Yes, I'm still here and sorry for the long gap from last post to this but time to catch up with where I left off last time....
Iceland 11th - 21st July 2025
After Estonia it was on to Iceland where we arrived on Friday 11th and, with our hire car picked up and (expensive) grocery shop done, we headed off for a 3 night stay in the capital, Reykjavik.
Saturday morning and the girls made an early morning start to arrive 3 hours later at Kerlingarfjoll, a mountain range in the Icelandic highlands....
Meanwhile Vivien and I decided to explore Reykjavik.....
Sunday and it was the "Golden Circle' road trip - a full day taking in 3 tourist sites. First was Pingvellir National Park - also a UNESCO site. It is the home of the first Icelandic parliament from 10th - 18th Century and famous for the Rift Valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates separate to form canyons. 
Geysers were our next stop - there were a number of geysers in the area but a particular one - Stokkur - was the larger and with cameras on the ready we all stood around waiting for it to erupt which took anywhere from 10 - 15mins.... photos taken it was time for lunch...
Well nourished with what seems a regular menu item - lamb soup - we headed off to see our first waterfall.... Gullfoss....
Monday morning and after breakfast and working out just how to best pack the car - after all there was 4 of us with luggage plus all those little extra purchases we seem to make on our travels, we decided to spend a bit more time exploring Reykjavik.....after working out how to use the parking meter !
A great bakery was found - one of many - and decisions had to be made!
A final photo shot, pastries on board and by midday we heading north (in clockwise direction) on the "Ring Road" leaving behind this beautiful and interesting city.
We detoured off the Ring Road to the Snaefellsnes Peninsular - a drive which took us through the town of Borganes where some of Iceland's first settlers arrived. Unfortunately the museum was closed as it would have been interesting to have a look through.
From there it was a scenic - and interesting - drive to the harbour town of Stykkisholmur with delightful brightly coloured buildings. 
Stykkisholmur....
The day was not over yet so onward to the small town of Grundargata for the night and finding that the iconic Kirkjufell was just down the road..... said to be one of Iceland's most photographed mountains and it was quite spectacular!
This photo below was taken just after midnight - the sun was on its way back up!
Tuesday was a longer driving day (just over 6 hours) as we headed to Akureyri in the North with a couple of stops along the way. The first was Saxholl - an extinct volcanic crater... 385 steps up and you can view the crater and experience 360 deg views!
Back on the road we we took a slight detour off the main road..... here we are discussing the excellent state of the dirt road while some very interested locals checked us out......
We then found the eerily cold, windswept and isolated site of Iceland's last execution on 12th January 1830, that of 2 farm servants found guilty of murder. The true story inspired author Hannah Kent's Burial Rites (which I had read).
Early that evening we arrived for our 2 night stay at Akureyri giving us time to take a wander around the town. 
The 2nd day of our stay in Akureyri we set out on a road trip taking in a number of "must see" sites. The first was Hverir - a lunar like landscape with mud cauldrons, steaming vents and the overpowering smell of sulphur!
Next stop Iceland's (and Europe's) most powerful waterfall on top of a canyon.... Dettifoss! And as with most sites visited there always seemed to be quite a walk to get to the site.....
After a hot walk to the waterfall and back we appreciated the only food stop as we enjoyed a "must have" Icelandic hot dog and cool drink!
Refreshments eaten we were off again stopping along the way to see if we could see any puffins on the cliffs that faced the North Atlantic Ocean - a few were seen but a long way off!
Finally we arrived at Husavik (believed to be the earliest Viking settlement dating back to 9th century) where we enjoyed a late lunch before relaxing for a couple of hours (!) at the Geothermal cliff edge infinity pool - with the obligatory glass or 2 of champagne!
It was a very relaxing way to end a day that had seen us visit some very interesting and varied sites ....needless to say we had a good nights sleep on our return to Akureyri.
