Iceland Trip Account - Day 5

Day 5

• 8:20. Slow start. Big bowl of cereal. No one slept well that night. Might have been the wind… maybe it was Icelandic trolls whistling. Who knows.
• We head to the very South of Iceland to a town called Vik (appropriately meaning “bay” in Icelandic) and on the way we stop off at the viewing point of Eyjafjallajokull - the volcano that erupted in 2010 that caused a bit of flight chaos in Europe) and I spend the best part of 30 minutes learning to pronounce the dormant beast. The phonetic pronunciation to the English tongue sounds like “Eya - fiyat - la - yoku - ch” except the “ch” is more of a click - or “shh” - between the side of your teeth and your cheeks. An unusual sound that does not exist in the Standard English language unless your name is Louie Spence.
• Anyway… the coasts of Vik are primarily known for their black sand beaches. This naturally forming visual juxtapositions are formed from the basalt rock that is erupted from the nearby volcanos. The basalt rock is refined over time by the tide leaving an incredibly fine sand that lines the coasts of southern Iceland. There are a handful of examples of this across the globe, most notably in Hawaii, where they are very protected due to them relying on volcanic activity. Hence: no volcanic activity equals no black beaches.
• Whilst there, we were graced by some incredibly photogenic and curious puffins. I could safely say that puffins are one of - if not - my favourite birds. Quant little wings on a little body and a toucans beak, rocking a penguin style costume: they are always a pleasant and unique sight to see. Nice and all but especially nice when they are 5m in front of you. My long lens felt like a macro lens at this distance in terms of bird photography.
• Lunch with the view of the coast and then we drove round the bottom of the bay.
• I walked up the black beach bare foot, curling my toes in the soft black sand like it was my first time standing on a beach. I did of course put my stone skimming skills to the test but I didn’t walk in the tide for long as the North Atlantic Ocean is unforgiving in temperature. 100-200m of coastal strolling brought us a seal bobbing around nearby and diving for fish; some washed up orange fish eggs; and some unusual stones and volcanic geological findings.
• On our return we stopped off at Skogafoss waterfall. You will have undoubtedly seen this waterfall in photos before. The rainbow formed at the bottom which made it almost too picturesque!
• Shop stop for carrots and a new pair of overly priced sunglasses then we’re home for 6:23. It’s a spag bol night so I’m on cooking duties. Another Martini to help the chef of course. Good stuff.