Iceland (5-Nov to 12th Nov) - Part 9 - Blue Lagoon and Departure

Saturday 12-11

This was our last day and we were due to head out at 2pm.  We decided to treat ourselves to a last swim at the Blue Lagoon (and hopefully see it in the light) before heading to the airport.

It started pretty dark and we got lots of blurry photos but eventually it lightened right up.  The kids mentioned that it was our second visit as we went in, so they were given special wristbands that let them get a free slushee.

The following photos are little blurry due to the darkness and the steam:

In the entry inside pool

The water was warm (40 degrees) but it was snowing above the water...

Alana got a free silica facemask

As did I.

and Kris

The main building complex and Lava restaurant

The rules forced Tom to wear floaties but he didn't seem to care

Cam floating

Kris got an orange and ginger smoothie

The kids got slushees

and I got a banana smoothee

Although in a country ranked one of the best at English as a second language they didn't really think through the brand name of the slushees

The minerals collecting on the rocks

Water outside the bathing area - the colour was amazing

Information pt1

Information pt2

Outside

The water is high in Silica, which distills out of the water

Path to and from the Lagoon

After finishing at the Blue Lagoon, we headed off to the airport.

As we searched the duty free section I came across this display from Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, the bodybuilder and actor who plays the Mountain on Game of Thrones.  It's a stand advertising his vodka.  I sent a picture to one of my friends, a few hours later, the following picture appeared on Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson's facebook page:

Found myself at the Icelandic duty free shop. I'm taller than my clone!! Have you tried my vodka??

Assuming that it was taken on the same day he posted it, we must have missed him by an hour or two at the most.

Anyway, soon it was time to leave Iceland and head back to Sweden.  It was a great trip with some awesome sights.  We did WAY too much driving, but it was worth it as we really got a feel for all of the parts of Iceland.

Total Travel:

Gullsmári - Blue Lagoon- Airport (93km, 1.25hrs)

Total distance traveled so far:  3155km

To put this distance in context, the distance from Copenhagen airport to Iceland:

Iceland (5-Nov to 12th Nov) - Part 8 - Þingvellir

Friday 11-11
Today was going to be pretty exciting, Kristine had gotten a dive pass for her birthday to dive between the tectonic plates at Silfra in Þingvellir National Park.  The plan was for us to all drive down and while Kris was snorkeling I would take the kids for a walk through the park to look for obsidian and explore the area.

Unfortunately Iceland continued to fight back and we woke to 139km/hr winds and driving rain.  It wasn't going to safe to drive in on exposed roads and there was a fair risk of damaging our loyal Toyota Auris.  So we drove Kris to the dive centre in Reykjavik and she caught the big coach out to the park while I took the kids home and we started packing while the winds raged around us.

The weather settled by midday (Kris's drive started at 11am) so we decided to head out and meet her (this was doubled when we saw that she had forgotten to take the waterproof camera.)  Alana was smart and wore waterproof pants but the rest of us got soaked as we walked from the carpark to the dive centre (the wind died off but the rain didn't).  We arrived just as Kris was finishing her dive and took some photos.  She also purchased a photo pack from the dive centre.

Silfra is the location where the American tectonic plate is pulling apart from the European plate.  This create an underwater gorge where you can place one hand on each of the plates. The moving of the plates has created a gorge that collects glacial melt-water as it runs out to the lake.

Silfra

Looking out over Silfra

Snorkling tour at Silfra

Here's some photos of Kris' dive group:

Kris going into the water

The water temperature was about 2 degrees all year round (it's glacial run-off), so they wore thermal under suits and dry-suits.

Starting the dive

Swimming out to the main dive area

Underwater view of the tectonic plates

Kris about to crash into the instructor

After Kris had changed, we drove back to the apartment and got changed into some dry clothes and then headed out to Reykjavik for dinner and some last souvenir shopping.

Hallgrimskirkja looked pretty cool at night:

We finished off with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe:

Total Travel:

Gullsmári - Þingvellir - Gullsmári - Reykjavik - Gullsmári (108km, 1.5hrs)

Total distance traveled so far:  3062km