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A blog about photography and travel.
Iceland roundtrip
A quick camping roundtrip around Iceland
Like last year I undertook a roundtrip of Iceland (maybe this will be a yearly thing?). Doing a roundtrip (“fara hringinn”) means driving road #1 which goes all the way around the island, mostly, but not completely, following the coast. The ring road is officially 1321 km but with all manner of detours, I estimate that I drove 2000 km in five days, of which 700 km from Borgarfjörður Eystri to Reykjavík were done in one go (almost, one nap had to be taken halfway).
I camped as there was absolutely no hotel accommodation available. But to be honest, camping and photography in Iceland do not go well together as camping requires good weather, while photography works best when there is at least some drama in the weather. So I was only moderately happy with the results.
My favorite photos from the trip were of the fog leaving the small island of Skrúður, off Vattarnes.
Iceland hinterlands
A camping trip to Eldgjá, Langisjór and Lakagígar
Towards the end of summer I went on a 3-night camping trip to Eldgjá and Lakagígar, an area which I’ve not been to before. Due to river crossings you need a 4x4 to get there, so it’s relatively quite in terms of tourists.
Day 1 - Eldgjá
We camped in Hólaskjól, drove to Eldgjá and hiked around the area for the rest of the day, going all the way to Gjátindur. Eldgjá is an amazing place and is part of a crater line formed in the largest lava eruption in recent global history (939AD). The star of the show is Ófærufoss, a magnificent waterfall. It used to have a stone arch over the lowest falls, but it collapsed in 1993.
Day 2 - Langisjór
Langisjór (Long sea) is a 20km long lake that sits between two volcanic ridges. This is an area of outstanding desolate beauty, with black volcanic rocks and green moss-covered mountains. Perfect for hiking.
Day 3 - Lakagígar
Although Lakagígar are close to Eldgjá you need to drive down to the ring-road to cross the Skaftá river. So we moved camp to Blágil. The Lakagígar volcanic ridge were formed in a massive eruption 1783-1784, an eruption that devastated Iceland and cause world-wide crop failures and famines. The tallest crater, Laki, is in the middle of ridge. The easy hike up affords a magnificent view of the entire area.
Portugal
Summer vacation in Portugal
For summer vacation this year the destination was Portugal: one week on the coast and one week in Lisbon. I’ve only been to Portugal once before, almost 20 years ago. I liked it then and I like it still. It strikes the right balance of being clean, safe, livable and interesting for visitors. There are no massive hoards of tourists, the food is simple but good, with lots of seafood, and the local wines are excellent. I’m not an expert on Portuguese culture after two weeks, but everybody was friendly and helpful enough, and very much matter-of-fact, which is something I appreciate.
I brought my Fujifilm XE4, along with the XF16mmf1.4, XF23mmf1.4, XF16-55 and XF50-140. The XF16-55 is a great walkaround lens, if a tad large for the XE4. I recently tried the XF16-80, and I previously owned the XF18-55, and I can now honestly say that the XF16-55 is by far my favorite one.
On the coast
The first week we stayed near Sao Martinho do Porto, a small sea-side town with a nice beach. A bit further north is Nazaré, with an even nicer beach, and famed for its massive waves. I can recommend both towns. They are resort towns but almost all the visitors are locals.
Inland there was a big heatwave with forest fires and everything, but on the coast it was a nice 20-25 °C. Lucky for us.
There are other interesting places close by, such as Batalha, Peniche, and Óbidos, which are all worth a visit. Further north is Figueira da Foz, a bustling city of industry and tourism. In between there is the rugged Atlantic coast, which must be magnificent in a good winter storm.
Lisbon
After our time on the coast we went to Lisbon, where we stayed another week. The heatwave was over by then, although we did have a couple of very warm days in the city.
Lisbon is a bit more touristy, but still in a good, old-fashioned way, with cobbled streets and old trams and tuk-tuks transporting the tourists around. It’s all built on hills, and we stayed in Bairro Alto (Upper District) at the very top, on the third floor of an old building, so there was a lot of ascending and descending!
