The next few days were pretty relaxing. My bud and I took many bearfoot con bear walks on the beach.
The day after New Years Eve, just about everyone filed out, leaving on a scattering of guests left in the club. The weather was very cooperative and everything was pleasant. I lounged on the sand when my bud went on a run, I lounged in the sand when my bud decided to walk across the shallow bay out to Sugar Cay, and I lounged in the sand when they went kayaking. The waters were so shallow and calm I didn’t have to worry about so many rogue waves like we did in Iceland, and it was warm enough to stay close to the waters.
View of Winding Bay
So back and forth and back and forth we would stroll on the beach and across the complex.
Walking at the edge of the surf on the beachMy bud and Pokin on one of our many strollsHanging out on a swingMore chillaxing on a beach
When sunset came, we either watched it on the beach.
It’s New Years Eve! Just like that, it’s the last day of 2021.
And I’m going on vacation. To the Bahamas. There are nearly 700 islands in the Bahamas, and I’m going to one Great Abaco Island, though the airport we landed in was actually on Marsh Island? Our friends were kind enough to invite us to spend NYE with them. I’m looking forward to a change of scenery, after having spent most of the year in a bearrito.
Here’s the view from outside the plane as we’re getting ready to approach.
Our destination today is the Abaco Club. It’s a private club with a nice long fine white sand beach. Abaco Club’s had an interesting history with multiple owners. For the longest time it sat underdeveloped through multiple recessions, but the current owners seem to be putting a lot of effort into growing the community.
As we disembarked from the airport though, we were first greeted with giant swarths of dead trees. At first we thought maybe they were just dormant from winter, but it turns out this is the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 hurricane that struck Abaco Islands Directly on Sept 1, 2019. While the hurricane itself inflicted a lot of damage, it was the resulting flooding that left the soils too salty for trees to survive.
While most of the damage impacted northern Abaco, Abaco Club survived surprisingly unscathed. Much of the area might have been protected by a combination of the Winding Bay, and by Sugar Cay.
After about a 20 minute ride, we pulled up to our friend’s place. There’s a main house and we got to stay in the guest house.
Time to settle in and get ready for New Years Eve!
Our volcano bear dance didn’t do anything to wake the volcano. Onto plan B – look for the elves, otherwise known as Huldufólk.
According to a National Geographic survey in 2017, over 50% still believe in Huldufólk! As a spirit bear, I support the Huldufólk!
So we went to look for them at Strandakirkja, which is located on the south coast of Iceland.
This church is creepy. I immediately felt like I was in a scene right out of Diablo. But it’s creepier when I’m not in a game. Originally built in the 12th century, I found out later it’s known as the Miracle church, known for its divine powers. Maybe that’s what I felt.
We found the elf houses around the back. Better make an offering!
I like these bear size elf homes!
The next place we picked out made no sense at all. Apparently we were going to Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River.
And turns out you can’t just drive to the hot springs. You needed to hike 40 minutes to one hour uphill.
No one actually was actually ready to go into the hotsprings, but up the trail we went, only to be pounded in the face by wind the entire walk up.
“Are you enjoying this?” I make a point of asking my bud every few steps against the wind.
We get there eventually, look at a lot of people sitting in the water and turn around.
Then it was back towards Reykjavik, where my bud tells me he got me a hot cocoa.
I took a sniff. Yep. Not hot cocoa. It was a hot coffee spiked with Brennivín. Tricked. I smack my bud. Adam drinks it instead. I smack my bud again.
And then Anna and Adam took off to a bubble hotel, and we drove to the last stop of the night, Garður a small fishing town located close to the Keflavik airport.
“Set your expectations low,” Pokin tells us.
Turned out not to be that bad at all! “Better wood panelling than at Ranga,” said my bud.
I agreed. We were all pleasantly surprised. Then we went to bed.
The next morning I took one last glance at the lighthouse –
Homeward bound!
And concludes my account of our 3rd trip to Iceland, where no volcano erupted.
After the volcano, we stopped at some beach, where the near gale force winds were still definitely present. In fact, it caused a door to rip out of Pokin’s hands and straight into the neighbouring car.
No one wants to remember that, least of all Pokin…so moving along.
We spent our time driving along the south coast before eventually making a decision to head to the Reykjanes peninsula, which is at the south western tip of Iceland for sunset.
Some time back, before I knew we would be headed to Iceland my bud and I watched the Eurovision Song Contest.
I didn’t realize it, but the Volcano Man was shot at the Reykjanes peninsula!
At this point we’ve been in Iceland for a number of days, and that volcano that Pokin dragged us over here to see has been staying mum.
Not a peep.
