Iceland - 2003
Our second visit, this time with David.
Standing at the end of Skólavörðustígur street and in front of Hallgrímskirkja church is one of the best-known landmarks in Reykjavik, the statue of the explorer, Leifur Eiríksson. Enhanced by Wendy and David.
As evidenced by Wendy with David at the base of the statue, on a somewhat grey day.
On our first visit, as we wanted to travel through the central region, it was compulsory to be guided and supported. That government regulation resulted in us booking a package holiday. We travelled in a group, with two 4x4 coaches.
The central region is unpopulated and remote, hence the requirement for a minimum of two vechiles in a convoy.
This trip was basically a circumnavigation, without any need to cross the centre. I also think that over time there was a relaxation of the regulations.
We were one family, in an ordinary, hired, family car, travelling at our own pace, ish.
Both trips were arranged through Arctic Experience, re-branded as Discover the World, from 2002, a specialist travel agent, founded in 1984, and based in Banstead. Which is conveniently close to our home. Iceland was a prime location for Arctic Experience for our first trip in 1987. Their range had widened, not surprisingly, by 2003, but they were still in the elite for Iceland holidays.
It is not quite true that we could travel at our own pace, there were constraints, other than the speed limit.
Discover the World don't just dump you at the airport, point you to the hire car and let you loose. Although, that may be and option these days. The first part of the process of booking is to select a basic route, A, B, C etc.
Within the parameters of the chosen route, they discuss where you want to go and what you want to see. How far you want to drive, or more importantly, how long you want to drive for each day. Based on the conversations and their experience they select a number of night locations. All very achievable, from the previous night, taking into account the roads and the places of interest on the way. Another conversation, and if all is agreed, then they book appropriate accommodation. That, at least, is how it seemed to me. Perhaps, it was just select the route and duration, and all else flows.
So you do need to get to the next bed each day. You also need to eat at the end of the day, and there are not always multiple options.
Before we get into the sequential section, an image of our trusted stead, our hire car. Somewhat dirty due to the unmetalled roads.
Our hire car near Stykkishólmur on road 54, in Western Iceland, with Wendy and David
You can see from the photo that the road here was not metalled, a gravel road. In fact, at the time, the majority of road 1, the main road around the island, was single carriageway, and a significant proportion was not metalled, similar to the photo, graded gravel. Although, the gravel was frequently lava based, and black.
This was the last year that David would be considered a child, in respect of fares and fees. Hence, get in there quick. He was also old enough to appreciate and remember the trip.
An old Google Maps rendition of the route. Note that this is not a GPS log from a Satnav or similar, it is merely plotting the approximate route on a modern map. There is therefore a possibility that some of the roads are new, especially dual carriageways, and hence not yet in existence for our trip.
ArcGIS StoryMaps
A lot for the same information as this web site, including text and photos, but does show progress by photos and night stops. Follow link to open in new window. This Story Map is being enhanced and turned into an immersive data rich environment. So is worth a look.
Itinerary
Itinerary
Whilst the initial intent was to show the itinerary here, I have decided to bribe you, perhaps coerce you into looking at the Story Map which will have the day by day itinerary presented on the map in the way of data included in the little dots on the map. No, you don't have to be a spy to be able to read the micro-dot, just click on the dot and it well reveal all the associated data.
Our circumnavigation of Iceland
Outbound
Outbound
Outbound for these purposes includes the first night at the hotel in Reykjavik, with the core of the holiday being the drive around the island in the hire car.
The flight from London to Iceland's Keflavík International Airport, about 50 km outside Reykjavik, was relatively uneventful.
Check in at London Heathrow, Terminal 1.
The flight was Icelandicair Fl451, departing 13:00 and arriving Keflavík International Airport 15:00.
Even though the arrive at the airport time was only two hours, unlike the current three hours, it was still about the same as the time to fly all the way to Iceland.
We were then taken to a transfer coach, and given something of a small tour of the city, dropping off other tourists at their hotels, before we got to Hotel Leifur Eiríksson.
A Google Maps view of the hotel we stayed in on our first night in Iceland. Directly opposite the Hallgrímskirkja church and the statue of the explorer, Leifur Eiríksson
The very impressive looking Hallgrímskirkja church, although I suspect church is repeated here. Is kirkja icelandic for church? I think this was as seen from the hotel. The frontage appears to have been re-landscaped since this holiday, looking at the latest satellite images. The statue of Leifur Eiríksson, photo above at the top of the page, is hiding behind the leaves in this photo.
After settling into our hotel it was time to find something to eat and have a look around. All of our bookings for the hotels on our trip were Bed and Breakfast. We had the option to eat at the hotel or try something local.
It was a relatively short downhill walk into the centre of Reykjavik.
To us this was an amazing scene with so many people. The time of the photos according to the camera was 21:16.
It is still light and still very busy.
The location is on Austurstræti, near the junction of Lækjargata. Just a 10 minute walk via Skólavörðustígur, from our hotel.
Stjórnarráðshúsið (Prime Minister 's Office), Reykjavik can be seen on the extreme left of the photo nestling amongst the trees. The white building facing the camera.
Then, from the same spot, but looking along Austurstræti, in the opposite direction, towards Ingólfur Square.
So far the photos have been taken on aa Fuji 410 compact digital, bought especially for the trip. The photo on the right is number 3 on the camera counter.
That however, unsurprisingly, was not the only camera we took to Iceland with us.
Another camera was a Pentax film camera. The result is that I have prints and negatives, not digital images that can be displayed here. Well, not before some further magic is applied.
West
West Iceland
A 3 metre long duel carriageway just for the brow of a hill, or blind spot.
The trip begins
The hire car was delivered to us at the hotel.
A little while familiarising and loading, and we are ready to venture onto the streets and highways of Reykjavik. All very strange to start with. A different car, driving on a different side of the road, in a different country, with different laws and signage.
Less than 20 miles later, and we have left the city, the suburbs, and the nearby towns, and changed to countryside. I had settled into driving.
If the space above is blank you can find the Google Maps image here.
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Hvalfjarðarvegur, beyond the suburbs of Reykjavik, on the north shore of Hvalfjörður. Note the similarity with the Google Maps image above. The photo did not have a GPS record, so this is how it was geolocated. By photo matching. The photo did however, have a time stamp. 13:34. It is therefore possible that this is a lunch stop for pre-prepared sandwiches, out in the country.
North
North Iceland
East
East Iceland
South
South Iceland
Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Homebound
Homebound
Photo Gallery held in SmugMug. Follow link to SmugMug to Open Gallery in new tab, with larger images.