It’s not an expensive city, with good public transport, and very walkable. There’s loads of things for the visitor to experience, and also possible to take the train to Cascais and Sintra for a day trip. Definitely worth a visit.
Australia
A relief from the Icelandic winter down under
Mid-February I had the opportunity to go on a business trip to Australia. For the first three weeks I stayed in Brisbane, where my company has offices, then went on customer visits in Queensland, Sidney and Warrnambool before finally ending up in Sydney for a long, relaxing weekend.
Shortening the Icelandic winter by 5 weeks is a godsend, especially this terrible winter. It wasn’t all sunshine though, as for 3 days there was a biblical downpour in Queensland that caused massive floods, loss of property and deaths. Never seen anything like it in my whole life.
For the trip I took the Fujifilm XE4 along with the 10-24 f4, 16f1.4, 35 f2, 50 f2 and 80 f2.8 lenses. It would have been much easier to have a couple of zoom lenses, but always good to try something different. My favorite was the 50f2, which I haven’t used that much so far. It’s a compact lens that fits the XE4 body well and is extremely sharp.
Amsterdam
I stayed in Amsterdam overnight on the way out. As the pictures show It was a supremely dreary day, but still good for a walk.
Tamborine Mountain
My colleague, expat and gourmet cook Þórir Sandholt lives on Tambourine Mountain, about an hour’s drive south of Brisbane. On our first weekend in Brisbane we were invited for dinner and stayed over for the night. Walked some trails and had an excellent dinner.
Along the trail to Witches Falls there are some examples of the Moreton Bay fig tree (fourth photo below), a fascinating type of tree that germinates in a host and then strangles it.
Noosa Heads
The resort town of Noosa Heads is a couple of hours north of Brisbane. It’s got a nice beach, a national park that is good for a days hike and a small lively town center. For a couple of Europeans escaping the winter back home, it was very nice indeed to stay there for the weekend. As a bonus, there was a surfing competition so we we could witness some first class surfing.
Gold Coast and Cape Byron
Next weekend I drove down to the Gold Coast and Byron Bay. There’s a long stretch of beaches from Surfer’s Paradise south to Tweed Heads with plenty of people enjoying the sun and the sea. I loved the lifeguard stations on the coast, of which there are about 30 . They would make a great subject for a photobook, I think.
Further south is Cape Byron, the westernmost point of Australia. It’s an interesting spot for photography and my favorite photo of the trip is of the fisherman with the seabird watching over him. The nearby town of Byron Bay is very lively, down to earth and a lot of fun.
The Great Ocean Road
After a customer visit to Warrnambool I drove back to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road, staying overnight at Port Campbell. The area’s most iconic feature are the 12 Apostles, a set of sea stacks just off the coast. A lot to take in over a day and half.
Sydney
I ended the trip by staying 3 nights in Sydney, my first time there. I haven’t really made up my mind on what I think about the city. It’s got famous landmarks like the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. The city is in a spectacular setting around a harbor area and it’s got a lively restaurant and bar scene at Circular Quay, The Rocks and Darling Harbor. Very attractive, but perhaps a bit dull compared to other large cities. Definitely need to investigate further at some point.
Hiking in Strandir
2 days in one of my favorite places in Iceland
Last weekend I went for a short trip to Strandir, a remote area in the north-east facing part of the Westfjords. The primary mission was to hike around Hvalsá in Ófeigsfjörður. This uninhabited area was more or less off the radar until plans were made to build a hydropower plant using the waters of the rivers Rjúkandi, Hvalsá and Eyvindafjarðará, causing much controversy.
Strandir is one of my favorite places in Iceland being isolated but still accessible and with quite dramatic scenery. There’s only a handful of farms, a little business around tourism and a short fishing season in the summer. Hiking in the mountains is popular and so is the swimming pool at Krossnes.
The long (18 km) hike around Hvalsá was interesting but not more than that. On our way back to Reykjavík we walked up Reykjaneshyrna from where the views are spectacular, highly recommended.
As this was primarily a hiking trip there was not a lot of proper photography, but I did manage some nice snaps. Definitely need to go again with more time on my hands.
The mountain Kaldbakur.