Well we were in the area anyway so we may as well see it, near gale force winds be darned. There are 3 parking lots to get to the Fagradalsfjall volcano. The first two involve a 40 minute hike to see the lava, whereas the third lot takes you almost right to the fields. So we picked lot C.
Here’s the starting point. Some enterprising food truck set up a stand right next door to serve hot dogs and lamb stew.
There’s a short hump you go up and over, which takes you into this valley. Most of the lava’s cooled off but you can still see small wisps of smoke.
Here’s a close up of the lava.
You can hike up the ridge of the hill to look right into the crater, but since the volcano wasn’t active we just took a look around and got back in the car. After all, the volcano wasn’t active, it was really windy, and I didn’t want to get blown away.
“THIS is what you dragged us here to see?” I turned to Pokin as we got back in the car.
She shrugged.
Mum’s the word from all volcanos and people, it seems.
Of course the next morning Pokin wanted to get up for sunrise photos.
At least since it was October, sunrise was later and breakfast was already open.
They had a pretty good breakfast spread. Best one I’d seen in Iceland, in fact.
I actually enjoyed myself over breakfast, watching the sunrise.
A little while later, Anna and Adam joined my bud and Pokin for breakfast. Then they went into the Retreat Lagoon while I went back up to the room to chillax.
The Retreat Lagoon side is much more cozy, I’m told. The pools are nestled between chasms in the natural lava, and there are many more private nooks. For a while, my bud and Pokin had the waters all to themselves, before they were joined by one more person and then Anna and Adam. This is a much more secluded place to be. They said it was a nice juxtaposition to the main large lagoon.
There was one rude couple they said who disregarded the rules and walked around with a camera, but everyone else respected the rules.
After a quick dip, it was already time for checkout.
Too bad, I liked it here. I guess we’ll just have to come back.
My bud explained to me that, even though we were done with waterfalls, we’d be going somewhere very wet.
We were to spend the day with my bud’s sister Anna and her boyfriend Adam, and they had planned the day to be at the Blue Lagoon.
And since they booked a night there, we did too.
So here we are, going to The Retreat Spa at the Blue Lagoon for almost a day. I say almost a day because you don’t get to spend a full day there. You are only allowed to check in at 3pm and you have to check out by 11am the next day.
The origins of Blue Lagoon stemmed from 1976, when the Svartsengi geothermal plant was built. The plant needed a place to deposit its runoff, and decided the nearby 800+ year old lava field would suit. Instead of draining away though, the muddy runoff formed a large lagoon.
Some soul at some point in 1981 decided to try bathing in it, and discovered, oh! It helps with skin conditions! And behold, in 1992, the Blue Lagoon company was formed.
The Blue Lagoon today has 3 parts. The Blue Lagoon which is the large public lagoon that you can visit during the day, the Silica Hotel which features its own swimming area a little away from the Blue Lagoon, and then in 2014, they started work on the ultra luxury Retreat Spa.
The Retreat Spa was conceived by Sigríður Sigþórsdóttir founding partner of Basalt Architects and Design Group Italia. The designers apparently scoured the fields to find just the right spot to construct the retreat, and the whole construction process took over 3 years as they had to find the right fields with the right characteristics.
The Retreat Hotel at the Blue Lagoon
As you look around the retreat, you can see the full integration with the environment. The retreat was built right into and around the lava fields, and every lookout appears as though it’s a picture.
I was impressed. This is fit for me to stay at. In fact I want this for my bear home! Nicholas, take note!
On arrival, we were greeted at reception with a welcome drink. My bud opted for sparkling tea.
After a few minutes, we were presented with an agreement we had to read and sign. Among the terms were that there was no photography allowed in the Retreat Spa.
The Retreat Spa entrance. No photos beyond this door.
Once that was signed, we were given a tour of the retreat before being shown our rooms. Since most of the place is no photography allowed, well, I had no photos.
But here’s my room! It was pretty nice. I only wish I got a ground floor unit. Pokin was worried about privacy, but it turns out the waters in front of the suites are only for looks. Next time!
The bathroom areaBed, bar, and closetThe tub and lookout
Ahh, this is the life.
While I stayed behind to enjoy my suite, my bud and Pokin went out to explore the rest of the faciliites.
At 4pm, they served tea in the lounge. Bathrobe lounge attire encouraged.
The main lagoon can be accessed at the end of the Retreat Lagoon, and is only open till 8pm whereas the Retreat Lagoon was open until 10pm, so everyone decided to go into the Blue Lagoon first.
This was the entrance from the Retreat Lagoon into the main lagoon.
The Retreat entrance
My bud and the gang stayed out in the main lagoon through sunset.
While I enjoyed the sunset from the room.
