Iceland - Day 3

It was another early start to get to Diamond Beach for the sunrise. It was a beautiful clear day, very cold at -6C but with a golden glow on the horizon already 2 hours before sunrise was due. The beach changes every day as some chunks of ice are washed out to sea and new ones are washed down the from the glacier onto the beach. The beach had so many ice rocks on it, Lee said he had never seen it so full of ice like this before. The first extra was taken as the sun was rising at about 9.30am.

After 3 hours we walked over the road to Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon and had a coffee at the cafe. The lagoon was looking beautiful in the sunshine with blue skies (second extra). We then drove a short way and had a 20 minute hike on snow and ice to the Fjallsarlin glacier (last extra). There was an icy wind and the temperature dropped significantly, I took a few photos but it was so bitterly cold that I could no longer feel my hands so I walked back to the car. It was just too cold there! We had a snack lunch back at Jokulsarlon for lunch, I had made a sandwich from breakfast which I took with me. We saw so many seals in the lagoon and sea, and also saw a large herd of reindeer. 

After lunch we met the tour guide who was taking us to the Vatnajökull ice cave. We drove over snow fields is a huge ‘monster truck’, a large Mercedes van which had enormous tyres - it was about a 30 minute drive followed by a 30 minute hike wearing ice cleats over our boots. (I have done nearly 19000 steps today) The guide told us that the glacier as shrunk back by 8km in 90 years, and the ice caves change every year. They spend the summer searching for caves as they are a popular tourist destination. We were the last group of the day so it was not busy in the cave. It was amazing, turquoise blue ice in some area and white in other areas. This ice cave had to be my blip for today. My hands gave up at this stage due to the cold , they were so numb I could not work my camera anymore and my friend had to help me pack my camera away and get some heat pads out of my bag. I am wearing heated gloves and when the batteries die I am using heat pads in my gloves. I am coping with the cold except for my hands.

We left the ice cave as the sun was setting, and only got back to our hotel at 7pm - it was a full day of 11 hours out today, and we are all feeling pretty shattered. The aurora was forecast to be good tonight but then cloud cover came over so Lee was going to go out and see if there would be a possible gap in the clouds, but the rest of us were too tired (and secretly were thankful for the cloud cover!) I would love to see the aurora, I just did not feel like another 3 hours of photography in freezing cold conditions after a long day.  

We check out tomorrow and move further along the coast to Höfn to visit Vestrahorn. 

Thank you for all the kind comments and hearts I have received over the past few days, I have enjoyed reading the comments and am very grateful for the kind words and hearts. Apologies but I have no time to look at journals while on this trip.