Next morning before leaving Akureyri a coffee down town as we fine-tuned the day's drive to our next destination and more pastries bought - but no photos!
A couple of stops.... Grjotagja... a small cave with geothermal hot spring in its depths (not for public swimming)
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And Myvatn Lake where we stopped along the foreshore to take some photos.......
Next we arrived at the amazing Stuolagil Canyon with its basalt formations.... viewed firstly from a viewing platform on one side .....
.......Then Hayley, Megan ad Vivien climbed to the bottom to take in the view from there while I rested on a grassy slope and enjoyed the view!
(Photos from Megan)
We were at this site for some time so it also became a stop for much needed refreshments!
By late afternoon we were arriving at our night's accommodation in Seydisfjordur, nestled between the shore of a narrow fjord and steep mountains. A quaint village of colourful houses, rainbow street and a blue church..... time to explore before dinner and again after breakfast in the morning......
As we travelled down the East Coast the warm, sunny days disappeared and the skies became overcast and the weather cooler.......out came the hats, gloves and puffer jackets! By the time we got to Vestrahorn mountain, the black sand beaches and the Viking Village (built for a film set) it was freezing and blowing a gale!!
We were all very grateful to arrive at our accommodation - a cosy guest house in Hofn.
some photos of the scenery along the way.....
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Saturday 19th already and no sleeping in as we were on a mission - 10am Amphibian boat tour on Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon to see the ice flows. Unfortunately, due to fog, visibility wasn't great but it was, depsite the fact that it was also raining by now, an experience!
After a hot chocolate we were again on our way this time to Svinafellsjokull Glacier.....didn't get all the way out to the face of the glacier as it was still quite a way from the car park - as were most of the sites we visited.
Last on the agenda for today was Fjadrargljufur Canyon. It was like coming across a hidden magical fairyland stretching for 2km of moss covered steep walls up to 100m deep. Mogarfoss Waterfall ad Fjadra River are a part of this amazing site. Hiking paths are around the rim only to protect its ecosystem. Even on a cloudy, misty day the view was spectacular!
On to Vik and after a long day we were happy to settle into our "home" ready for a good nights sleep!
Our last full day in Iceland and time for a quick look around Vik before we were back on the road off to Reynisdrangar - black sand beach and Iceland's iconic basalt sea stacks. Iceland's many tales of folklore suggest the stacks are remains of trolls frozen in stone because they were out past sunrise!
Finally... at Dyrholaey peninsular, the southernmost point of the mainland, we came up "close and personal" to Iceland's puffins!! During our travels we had seen them at a distance nesting in the cliff faces but this was just the best!!
Not much further down the road we also found Icelandic horses in a field - their horses are pure bred since Viking days.....
The last waterfall on our trip - Seljalandsfoss - one that you can walk around the back of. Hayley and I admired it from afar while Megan and Vivien did venture all the way round - getting rather wet! We finished off with another great hot chocolate (they finish off the hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream - yum!!) and a donut!
A quick stop in Selfoss and in no time at all we were heading back to Reykjavik!!
A last night at an airport hotel and here we are unpacking our hire car.... how did the 4 of us and all this luggage fit in!!
.... and so an amazing (and epic) road trip came to an end - it was very busy with long days but well worth every minute discovering this wonderful country!!
From Iceland we flew back to Helsinki. Vivien flew on to Scotland to meet a friend while the 3 of us flew back to Brisbane .... we had rather long wait for our connecting flight in Helsinki so took over a section of a cafe!!
Before flying home from the Gold Coast I spent a few days staying with Megan and James getting over jet lag, relaxing and enjoying lunches out.
And that dear readers brings me to the end of a wonderful trip away with my girls and sister, Vivien. If reading this you find it hard to pronounce those tongue twisting Icelandic places you're not alone.... we often referred to places as "that A place" or "that S place".
Do we have another trip planned? Not yet.......
There is still more to catch up with for the end of 2025 so I will be back before I move onto 2026!!