They had 8pm reservations at the Lava Restaurant after which they meant to go into the Retreat Lagoon, but apparently everyone was too tired and went to sleep right after dinner.
Apparently Pokin wasn’t happy with feeding my bud cold cinnamon buns on his first day here, so we decided to head back to Reykjavík and to Braud again. This time we were hoping to land some fresh hot cinnamon buns.
We were also going to meet up with Anna and Adam, my bud’s sister and her boyfriend who were just getting into town.
We parked right by Hallgrimskirkja, Iceland’s largest church because of the free parking, or as my bud said instead so we could “abuse the good will of the holy house.”
Hallgrímskirkja is one of Iceland’s tallest structures, at 74.5m or 244 feet tall. The church is named after Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson. Construction of the church started in 1945 and ended in 1986, meaning it took 41 years. Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran church, which explains the austerity of the church’s interior and exterior.
Ok enough of the church.
To cinnamon buns. There was a line. Good sign.
Pokin and Adam went inside the store, where they tried to tell her they didn’t have hot cinnamon buns. All the while Pokin said she was staring at an oven full of baking cinnamon buns.
“How long till those are ready?” She asked, pointing to the buns in the oven.
“About a minute.” Was the response.
“I’ll wait,” said Pokin.
“Me too, can I change my order?” said the person right in front of her that had settled for cold cinnamon buns.
So they waited less than a minute and were shortly rewarded with hot cinnamon buns.
I took a sniff. Not bad, but I’m holding up for cocoa.
“What do you think?” Pokin asks eagerly. “Better than before?”
“I guess,” was all my bud would declare.
Then we started wandering through town. We started down the main road from Hallgrímskirkja, which was painted in rainbow colours in honour of Iceland’s annual Gay Pride festival.
We next wove our way past the Prime Minister’s house and the Parliament building before ending up here. Pokin wanted to take my bud and I to a hotdog stand.
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, meaning “The City’s Best Hotdog” is a popular tourist destination. The stand has been there since 1937, and the recommended way to eat it is eina með öllu, or one with everything.
The “everything” is a lamb sausage, a kind of remoulade, ketchup, mustard, raw onions, and fried onions. Even Bill Clinton has gotten hot dogs from this stand but apparently he only got his with mustard. Blasphemy!
Seljalandsfoss, AKA the most photographed waterfall in Iceland was our last stop. It means “selling the land of waterfalls.” This is where most southern Iceland tours make at a stop; it’s overall one of the most popular places in all of Iceland. Based on its positioning facing west behind a cliff, it’s also most beautiful viewed at sunset because that’s when the light hits the waterfalls. Most of the rest of the day, it’s behind shadows.
Naturally Pokin wanted to head there for sunset.
“You realize every single photographer in Iceland is going to have the same idea right?” Nicholas said.
“Yes,” Pokin answered. And that’s why we are going to go early to camp out a spot.
So, despite the sun setting at 6:55pm, we were there by a little after 5. My bud and I decided to wait in the car. Pokin hauled off with her gear.
A little while after, she came back with her gear, looking a lot damper.
“I don’t have a wide enough camera lens to capture the photos. I’m better off with my iPhone,” was the answer.
We all head back out together. My curiousity was piqued from this “most beautiful waterfall” claim. From here it looks ok.
The sun starts to fall as we get closer and the view gets better.
And of course it gets wetter.
The place wasn’t as busy as it could be as most of the tour busses have to leave before sunset, but there were a decent number of Instagrammers on site and photographers. I can only assume they are Instagrammers based on the props and poses.
At one point Nicholas says “you’re going to regret not having your camera here.” And they go back to get their camera. But the iPhone photo still won out in the end.
Here it is during the full sunset glow.
The cool thing about this waterfall is that you can walk all the way around it. I recommend the counterclockwise route so you are scrambling up slippery rocks instead of down. The cave behind the waterfall was formed by gradual erosion of rock from the waterfall spray. Makes sense, this waterfall sure sprays over the course of its 60m drop! The Seljalandsfoss flows from the Seljalandsá river which is fed by the Eyjafjallajökull glacier.
And with that, we’re done with waterfalling in Iceland this trip. Can’t say I’m sad, but this is a nice one to end with.
Pokin wasn’t done with waterfalls for the day. She next mapped us to Gljúfrafoss. Apparently it’s known as one of the wettest hikes in Iceland. You go through a canyon hiking basically right in the river.
“I’m definitely sitting this one out guys,” I say.
To my surprise, they readily agreed and left me in the car.
The trail starts out like this –
After which you get into a canyon and stay there.
And you get to hike right in the water.
For this waterfall.
My bud said he had fun scrambling. Glad he did!
And I’m just glad I got to stay in the car for this one.
