Asterix goes to Iceland

[asterixsg]

34. Frozen Gullfoss

Just another rendition of the mighty Gullfoss, most of which was frozen...

35. Tree of life

Its amazing how life survive in such harsh conditions. Actually, these are really tiny shrubs, sometimes growing just a couple of centimeters though a thick layer of snow (I don't even know what to call them...)

 

[soulFLY]

35. Tree of life

Such poetry! Its always give a surreal feeling when viewing work done in snow white blanket landscape.

Well compose..well done!

 

[daredevil123]

Thanks for sharing your pics asterix. Wonderful shots.

 

[asterixsg]

Such poetry! Its always give a surreal feeling when viewing work done in snow white blanket landscape.

Well compose..well done!

Thanks for your comments. They mean a lot.

Thanks for sharing your pics asterix. Wonderful shots.

Thanks. Glad that you enjoyed the photos.

I just have a few more to share from the hundreds that I shot. Most of them would be duplicates of the same location, which I don't want to bore you all with. Should be done in a couple of days and then we can let this thread get buried

 

[asterixsg]

36. Making safe vs Showing off !!!

There was this section of the glacier that had a deep gorge, but had a natural bridge over it. Perfect photo opportunity to show off to friends back home. The guide first went and made sure that the "bridge" was strong enough and he also scraped some ice to make it a stable platform to stand. One by one, we went up and posed for a record shot. I got this photo of a couple who had joined us on the glacier hike...

 

[agent orange]

Iceland is so beautiful!! One of my dream destinations!!

Look forward to more of your pics!

 

[giantcanopy]

I cannot believe i missed this thread ( must be i hang ard KPT too often )
I am going Iceland coming August for 17+ days self drive round the Ring Road ( I hope the eruption recently will tail down , I didn plan to visit much of Vatnajokull anyway ). Booked everything including lodging almost one yr ago.

Originally thought of winter to see Aurora Borealis but the driving is too limited and parts of Ring road not accessible.

Did you change much of ISK currency ?
I was told that most of the transactions can be done via credit, and more than 95% of the time you may not need any cash at all ( from tripadvisor folks )

Working at the moment, cannot comment much , but I will have much questions to ask ya brudder !
Meanwhile will visit this thread often

Kind regads
Ryan

 

[asterixsg]

As I posted this last photo, I came upon the news that there has been a volcanic eruption underneath the glacier Vatnajokull. And come to think of it. I was right on one of the tongue's of the glacier

Will be watching the news closely for any further developments...

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...land-airport-110522/20110522/?hub=CalgaryHome

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-23/iceland-volcano-ash-may-reach-u-k-this-week.html

 

[asterixsg]

Iceland is so beautiful!! One of my dream destinations!!

Look forward to more of your pics!

You should make plans to visit Iceland. Its quite a beautiful country.

I cannot believe i missed this thread ( must be i hang ard KPT too often )
I am going Iceland coming August for 17+ days self drive round the Ring Road ( I hope the eruption recently will tail down , I didn plan to visit much of Vatnajokull anyway ). Booked everything including lodging almost one yr ago.

Originally thought of winter to see Aurora Borealis but the driving is too limited and parts of Ring road not accessible.

Did you change much of ISK currency ?
I was told that most of the transactions can be done via credit, and more than 95% of the time you may not need any cash at all ( from tripadvisor folks )

Working at the moment, cannot comment much , but I will have much questions to ask ya brudder !
Meanwhile will visit this thread often

Kind regads
Ryan

Hi Ryan, good to have you visit this thread. I figured you were focussing on your marathon training, so you weren't quite keen on checking out Iceland as captured by me Just kidding...

I didn't change too much ISK, there are ATMs in every town if you need to withdraw cash. You just have to be careful about the unmanned Petrol Stations. They do accept credit cards in those stations, except that you need to have a Chip n Pin type of credit cards. Otherwise, you are stuffed. I suggest that you purchase a couple of stored value cards of different companies - just for emergency purposes if you cannot find a manned petrol station and you would be running out of fuel. The N1 company had the most petrol stations that I saw...

