We got up and out the door before the sun rose…which isn’t a difficult thing to do here it was like 10:30am and still dark. We got in the car and drove east into the frozen tundra, up and down glaciers and mountains and valleys until we reached Seljalandsfoss, a huge series of waterfalls off a glacier. We didn’t walk all the way around it since parts of the pathway were solid ice, but it was still really gorgeous. Then we continued east until we got to Skógafoss waterfall, another big one but this one liked to spray people and it was way too cold for that! There was a couple there doing wedding photos and I have no idea how the bride was managing in her sleeveless dress.
In December there’s only about 4 hours of solid daylight, so we were already getting close to sunset. We skipped a couple destinations we were planning that involved a lot of walking and went straight to Reynisfjara Beach, or the Black Sand Beach. This place was really, really cool. A black beach made up entirely of volcanic rocks and ash with gigantic waves that have literally swept people away because they “sneak” up randomly and with a lot of force. We hung out there for an hour looking at rocks and watching the sunset before we decided to wrap it up and start heading back west.
We were going to stop at the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck but it’s like a mile walk off the parking area so we opted not to do that, too cold! We stopped in Hella for an early dinner, and I tried the local lamb shank which was kind of like roast beef in texture, but saltier. It was pretty good! It was pitch black by the time we got back on the road at 7pm and the skies were clear; however, we apparently picked a week where the chance for aurora is low and we likely won’t be seeing it. The gigantic full moon has been pretty awesome though since when it rises and sets it turns an orangey almost red color and it’s super bright when it’s up in the sky. When we got back to the hotel a little after 8pm and crashed, I’m not a fan of the 20 hours of dark here. It makes me tired!
