25th
April 201
Finally on my way
I am sitting in
Gatwick airport waiting for my flight to Reykjavik, and it has been a busy few
weeks of preparation as well as saying farewell to the people who have put me
up, put up with me, fed me, given me a bed, and generally gone beyond the call
of duty to make space in their lives for me, and make me feel at home.
This is primarily my sister Margaret
down in Miford, and my long time buddy John Skidmore and his wife Di (and their top cat Percy !) up in
Effingham. Without Margaret and Di’s
wonderful culinary skills I would have starved, and without Skid’s trout
fishing expertise my diet would have been much more mundane. And when this is combined with the
frequent visits to the pub for a pint of
Guinness, or the liberal opening of great wines (and other alcoholic
beverages), everything combined to make me feel so very welcome – And I now
have a paunch to prove it ! Thank you
SO much to everyone. As always, words are insufficient.
I have cycled
along the beach front at Milford, had birthday parties with nieces, nephews and their offspring, walked through the bluebells around Effingham
in Surrey, and driven all over southern England, catching up with many other
long time friends, and thoroughly enjoying not only my time with everyone, but
also the stunning scenery around SW England (yes I had some great weather
!). But it is time to move on, and on
the 17th of April I drove Troopie down to Dover to catch the ferry
to Dunkirk and then drive to Antwerp where I was to drop her off for the ship
to Halifax Nova Scotia. As my ferry was
at 4 am on the 18th April, I planned to get some sleep in Dover
Port, but on checking in at 6 pm I was told I could only enter the port 2 hours
prior to the ferry sailing ! So I had to
be escorted out of the port by a vehicle with flashing lights (people don’t
usually drive out of the departure port !), and spent the evening in a local
waterfront pub in Dover – Where at least it was warm.
I eventually checked
in and caught my ferry to Dunkirk and drove on to Antwerp, where the only
hiccup was that my Garmin took me to within 100 yards of the drop off point,
but unfortunately it was on the other side of a waterway, and the lifting
bridge over the water way was closed for repairs !! So it took me about an hour to drive all the
way back through central Antwerp to get to the other side of the bridge ! Finally everything dropped off, and I met a
delightful chap Bernard who was shipping his motorhome on the same vessel, so
we shared a taxi back into Antwerp and the train to Brussels. As there was plenty of time before our
connections, we had lunch and swapped a few stories, and then Bernard set off
to fly back home while I headed to the Eurostar high speed train to
London. (Coincidentally Bernard is
checked into the same hotel as me in Halifax !!).
Never been under
the tunnel or on a high speed train, so it was quite fun to speed across France
at 185 miles and hour ! I was trying to
time how long it took to go under the channel, but unfortunately the train
stopped for a while in the middle ! But
overall, very impressed with the train and service to London. Then a quick tube across London and another
train down to Effingham where Di Skidmore picked m up at about 10 pm – and I
was exhausted ! Straight to bed !
The last week
with John and Di flew by, and finally it was the 25th April, and
John took me to Gatwick for my flight to Keflavik, Iceland. The flight was fun, especially since it was ½
empty, and we arrived in Keflavik airport on time. Bit of a delay meeting my hire car firm, but
all sorted out on the phone and after a quick familiarization tour of my new
’home”, off I went. The car is a little
VW Caddy which isn’t very big, but has a sizeable bed in the back plus a stove,
sink, water, and basic cutlery etc. I
had also requested a pillow and a duvet to supplement my sleeping bag which I
had brought with me. The car also has
studded winter tyres – Since the sky was blue, I wasn’t sure if I would need
them !
My plan was to
drive the Ring Road around Iceland, finishing up doing the Golden Circle near
Reykjavik. After doing a quick grocery
shop for supplies, I set off down around
the Reykjanes Peninsula SW of Reykjavik, a major Geothermal area, setting off
down Hwy 425. The scenery is certainly
stunning, with steam rising all over the place as you drive along, and several
big power stations along the way to harness the power. (Iceland produces ALL
its electricity from either geothermal, wind, or solar). Along the way I stopped at the border of the
North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.
There are only two places on earth where tectonic plates join on land,
and this is one of them – The others are all under sea except one in ??Africa
?? (can’t remember). Anyway, the trench
is quite dramatic, and it is certainly a sight worth seeing, while everywhere
here is volcanic rock and lava, and some of the rock formations are just
incredible. A geologist would have a
ball in this country !
From there it was
on down through the geothermal area, and I ended up at the Blue Lagoon. I was aware that this can be a touristic
nightmare, but since it was getting late and it was still out of season, I
went, and found it quite nice and empty !
And also cold !! There are two
sectors – One where you can look around, and the other where you pay money and
go for a swim behind closed doors. I
wasn’t about to go for a swim on my own, but I went in for a look, and had a
coffee, and then went for a wander around the outside area. Very blue, very smelly (sulphur), and not
very warm, but well worth seeing.
By now it was
getting to the end of the day (it is light till 10 pm here at the moment), and
I was finding that camp sites were all still closed until May of even June in
some cases. So I found a layby set well
back from the road just down the road from the Blue Lagoon and its accompanying
power station, and settled in for the night.
I worked out how to run the cooker and fridge etc – All outside, so if
the weather is bad this is going to be fun !
And one can’t stand up or even sit up in the back of the van once the
bed is set up – All one can do is go to sleep !
But the bed is comfortable, so at least that part worked well, and I got
a great first nights sleep in Iceland !
Pics are here :-
https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/6278677036157733441?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_5-5S96rSvxQE
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