Where: Golden Circle, Iceland
When: May 5, 2012
With: Dave, Nic, Divya and David
Day 3 in Iceland had us on our first tour outside Reykjavik (see here for pictures). We weren't going far, but even just outside the city, the landscape is supposed to change drastically. The route we took was called "The Golden Circle" and is a loop about 300 km long outside of the city.
We were picked up from our hotel and brought straight to a dive center for our first activity - scuba diving. We were greeted by our very friendly and enthusiastic Irish dive master. After signing our lives away, we got suited up for our first dry suit dive. The first layer of insulation meant to go under our wet suits felt like a cross between a really puffy snow suit and a spacesuit.
We all piled into a van and drove out to the site of our dive. On the way, our guide, Kevin, chatted the whole way there. His story was that he was a geology diver. While on assignment in Iceland, classic story of Irish man meets Icelandic girl, falls in love, gets married, and now takes people on dive tours in Iceland when not travelling the world excavating and surveying dive sites.
The site we would be diving is called Silfra. Located in the Þingvallavatn Lake in Þingvellir National Park (a common stop on the Golden Circle), Silfra is a rift that is part of the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. By diving in the water here, you are swimming between North America and Europe.
So another downside of not being dry suit certified is that I had zero control over the damn thing. I kept faceplanting into the water before I put my regulator in, and with the mobility of a marshmallow, it was difficult to locate that regulator, causing me some mild panic as I inhaled glacier water with a 20 pound tank holding me down into the surface of the water. When the guide would flip me back onto my back, I would become stranded like a turtle. Apparently, I made quite the sight.
Due to a major lack of buoyancy control, most of my dive consisted of my sinking to the bottom, becoming suctioned into my dry suit, the instructor pumping more air into the suit, me flying to the surface like a cork, letting air out again, sinking, repeat. Thankfully this was all in fairly shallow water, or I would have had a nasty case of the bends. To add to my mayhem, when my dive suit filled with air, the booties popped off my feet since my short little legs didn't fill out the length of the suit completely. Therefore, I would put out a massive effort to propel myself forward with little to no movement from my limp flippers. By the end, I was completely exhausted, and apparently, my efforts were quite humorous to everyone around me.
During the times when I wasn't fighting a losing battle to my dry suit, I tried my best to enjoy my surroundings. While there aren't any fish (way too cold) and no coral (definitely too cold), the scenery is absolutely stunning. You can see forever in all directions around you. The glacial water casts a bluish glow on all the rocks and the reflection above you is crystal clear. Some divers get vertigo because the surface reflects so clearly, you sometimes can't tell which way is up (unless your dry suit + gravity force you to find it against your will).
After diving between the two shelves, the bottom flattens out and its just beautiful and clear.
In the distance, we had a view of one of Iceland's largest glaciers. It blends a bit with the cloud line, but you can see the snow of the glacier rising up behind the mountains. No wonder it was so cold.
That giant glacier in the distance is what feeds this massive river, the Hvítá. The river eventually hits the rock cliffs, and bam, waterfall.
After getting our view from the top of the falls, we started to make our way down closer. But not before finding some interesting rock formations around the edge. And having a small frolic.
After it erupts, a giant, dense steam cloud sweeps across the land, maintaining its form for a good 5 seconds. It looks like some evil spirit sweeping across the land, off to find a helpless victim.
For pictures from the next day, click here.
When: May 5, 2012
With: Dave, Nic, Divya and David
Day 3 in Iceland had us on our first tour outside Reykjavik (see here for pictures). We weren't going far, but even just outside the city, the landscape is supposed to change drastically. The route we took was called "The Golden Circle" and is a loop about 300 km long outside of the city.
We were picked up from our hotel and brought straight to a dive center for our first activity - scuba diving. We were greeted by our very friendly and enthusiastic Irish dive master. After signing our lives away, we got suited up for our first dry suit dive. The first layer of insulation meant to go under our wet suits felt like a cross between a really puffy snow suit and a spacesuit.
We all piled into a van and drove out to the site of our dive. On the way, our guide, Kevin, chatted the whole way there. His story was that he was a geology diver. While on assignment in Iceland, classic story of Irish man meets Icelandic girl, falls in love, gets married, and now takes people on dive tours in Iceland when not travelling the world excavating and surveying dive sites.
When we reached the site, despite our very warm dive suits, the temperature outside was in the low 40s. This lead to some serious contemplation about what the hell we were doing and whether this was a good idea.
The site we would be diving is called Silfra. Located in the Þingvallavatn Lake in Þingvellir National Park (a common stop on the Golden Circle), Silfra is a rift that is part of the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. By diving in the water here, you are swimming between North America and Europe.
The water is so clear, this is what makes it a premier diving spot. The water comes from melted glaciers and is so pure, you can drink it. While standing here, Kevin gave us a brief explanation of how our dive would work. He explained that the water would be 1. David (not my David, Nic's David) asked, "1 what??" To which Kevin said...degrees...Celsius. Yikes.
