1st /
2nd May 2016
Cold, rain, and a
l-o-n-g flight to Canada.
My last Icelandic
night in the van in Pingvellir National Park was a cold one. I got up during the night and it was raining,
but must have been below freezing because when I touched the car it was solid
ice ! And despite a little bit of red
sky last night, it wasn’t very fine in the morning. So I packed up, tried to sort out as much
stuff as I could in preparation for returning the hire car, and then headed off
towards Reykjavik. I had decided to get
closer to my final destination in case anything happened, and then to explore a
bit around there depending on how much time I had.
Being pretty
overcast didn’t make it too enticing to get out and wander around, but on the
way south I did stop and get a coffee and a local hot dog, which are very
popular up here. It wasn’t bad – Bit
like Norwegian ones, actually – and went very well with a mid morning cup of
coffee.
There was also a
fresh sprinkling of snow (yet again) evident on the hills that I could see, but
the weather was changing very quickly. A
little bit of sun, then rain, then heavy rain, and then the clouds would lift a
bit, etc etc, At one point when passing
a volcano beside the road, one minute I could hardly see it, and then a couple
of minutes later it was as clear as a bell.
Once I got down
to the little peninsula on which Keflavic and the airport is located, I turned
up north and went to the very top of it, as the guidebook inferred there were
some interesting sights up there. At the
very top, at Garöur, is the windswept Garöskagi Headland, supposedly one of the
best places in Iceland for bird spotting. It is a big breeding ground for sea
birds and its often the place where migratory birds first touch down, while
seals and even whales are often seen from here.
Well, I could only see about 3 birds there, and they looked like regular
old ducks to me, so once again I think I might be a tad too early to see
everything !
One of the two
lighthouses there, with the square tower, is one of the oldest in Iceland,
built in 1897, and it is still located right out on the point, while the newer
round tower which is still in use was built in 1944 and is still active
today. Also out on the point is a great
free camp site where it seems a number of rental campers were spending either
their last or their first night in Iceland.
From there I
tootled down the road a little further and passed the site of an old US Army
base. I had actually driven down this
bit of road when I first arrived in Iceland but as I was heading to the Blue
Lagoon I hadn’t even realized this site was here ! This time I sent in to explore this old base
that was built in 1941, although there was only one building still there as far
as I could see. But Keflavik Airport,
today the main international airport for Iceland, is the old US wartime
airfield. Obviously from its location in
the N Atlantic, Iceland was seen as a key location during the war.
From the old
camp, I then drove around the area, past all the lava fields and the geothermal
power stations where I had been the first day here, and eventually got to the
hire car place where I packed everything up and then was taken to the airport
to catch my flight out.
I was sitting in
the departure area waiting to board when a familiar face comes up and says Hi –
It was the young American Matthew that had I met on the walk above the
Skogafoss waterfall last week ! Since
that walk when we had met, he had left Iceland, spent 2 days in London, and was
now on his way home via Reykjavik airport again and had remembered that I was
to be in the airport at the same time, and had come to look for me at my
departure gate. I could not believe the
coincidence – And how nice it was of him to come and find me to say Hi. Made my day !
Once we boarded,
the flight to New York left on time.
Interestingly enough I was seated next to a young South African, James,
who it turned out was headed down through Central and South America, on buses
! So we had a good chat about what a
great trip he was going to have, and I was hopefully able to tell him a few
things that he will find useful on his journey ! Our conversation made the flight go
incredibly quickly, and in what seemed like no time at all, we landed at JFK
airport.
After getting
through the process that is involved in arriving in the USA with queues and
questioning and fingerprinting, I then unfortunately had some 15 hours layover
before my onward flight to Halifax Nova Scotia.
Why so long ? Well, to get the
cheaper flights I had had to book the two sectors separately, and this meant
that if I had a short connection time and my first flight was late so I missed
the 2nd flight, I would forfeit my ticket. So I opted to wait for the another flight the
next day, even though it meant a long lay over. To save money I didn’t go to a
hotel, and in the long run it wasn’t too bad.
I not only found a seat, but with my soft bags I even made myself quite
comfortable and actually got some sleep.
There was also an all night Diner right beside me, so I was able to get
coffee etc, and in the morning had an excellent breakfast before catching my
onward flight (via Boston) to Halifax.
I finally arrived
in Halifax at about 7 pm, caught a taxi into town to my hotel, and slept very
well in an excellent bed for the first time in a few nights ! Now all I had to do was contact the shipping
people and find out when I could get Troopie out and get on my way !
Rest of the pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/6280091257318268945?authkey=Gv1sRgCJvjkbfT77aycA
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