Well it was certainly a rollercoaster to get here!! First of all we booked a trip to IceIand 22nd – 29th June , but then the hospital phoned up and I was going to have a replacement knee on 23rd June, so the trip was cancelled. After being in the hospital on the 16th June as a standby patient, having various tests etc I was eventually declined because of a graze on my knee! The surgeon wasnt keen to do it on the 23rd June due to the fact I was going to a wedding on the 2nd July so it was decided he would see me in 4 weeks time for a So the first thing we did was Iceland!!
Iceland is a ‘green country so no isolation or quarantine when we get back to UK. What we didnt realise is that in England, you can get your vaccination certificates online, but in Wales you have to phone up and they will send you a paper copy, which could take up to ten days. We were going in 5 days!! By the day before we were going they still hadnt
turned up so, in desperation, we phoned our Doctors who had records of our vaccination and dates, batches etc so we were lucky enough to get a print out! We had already had a PCR Fit to Fly test so we felt we were well covered.
Drove up to the Holiday Inn, Slough Monday afternoon! Really nice hotel, with parking, restaurant and duly booked a taxi for 4.45am! Our flight was at 7.50am and terminal 5 was about a 15 minute drive away. Everything went to plan but I am glad we had the Fit to Fly tests and the Doctors Print outs otherwise we could have had trouble, as I dont think the vaccination cards would have sufficed!! We had to have a PCR test on arrival at Iceland and isolate until we had the results in about (hopefully!!) 6hrs!
After picking up the rental car at the airport (Iceland) we drove the scenic route to Reykjavic via Grindavic (4) (427) (42) past the Blue Lagoon and the volcano Fagradalsfjall (at 30kms,) which is erupting at the moment with a steady stream of walkers up to the volcano. Very dramatic scenery, millions of wild purple flowering lupins,
black rocks and even though it was cloudy with a little bit of drizzle, it didnt detract from the scenery of mountains, hills, long windy roads! Drove back up the No 42 where the road drove close to the edge of the lake Kleifarvatn with amazing views and there was still some snow left! Well, I think it was snow!! Found the Center Hotel Arnarhvoll very easily (opposite Harpa - the colourful music concert hall!!) and isolated for the rest of the day! Knackered!! This getting up at 4.00am isnt as easy as it used to be!!
It stayed light until at least midnight, when we gave in and got a few hours sleep, before waking up early for our breakfast on the 8th floor!!! Beautiful sunny day, (albeit a bit windy & chilly!) fantastic views and we were set to explore the West Coast!
Quite easy to get out of Reykjavik, the followed the No 1 road, north through the tunnel , across the lagoon, past Borganes ( where we stopped for dinner on the way home!!) and up to our first stop, an hour and a half later, Gerouberg Cliffs!! A
gravel road took us up to the cliffs which were quite impressive and we duly got out of the car for a little walk and admired them (along with other tourists, mostly Americans!) On to the next stop along the No 54 road – Ytri Tunga where there was supposed to be a seal colony!! No seals to be found, just other tourists, also looking for seals but a pleasant enough place to have a wander.
Our next stop (I think!) was Bjarmarfoss – a huge waterfall that you could walk up toand then Chris clambered up to the top part.