While suiting up in our dry suits, there was some serious concern in the air about climbing voluntarily into 1 degree water. Are the suits squeezing our faces into those looks or are we just worried? One may never know.
I was first up into the water. It is very odd being in a dry suit. They warn you that you can't pee in your dry suit - this sounds like it would be obvious, but there is something unnatural about submerging yourself in water and not getting wet. The dry suits only let your hands and face get wet. As soon as I hit the water, my lips went completely numb and I will admit, I debated how I was going to keep my regulator in for 45 minutes if I couldn't feel them.
So another downside of not being dry suit certified is that I had zero control over the damn thing. I kept faceplanting into the water before I put my regulator in, and with the mobility of a marshmallow, it was difficult to locate that regulator, causing me some mild panic as I inhaled glacier water with a 20 pound tank holding me down into the surface of the water. When the guide would flip me back onto my back, I would become stranded like a turtle. Apparently, I made quite the sight.
Due to a major lack of buoyancy control, most of my dive consisted of my sinking to the bottom, becoming suctioned into my dry suit, the instructor pumping more air into the suit, me flying to the surface like a cork, letting air out again, sinking, repeat. Thankfully this was all in fairly shallow water, or I would have had a nasty case of the bends. To add to my mayhem, when my dive suit filled with air, the booties popped off my feet since my short little legs didn't fill out the length of the suit completely. Therefore, I would put out a massive effort to propel myself forward with little to no movement from my limp flippers. By the end, I was completely exhausted, and apparently, my efforts were quite humorous to everyone around me.
Dave and I from above. They estimate this was our lowest point, about 50ft down, and still perfectly clear.
When we reached the end, we were a freezing and exhausted bunch. However, it was easy to forget all this when you popped your head above the surface and saw the views around you. We made the long journey back to the car, tanks on our backs. Once the suits came off and we realised just how dry they had kept us, we started to warm up instantly. Kevin had some hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us, so we just relaxed for 10 minutes eating and enjoying the scenery.
After packing up our gear, we piled into the van for the scenic drive further into the center of Iceland. As our tour guide chatted away about random things, we cruised along, enjoying the otherworldy scenery surrounding us. He taught us some interesting Icelandic folklore - every time he drove over a cattle grid (a metal grate in the road that prevents cows from crossing), he would honk the horn of the car. Apparently, this is to warn the elves that like to hang from the grids of our approach so their fingers don't get run over. At first, we laughed at how silly it sounded, but then everytime we approached a cattle grid, we waited in anticipation for the double honk of the horn, and breathed a sigh of relief for the little elvish fingers.
The second stop on the Golden Circle was Gullfoss Falls. When we got out, we found that our warm and toasty car ride came to an abrupt halt as the wind whipped across the barren land around us.
In the distance, we had a view of one of Iceland's largest glaciers. It blends a bit with the cloud line, but you can see the snow of the glacier rising up behind the mountains. No wonder it was so cold.
As we walked up towards the edge of a giant canyon, we could hear the roar of the falls. Peering over the edge, we got our first look at this behemoth of nature.
That giant glacier in the distance is what feeds this massive river, the Hvítá. The river eventually hits the rock cliffs, and bam, waterfall.
After getting our view from the top of the falls, we started to make our way down closer. But not before finding some interesting rock formations around the edge. And having a small frolic.
Closer to the edge, things became more beautiful, mostly in part due to the rainbow.
Up on the cliffs overlooking the falls were these giant crystal formations.
It was hard to not get too close.
Overlooking the river
Some fun with exposure just before the water crashes over the edge
An interesting thing our guide pointed out - the future of Iceland. The big tour companies are moving in, and it may not be a quiet place to visit for long. This was one group's worth of vehicles!
After grabbing some amazing lamb soup and hot chocolate at the visitor center, we got in the van to continue on our journey. Next stop was the Strokkur geyser.
The geyser goes off every 4-8 minutes and shoots between 15 -20m high, though sometimes can reach 40m.
After it erupts, a giant, dense steam cloud sweeps across the land, maintaining its form for a good 5 seconds. It looks like some evil spirit sweeping across the land, off to find a helpless victim.
Surrounding the geyser are several algae pools and steam vents.
As you can imagine, the water gets a wee bit toasty. So I was thrilled when I saw Dave sticking his fingers into it.
The pool on the right was an old geyser that doesn't go off very frequently. When it does (usually after a large earthquake), it can reach heights of 122m.
Upon returning to the parking lot, we discovered this rather random statue, meant to depict Glíma, a form of Icelandic wrestling. Weird.
We settled back into our drive and started heading back towards Reykjavik.
We made one final stop at the Kerið volcano crater.
After heading back to Reykjavik, we celebrated our fabulous day (and Cinco de Mayo!) with margaritas in a Mexican restaurant.
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