The morning of Day 4 we kicked open the van to this view, which was a touch surreal.
Svartifoss
From there we hiked straight up the mountains we had slept beneath to Svartifoss, waterfall number 9,371 of our trip. It was carving its way through some basalt columns, which present as hexagonal pillars growing out of the side of the mountain. Once again… Iceland has neat patterns.
And of course, to hold us over, we got to see a waterfall on the way to the waterfall.
Diamond Beach
While waiting for our kayaking to begin, we had lunch across from the glacier lagoon at Diamond Beach. Chunks of the glacier float down the tributary (inlet? whatever you call water from not ocean to ocean) into the ocean to get whammed by the waves. Shards collect on the beach and thus… diamond beach.
Kayaking Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
We spent an hour kayaking among the pieces of glacier that have broken off into the lagoon. We couldn’t get too close to them, unfortunately, because they regularly break apart and flip orientation as their weight redistributes. I think the close up shots would have been worth the risk but my name isn’t on their insurance policy so this is what you get. If there’s anything you can’t truly capture with an iPhone (or probably any camera) it’s these blue beasts (which we learned are blue because the ice filters out all other colors in the spectrum).
I haven’t been talking much about the food in Iceland because largely we were cooking simple stuff in the van or eating sandwiches on the go. We did stop in a small town called Hofn for lobster bisque and shockingly good pizza at the Íshúsið Pizzeria. If you happen to find yourself in Hofn while reading this and don’t know where to eat, I just saved your life. You’re welcome.
