Baltic, Iceland, Norway and the U.K.on a cruise

[scubacruiserx2]

Our next stop was Solheimajokull Glacier

 

 

It's between 2 volcanoes so it has a lot of the residue on it's surface giving it a black appearance

 

 

It's about a 15 minute hike from the road

 

 

Size wise you can see it's height in relation to the people . It's about 5 miles long , 1 mile wide and currently retreating .

 

From 1930 to 1969, the glacier retreated in total around 977 m. Then the weather cooled and the glacier advanced forward about 495 m until 1995, and also thickened by up to 100 m.

 

https://www.extremeiceland.is/en/destinations/south-iceland/glacier-hiking

 

 

 

Our point of reference for glaciers is Perito Moreno . 19 miles long , 2.5 miles wide and over 200 ' tall  . It's Blue and advancing.

 

 

 

 

 

It feels alive because you can hear it creaking , cracking and groaning as it calves

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We did make a quick photo stop here but didn't cross the fence

 

 

 

We also saw this at our last stop

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Seljalandfoss falls about 200'

 

 

 

There is a path to the right where some folks walked behind the waterfall . We didn't .

 

 

Video clip :

 

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, Nitemare said:

If you map it out, the basalt in southern Iceland can be imagined to go across the waters and end at Giant's Causeway. 

 

Perhaps they are connected? 😉

Too bad you didn't have a sunny day at Skogafoss, there's pretty much a permanent rainbow there

I suppose they were all connected at one point.

[MicCanberra]

4 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Seljalandfoss falls about 200'

 

Awesome shot.

[dogs4fun]

Wonderful photos - what gorgeous nature!

[scubacruiserx2]

36 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Awesome shot.

 

Thanks Mic .

[scubacruiserx2]

3 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Wonderful photos - what gorgeous nature!

 

Whist we love cities like Saint Petersburg , Moscow and London we do love our landscapes and critter shots . We were blessed to be able to go to Patagonia , Antarctica , Iceland and Norway in the past year . We really loved the scenery there so much so that we hope to return to Iceland , Norway and a first trip to Greenland this year . 😎

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

I did want to try to blur the water falling which is really hard to do without a tripod

 

 

 

 

Yet another video clip . Look for the midge that photobombs us at the end .

 

 

 

 

The best photo that I have seen from behind the falls comes from wikipedia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljalandsfoss

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Just gorgeous.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Just gorgeous.

 

Yes it is . We hope to make it all the way to the Glacier Lagoon in August .

[scubacruiserx2]

The weather had began to clear on the way back to port

 

 

 

Dinner

 

 

And an overnight guest

 

 

The sky changed again before bedtime

 

 

 

 

[Nitemare]

Solheimjokull was our first glacier.  The road to get to there was in horrible condition when we went there back in 2013, probably took 20 minutes in a large 4x4 to drive that mile and a half, but then the glacier was about a 5 minute walk from the parking lot.

 

Now the road is paved and takes about 3 minutes to drive, the parking lot has been moved 5 minutes closer to the glacier, and the walk is close to 20 minutes to the ice.

 

There's a good video of it here: 

 

For some reason after they get to the end they reverse the video, which is odd.  You will have to click through to see the video, it's only about 1 minute long

 

Happy to help you (or anyone) with Iceland land tour advice, or for Boston.  How the heck do we PM someone here?

Edited January 10, 2020 by Nitemare

[scubacruiserx2]

44 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

Solheimjokull was our first glacier.  The road to get to there was in horrible condition when we went there back in 2013, probably took 20 minutes in a large 4x4 to drive that mile and a half, but then the glacier was about a 5 minute walk from the parking lot.

 

Now the road is paved and takes about 3 minutes to drive, the parking lot has been moved 5 minutes closer to the glacier, and the walk is close to 20 minutes to the ice.

 

There's a good video of it here: 

 

For some reason after they get to the end they reverse the video, which is odd.  You will have to click through to see the video, it's only about 1 minute long

 

Happy to help you (or anyone) with Iceland land tour advice, or for Boston.  How the heck do we PM someone here?

 

We would like to have some advice on Boston . Our ship is supposed to make port there on Labor Day . I think that we are spending 2 nights there so we are looking at things to do there then .

[scubacruiserx2]

We were up early for the weather report and breakfast

 

 

We had slept pretty well despite this ship's noise all night 

 

 

 

We were doing short Golden Circle tour since we would leave port at 15:30 . Before that tour we were doing a puffin island tour that began at 0800 . It was cold and very windy in the parking lot at 07:30 .

 

 

We had a view while waiting

 

 

It's a short ride time wise but about a 3 mile walk and the ride was included

 

 

The harbor

 

 

The boat that we would be going resembled a Viking boat with it's lap siding

 

[scubacruiserx2]

On board the boat we had a nice look at the harbor before sailing 

 

 

 

 

Birds to look for

 

 

Rocking and rolling after leaving the harbor video :

 

 

 

 

With the strong wind and the boat rocking so much it was hard to take good photos especially of the puffins flying 

 

 

 

The king of the rock

 

 

On the windy side of the island they we swimming and swarming like giant midges

 

 

 

A fly by

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We had booked a less expensive guide for our 2nd day Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik . He met us at the puffin tour place and introduced himself as Fred .

 

 

We headed out to a geothermal area Haukadalur

 

 

 

This is it's main claim to fame

 

 

Not as active as it once was this is the new geyser to wait and watch for - Strokkur

 

 

 

 

 

Thar she blows

 

 

 

Fred gave us a hint of when it would erupt so we could video it

 

 

 

 

I took a screen shot from the video to show the dome

 

 

Taking a warm bird bath in the geyser stream

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

The walk toward Gullfoss

 

 

Almost there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

The waterfall used at the start of Prometheus.

[scubacruiserx2]

11 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

The waterfall used at the start of Prometheus.

 

Good to know since we didn't know that . But we didn't see it either .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

Notice the mist rising over the cliffs

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

A stop for the Icelandic Horses

 

 

 

 

 

The Icelandic horse is a breed of horse developed in Iceland. Although the horses are small, at times pony-sized, most registries for the Icelandic refer to it as a horse. Icelandic horses are long-lived and hardy. In their native country they have few diseases; Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return. The Icelandic displays two gaits in addition to the typical walk, trot, and canter/gallop commonly displayed by other breeds. The only breed of horse in Iceland, they are also popular internationally, and sizable populations exist in Europe and North America. 

 

Wikipedia

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 We stopped for lunch at Gullfoss Panorama Restaurant for about 40 minutes . We liked the tomato soup and Black Forest Cake a lot . It was funny seeing Pecan Pie in Iceland .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Þingvellir

 

Þingvellir (Icelandic: [ˈθiŋkˌvɛtlɪr̥] (listen)), anglicised as Thingvellir,^{[Note 1]} is a national park in the municipality of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, about 40 km northeast of Iceland's capital, Reykjavík. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.^[2]

 

^Wikipedia

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I bet you wanted to do a dive in the continental gap.