 | Home > Expedition & Overland > Iceland - Jul 14 |
 
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666   
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Planning for this trip are pretty much sorted now. I'll look at putting an itinerary up and a map of the proposed route on here for any gems of advice out there.
Jobs done today: Safari Snorkal bought National Luna Weekender 50 fridge ordered Down sleeping bags bought www.alpkit.com I've been extremely impressed with the quality and value of this kit. Rustproofing booked:thumbsup: Still need to sort a tentipi and stove but that'll have to wait until next month. |
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13th Feb 2012 3:59pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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GREENI - no problem.
Planned Iceland Itinerary 11th August to 1st September 2012 Saturday 11th August 2012 0800 Depart for Hirsthals, Denmark 1530 Depart Hirtshals for Faroe Islands (deluxe cabin) Sunday 12th August 2012 1230 Arrive in Torshavn, Faroe Islands Monday 13th August 2012 In Faroes Tuesday 14th August 2012 In Faroes Wednesday 15th August 2012 1530 Depart Torshavn for Seyðisfjörður, Iceland Thursday 16th August 2012 0730 Arrive in Seyðisfjörður After disembarking from MS Norröna we will stop Egilsstaðir to get some fuel and groceries before travelling down the 931 along the length of Lagarfljót (or Lögurinn) heading down to Snaefell, where we can explore and will camp the night. Friday 17th August 2012 This morning we will head up to Askja, a staggering whorl of volcanic mountains circling and 8km wide bowl formed by collapsed magma chamber, one of the Earth’s grandest pockmarks. We can swim in the Lake Viti, a warm opaque blue-green pond at the bottom of a steep crater. Then we continue up to Lake Mývatn where we’ll camp overnight. Saturday 18th August 2012 Early rise for a full day around the Lake Mývatn area. There are the ‘black castles’ Dimmuborgir, where there are volcanic pillars and caves and tunnels the most famous being Kitkjan (the church) which looks like the interior of a gothic cathedral; bubbling mud pools near Námafjalla; the crater of Mt Hverfjall that shadows over Reykjahlið and provides one of the most sweeping views of the area; bubbling mud pits near Hverarönd; a rough road north goes to Krafla and the Viti crater; pseudo-craters at Skútustaðir. A drive back around the 1 and up the F862 will lead us to Dettifoss, Iceland’s mightiest waterfall where we will take a walk to see the massive curtain of milky-grey glacial water thundering over a 44m precipice before taking the road to the west of Jokulsa river towards Hljóðaklettar (Echo Rocks) where we’ll stay overnight. Sunday 19th August 2012 Today we’ll travel on to Ásbyrgi, one of nature’s wonders a horseshoe shaped gorge, then around the coast road to Húsavík, where we’ll go on a whale watching boat trip. We will then drive down to Goðafoss and across to Akureyri and have a night in the Icelandair Hotel Akureyri Monday 20th August 2012 We will travel further west and then south onto the F35 between Hofsjökull and Langjökull. We can stop en route to absorb the views before reaching Kjölur where we’ll camp and explore the area. Hveravellir at Kjölur is an oasis within the desert with hot springs of near-boiling blue water which are lined with white silica with small mud pools of black, brown and red minerals. Tuesday 21st August 2012 We can continue to explore this area before heading south, calling in at Kerlingarfjoll and then down to Hvitarvatn, a large glacial lake, with river crossings on the way. We will then visit Gullfoss (Golden Falls), Iceland’s best-known natural wonder, a 105ft waterfall in a steep-sided canyon, which flows into the Hivta river. They spray creates shimmering rainbows over the gorge, a truly amazing spectacle and a rewarding scene after a nice hike. Since the Great Geysir at Geysir is unpredictable, we will go to the one at Strokkur which erupts every 5 minutes or so. Finally we’ll head across and camp in Thingvellir. Wednesday 22nd August 2012 Heading north we will explore Strutur and the Surtshellir lava tubes before heading across further east to the Westmann Islands area and the Snæfellsnes peninsula. We will stay in Arnarstapi/Hellnar and explore the Western coastline including the magnificent columnar basalt rock formations at Arnarstapi, the Hellnar sea cave, Badstofa and the Snæfellsnes glacier, Drangajokull. Thursday 23rd August 2012 After we’ve finished exploring the Snaefellsnes peninsula we’ll head south to Glymur, Iceland’s tallest waterfall, where we can take an apparently treacherous hike which is well worth the effort. We will then drive to the Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most important sites in Iceland.. We can explore the area where Iceland’s parliament, Althing, first met in 930AD and the cliff overlooking the Althing where speakers stood to address the parliament gatherings. It’s the largest natural lake in Iceland and we can hike through the wonderful landscape and explore the North American and European continental shelf plates being torn apart from on land. We’ll camp at Thingvellir overnight. Friday 24th August 2012 Today we’ll do two dives in the Silfra Crack exploring the Silfra Hall, Cathedral and Lagoon. We will see the North American and European continental shelf plates being torn apart in beautifully clear water. After the dive we will head to the capital, Reykjavik, which is full of thriving cafes, friendly pubs and a brightly coloured old town with rows of wooden houses clustered together. One of the trendiest capitals in the world as Icelanders are obsessed with design, technology and architecture. We will camp overnight in Reykjavik at the campsite near the football stadium. Saturday 25th August 2012 After we’ve finished exploring the capital, we complete the Golden Circle tour attractions by visiting the Blue Lagoon, the most famous geothermal pool and the most photographed feature in Iceland. The blue-green algae and white silica mud form a light natural sediment on the bottom of the lagoon giving it its opaque, aquamarine colour, it is surrounded by jet-black lava fields and often people in white mud. This lagoon has a water temperature of 40degC and is reputed to have curative powers. We can relax and have some bathing time here and stay overnight at the hotel. Sunday 26th August 2012 We will start the day by heading to Raufarholshellir near Hveragerði, a lava tube that you can wander through to about ¾ mile past eerie ice candles and tortured lava formations and then take a