Feeling very blessed

We went to Haifoss this morning.  The road in was a nightmare.  I thought I had hit the sump and all hell was breaking loose but fortunately, the car made it through.  I had heard that foss was not well frequented and at 128 metres was one of the tallest falls in Iceland.  The valley it was in was spectacular and so were the winds.  The Beijing Olympic Camera Club had decided to visit it this morning too.  It was one of those impossible sort of shots because half the foss was in bright sunlight and the other half shaded by the valley.  The wind was so strong it was blowing John's tripod over and it was freezing.  I am not sure it was worth the stress of that road but we stopped at a frozen pond and took photos of the ice crystals which was much more satisfying than the foss.

From there we went through to Skaholt and had visited a very beautiful cathedral.  It has the most amazing stained glass.  I realised that we had visited this cathedral on our first trip to Iceland in 2004.  Not another tourist in sight either and we had the place to ourself.

We then drove through Thingvellir National Park which was very beautiful with similar colours to yesterday at Skaftafell with willows and beeches and big snow capped peaks surrounding it.  We stopped at another foss but again the light was all wrong and they had put boarding all up around it and signs saying don't climb on the rocks.  The last time I was here in 2013 we were able to get up close and personal to this foss, it was snowing and the light was perfect.

A couple of hours later we checked in to our hotel and after supper I suggested we get some Milky Way shots while we have a clear night.  Today has been glorious again.  I had looked at the aurora app at dinner and the prediction was virtually nil to see any lights tonight.  No moon so a milky way shot would be good.  So many stars.  Well I noticed these bands to the East and thought that looks like something is happening.  We were the only ones at the church at that time and saw the magic begin.  Well the lights rippled across the sky and fluttered like curtains or ribbons in a gentle breeze.  There were pinks around tonight.  After about 20 minutes cars started to arrive and more and more people turned up with tripods.  There were shouts of turn that torch off!!!  etc and even though a lot of my photos were duds, I will remember that light show tonight.  What an amazing sight and I am feeling very very blessed.