The lighthouse at Gjögur. Although functional, the foundations were in such a bad state that it’s amazing it still stands.
View to Drangaskörð over Ófeigsfjörður.
This little guy wanted to join us on our hike but we managed to tell him to go home. He was not happy with that.
The waterfall Drynjandi in river Hvalsá. This is quite a spectacular waterfall, would love to see it early summer when there is more water.
On our way back from Drynjandi the fog rolled in. This is the last bit of the track to Hvalsá, where it ends. After that there are no more roads.
In Ófeigsfjörður.
The old herring plant in Ingólfsfjörður, which has not been operated since 1952 The road runs through the plant.
My favorite image from the trip. The makeshift jetty uses an old tank from the herring plant. The Arctic tern overhead is on its way to attack me.
The mountain Reykjaneshyrna. The hike up only takes half an hour, from where you are rewarded with magnificent 360° views as shown in the gallery below.
Trip to Akureyri
Summer vacation in the north
In the middle of July I travelled to Akureyri where I rented a holiday cottage. This has been a yearly trip for some time now where various family members come and go and we spend a week relaxing and exploring the area.
Akureyri is the biggest town in Iceland outside the capital area. It’s situated at the bottom of Eyjafjörður which also hosts a number of other villages that, together with Akureyri, create a vibrant cultural and economic community in the northern part of Iceland. It’s a perfect location for day trips to many of Iceland’s finest tourist attractions such as Mývatn, Námaskarð, Dettifoss, Ásbyrgi, Goðafoss, Húsavík and Siglufjörður. And for the more adventurous travelers there are mountains and remote areas to explore on foot or by car.
My first excursion was to Hvalvatnsfjörður. This is a now uninhabited valley which can be reached by track F839, for which you need a proper 4x4 that can cross rivers and handle the really bad track.
It was a nice day for photography with good light and clouds, but very windy. For next time I think a hike west to Þorgeirsfjörður would be interesting. It’ about 4km each way and there’s a bridge over the river, so it’s quite easy.
Next I took a short trip to the bottom of the valley south of Akureyri (Eyjafjarðardalur), which is an area I’ve never been to before. There’s a lot of farms but when you get off the beaten track there are deep valleys with high mountains and glimpses of glaciers and areas to explore on foot. In particular I think Djúpidalur looked like an interesting place to have a closer look at.
It was an overcast day but with nice clouds and the sun broke through once in a while.
On Sunday I took my parents to Flateyjardalur, which is the next valley east of Hvalvatnsfjörður, also uninhabited now. You get there by track F899 for which you need a 4x4 vehicle, particularly for the many river crossings. I managed to cut a tire when crossing a difficult river so me and my father had an interesting time figuring out how to get the spare tire from underneath a Toyota Land Cruiser. Nice job on the user manual Toyota, we managed it!
The track takes you to the sea and then you can drive across the shore line and up on Víkurhöfði, from where there are spectacular views of the area. To the north there is the island of Flatey, the last inhabited place in the area, after which the valley is named.
It was a sunny, mostly cloudless day so conditions for photography were not great. On the plus side I a saw a rock slide for the first time in my life and managed to take a photo of it.
Akureyri itself is worth exploring for a day. My favorites are the old town, the botanical gardens, the town center and the industrial area in Oddeyri. The botanical gardens are the finest in Iceland and, if you like using your macro lens to photograph flowers (as I do), you can easily spend a few hours there. And when you need sustenance there’s a nice bistro as well.
The Final trip was to Hrísey, a small island in the middle of Eyjafjörður. It was the warmest day I can remember in Iceland (27C°!) and clear blue skies, so not so nice for photography. I walked from the harbor all the way to the northern tip of the island from where there are views to the open sea.
If you want to enjoy nature in solitude Hrísey is highly recommended. You can walk to the northern tip as I did, but there is also a spot much closer to the harbor (65°59'36.0"N 18°21'20.0"W) where you can enjoy the view to Látraströnd and feel completely alone in the world. Truly a magical place.
Note: If you do go to the northern tip you need to call the landowners and ask for permission. There’s a telephone number on a sign by the road. The lady that answered was very friendly and just wants to get notified that there are people on the land.