horse ride from a small farm close to Hveragerði. As we continue to drive east we will stay overnight either at or on the way to Skógar. Monday 27th August 2012 We will visit the beautiful waterfall of Skógarfoss and the Skógar Folk Museum before driving to Skaftafell and take a relatively short walk to Svartifoss waterfall which has a dramatic backdrop of basalt columns. We can also drive all the way to the glacier tongue Svínafellsjökull. We camp at Skaftafell. Tuesday 28th August 2012 An early rise to get across to Jökulsár Lagoon at Jökulsarlon. In this large lagoon immense icebergs float around and we can make a short boat trip among them giving us the opportunity to see them close up. We will drive further east to Höfn and the beautiful scenery at hornafjörður where we’ll stay overnight. Wednesday 29th August 2012 We continue the route around the Eastern Fjords taking us back towards Egilsstaðir which we can explore the before an early ready for our early start on the ferry tomorrow. Thursday 30th August Egilsstaðir to Seyðisfjörður and homeward bound (need to be there 3 hours before departure). 1000 Depart Seyðisfjörður for Hirtshals (suite) Friday 31st August 2012 At Sea Saturday 1st September August 2012 1230 Arrive in Hirsthals 1900 Arrive home Costs so far: Ferry - 3200Euro (we've spoilt ourselves a bit with a deluxe cabin out and the suite back  )
Air Iceland Hotel in Akureyri - 120Euro Map of our route to follow as I need to scan it in and transfer it onto here. Cheers Ian  |
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13th Feb 2012 10:01pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10367
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Holy moly, that's awesome, I've not read it yet, as I'm only on iPhone at mo, but I'll look later !
That's very well planned 
Keep the info coming. |
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13th Feb 2012 11:45pm |
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| LRSoffroad Member Since: 15 Feb 2012 Location: Doncaster Posts: 189 
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I went to Iceland in 2009 and spent 2 weeks roming round have a map with all the interesting bits on if you need any tips , also the location of the DC10 airplane which is in most landrover arty shots
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15th Feb 2012 11:07pm |
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| Mountain_man Member Since: 09 Dec 2011 Location: Right side of Offas Dyke Posts: 756 
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Apparently (and this has no come back on me!) one of the worst kept secrets is that there are no checks made on the height of your vehicle and everything goes on the same deck with lorries and campers etc so it doesn't make much difference anyway. BUT if you are honest about the height of your truck you will pay a lot more for it. Multiple sources of persons going there regularly assure me they have never paid the height excess and have never had an issue yet. Sorry if you have already paid for the tickets!
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15th Feb 2012 11:57pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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LRS - I'd be keen to know where the DC10 is?
Mountain man - already paid unfortunately but we'll see if they check. The ferry company have you by the balls anyway as they are the only provider.... |
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16th Feb 2012 8:56am |
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| LRSoffroad Member Since: 15 Feb 2012 Location: Doncaster Posts: 189
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yer no problems are you using map book isbn9979-3-2753-7 ? if so page44 on road1 heading west from VIK near Framnes turn left towards the sea some where near road number 222 on the map it is Solheimasandur on the wash out from Solheimajokull will try and get exact grid refrerence for you but hope this helps also have location of the filling station under Hofsjokull its in the middle of nowhere
 just a pump on its own |
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16th Feb 2012 1:09pm |
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| FG Member Since: 01 Apr 2011 Location: Somewhere on the Swedish East Coast Posts: 63  
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Man o man what a great trip you got planned!
I'm a regular Iceland visitor myself and going over to Landsmót in july this year. A dream would be to bring the landy for a couple of weeks. Looking forward to hear about your trip! /FG |
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25th Feb 2012 9:39am |
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| LRSoffroad Member Since: 15 Feb 2012 Location: Doncaster Posts: 189
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some of my photos of my trip
 Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge |
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3rd Apr 2012 9:42pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10367
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Nice pics Derrick
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3rd Apr 2012 10:44pm |
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| LRSoffroad Member Since: 15 Feb 2012 Location: Doncaster Posts: 189
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cheers Greeni im off again next yerar if you want to come ??
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3rd Apr 2012 11:01pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10367
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We need to talk
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3rd Apr 2012 11:04pm |
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| Higgers Member Since: 08 Apr 2009 Location: Cheshire Posts: 666
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Gutted - this trip has had to be cancelled
 . The Army has seen fit to send me on exercise for 2 weeks which clashes with the trip.
Anyone got any ideas for jobs in civvy street?? Last edited by Higgers on 26th Apr 2012 8:01pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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26th Apr 2012 7:40pm |
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| Zagato Site Supporter Member Since: 08 Jan 2011 Location: Billingshurst West Sussex Posts: 4990
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Professional trip guide/planner  |
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26th Apr 2012 7:54pm |
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