Day 15 was New Year’s Eve in Iceland, most tour operators are taking a day off for the next two days so it was ‘Christmas in Germany’ all over again. After some prior communication with Superjeeps, they kindly agreed to arrange for a South Coast tour. We couldn’t be more grateful and were pleasantly surprised when we were picked up, for we were the only ones on the tour! Our guide, Svavar proudly presented our ride for the day, a modified Land Rover Defender.
The first attraction was Seljalandsfoss, a very approachable waterfall in the summer as you can walk behind the curtain of water to get a unique view. In winter you can only appreciate its beauty from a distance, unless you fancy a nasty fall followed by hypothermia as you hit the water. As we slowly and carefully walked towards the waterfall, we berated ourselves for not getting proper footwear.
The second stop was Dyrhólaey lighthouse and the black sand beaches in Vík í Mýrdal. The road to the lighthouse and along the beach was not a smooth ride, it got pretty scary a few times but Svavar and the Rover really maneuvered the tough conditions really well. The winds were really going strong, so we were not able to venture as far out to the edge as possible. We use the lighthouse as a resting place to shield us from the wind, it can be rather exhausting fighting the forces of nature.
We had a quick lunch in the jeep before proceeding to Skogafoss, one of the largest and picturesque waterfalls in Iceland recently featured in Thor 2: The Dark World and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We carefully made our way to the top of the waterfall where there was a viewing platform and got an excellent view of the landscape.
We had to forego the glacier walk due to the blustery winds; we couldn’t even get out of the jeep safely and even witness a guy literally being blown away. Along the way back we saw some interesting houses that looked like they were crafted for the mountains.
Since it was New Year’s Eve, our day would not be complete without some fireworks to join in tonight’s countdown. Fireworks are permitted and exclusively sold by Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue during this period as the proceeds they obtain from this event is enough to finance their operations for an entire year. After purchasing some fireworks within our budget, Svavar drove us back to Reykjavík and dropped us off at Laugavegur where we did some quick shopping.
We’ve seen fireworks being set off in sporadically random locations the past few nights, but the true display will take place on New Year’s Eve at midnight. The dazzling display at Hallgrímskirkja Church went on for hours before reaching a peak as the clock strike twelve. The atmosphere was terrific as we ushered in 2014 with the sky filled with fireworks!
We were too embarrassed and a little scared to set off our tiny fireworks in the crowd, so we retreated to a more private area where we lit our own sticks and set off our first ever fireworks.
absolute honesty 