dottir). My name for example would be Nelson Ericson or if I was a girl I would be Nelson Nevadottir.

After the cemetery hunt we went to the National Museum that has the whole history of Iceland. It had all kinds of old stuff from the first Vikings up to today (they had this clear plastic wedding dress from 2000). They also kids stuff to do. I tried on old clothes, played games, and heard old folk stories.

From there we went to the zoo. The Iceland zoo doesn't have elephants or giraffes, instead they have cows, pigs, seals, reindeer, horses, sheep, and a ROOSTER!!! They also have rides and a playground.

Finally, we went over to one of my mom's friends' house for an Icelandic dinner. We had roasted lamb leg, cous cous, and spinach, and ice cream with strawberries, yum!! I got to play some soccer with her grand kids (they spoke Icelandic so I'm trying to learn some).

We're off camping Tues/Wed. so I won't be able to blog until Wed. night.

Glaciers and Icebergs

On Sunday we took a really long drive along the South coast of Iceland. But we saw really cool stuff. We left from the apartment and headed east along the Ring Road. That's the road that goes all the way around the island. As we drove the land

Lava rocks covered in moss along the road.

looked different. Lots of lava fields and mountains. One place the mountain had caves and sod/cave houses that were used for barns. Lots and lots of sheep.

We stopped at a waterfall called Skogafoss, which is over 186 feet tall. We climbed steep stairs to get to the top. I heard from a local Iceland person that a settler long ago hid a chest of gold behind the waterfall and that glittering gold is what makes on the rainbows!






From the waterfall we headed to Iceland's largest National Park (and Europe's largest to0 called Skaftafell National Park. We took a hike to see one of the largest glaciers. One of the things that happened to this area is a volcano erupted in 1362 that was almost as big as the one that covered Pompeii (that's what mom read at the visitors center) but the volcano is under the glacier now. There were all sorts of little flowers and plants that grow over the lava.















In front of the glacier at the National Park.





From the Park we drove on to Jokulsalon, which is also called the Glacier Lagoon because of all the Icebergs in the lagoon. The icebergs "calve " off from the Bridamerkurjokull glacier. Calve off means big chunks of ice drop off into the water. After awhile they float out into the ocean. Pieces of the

Picking up an ice berg; it was cold!!!

iceberg also come to shore. So I got to pick one up. Some of the icebergs look like things like a whale or Darth Vader's head, or
the Statue of Liberty. It was a really, really, long day but it was fun to see all the stuff.

Whale Watching and the Blue Lagoon

We left early to head out looking for Whales. There are supposed to be Minke Whales, Humpback Whales--and sometimes Orca. There are often White-beaked dolphins too sometimes. But I think they forgot to tell the Whales that we were coming to look for them. We left on the Whale-looking boat and stopped at a little Island full of nesting Puffins. Then we headed out further into the ocean. But today, the guide said the whales must be swimming somewhere else because we didn't see one Whale. The boat ride was pretty fun but sometimes it got pretty rough.
The puffin is in front of the seagulls.


When we got back we headed to the Blue Lagoon. It's a place that's been created from the run off from the geo-therma. So the water is light blue/turquoise and warm. There are pots of mud around the outside of the pool that you can rub on your face and its supposed to make it smooth. Everyone looks pretty silly. I also went in a steam bath (hot) and a sauna (hotter).

Dad, me and Grandma head into the warm water.

Heading into the Blue Lagoon (floaties were required by the rules for anyone under 10)

Museums, Waterfalls, Geysers, and swimming pool

When we got to Grandma's apartment, we rested for a couple of hours and then headed out to the Perlan, which is a pretty cool water tower. See the picture below. Inside we ate lunch and went to a museum called the Saga Museum. The museum was scary but fun. I learned a lot about Iceland's culture--like the Vikings and the early settlers. I also got to dress up in Viking helmets. The helmets were heavy and so were the weapons. Then we hiked down to the beach and walked along the ocean. The sun never went down but mom and dad finally made me to bed.




This morning (Friday) we left on a tour to lots of cool places in the Golden Circle (South west Iceland). We saw the pipes that bring the hot water to the city. Then we went to Thingvellir (a national historic site) where the Icelanders had there first government in 930. It was awesome. They used the cliffs as a big auditorium.




After that we went to the waterfall called Gullfoss (Gold water fall) where I walked out over the waterfall. It was really misty and I got soaked. Then we ate lunch and I had a big bowl of Lamb Stew. From there we went to see a Geyser. Geyser are caused by pressure under ground that builds up and then blows its top. This one goes off every 5 minutes or so. We also stopped at a energy plant where they turn Hot water they drill from the ground into electricity.


Tonight, we went at a pool where there was a water slide. But the outside temperature was about 40 degrees but the outdoor pool was almost 90 degrees. Everyone in Iceland likes to swim and there are pools and hot tubs everywhere.T

At the Geo-Thermo EnergyPlant

I've arrived in Iceland

Nelson lands at the International Iceland Airport.

I just arrived in Iceland at 6:30 a.m., Thurs. We took a bus from the airport into the city of Reykjavik. Then from the bus terminal to my Grandma's apartment. We're going to rest a bit and then head out to the Saga Museum that tells the story about Vikings and Iceland.
Lots of lava rocks and very few trees. It's foggy and rainy, just like Deep Gap.

At the airport I exchange some money. $1 = 122 ISK (Iceland money)

Trouble posting from airport but we're on schedule to arrive at 6 am