17 days will give you a great chance to drive all around the island, especially the far North West and also the East have some wonderful fjords. Will be eagerly waiting for your captures...

Please plan to spend sufficient time at Jokulsarlon. You will know what I mean when you see it.

If you need any other info, do let me know.

Good luck for your trip.

 

[giantcanopy]

I have seen a few shots of Reynisdrangar being taken from the top of the mountain next to it.
Did you see anyone trekking up ? ( I was thinking if I have the time, i might just go up to have a look )

Here is one local who did so : http://www.flickr.com/photos/andriel/2675966267/
But I loved his puffin flight shot over Reynisdrangar better.

Ryan

 

[asterixsg]

I have seen a few shots of Reynisdrangar being taken from the top of the mountain next to it.
Did you see anyone trekking up ? ( I was thinking if I have the time, i might just go up to have a look )

Here is one local who did so : http://www.flickr.com/photos/andriel/2675966267/
But I loved his puffin flight shot over Reynisdrangar better.

Ryan

Hi Ryan,
I didn't see anyone trekking up the mountain next to Reynisdrangar. But I do remember seeing a track going up. If you have a 4WD, you might be able to go up that track and maybe trek up the last section. I strongly recommend that you factor in some time to explore that area. I've seen some phenomenal photos of the lava rocks on the beach too. On my way back from Jokulsarlon to Reykjavik, we had excellent weather, but my friend was in too much of a hurry to drive and he suggested that we don't stop at this place

The area around Vik, Dyrholaey and Reynisdrangar deserves at least 2-3 full days.

Cheers

 

[ahbian]

Are there any particular accommodations that you came across or stayed in that offers good views within walking distance?

I was thinking that this would allow me to take my own time to take pictures, without feeling too guilty for my friend who would otherwise need to wait in the car.

I guess the sceneries in iceland could be such that there are countless choices for accommodations near good photography spots. Interested in your own input.

 

[Hosea]

Beautiful place and great capture... Cheers

 

[asterixsg]

Are there any particular accommodations that you came across or stayed in that offers good views within walking distance?

I was thinking that this would allow me to take my own time to take pictures, without feeling too guilty for my friend who would otherwise need to wait in the car.

I guess the sceneries in iceland could be such that there are countless choices for accommodations near good photography spots. Interested in your own input.

Other than in Reykjavik, I didn't come across any accommodation within walking distance to the sights. The thing with Iceland is that there are countless choices for photography and accommodation is sparse
eg Dyrholaey was around 15km from the nearest farmhouse, obviously not walkable. The nearest accommodation to Jokulsarlon was around 25-30kms away. You just have to go with the flow and hope that you and your friend will have common interests. Once we reached a spot, we would tell each other that we would be back in 30 mins or 1 hour etc. and go our own ways to shoot. Sometimes, if we had less time, we would stick together and shoot from the same location.

There had been several occasions when my friend sat in the car and I went about taking photos. That was fine with him and with me. But sometimes if he wasn't interested in taking a detour, I just had to let it pass...

Beautiful place and great capture... Cheers

Thanks Hosea. Appreciate your comments.

 

[giantcanopy]

Much appreciated your comments!
Actually on of my days I actually packed the following -

- Skaftafell National Park with Svartifoss visit
( and I was wondering what else I can do at Vatnajökull, but with the eruption, maybe we will cut out any glacier walking stuffs )

- Jökulsárlón

- Before ending the evening at Hofn and staying over Hofn. I have seen nice evenings in Hofn's harbour.

Too packed you reckon ?

( I actually planned and booked all lodgings almost a yr ago so I cannot seem to maneuver much anymore, but I probably can do more emphasis on certain areas instead )

Ryan

 

[JacePhoto]

nice pics, try some panoramic too?

 

[asterixsg]

Much appreciated your comments!
Actually on of my days I actually packed the following -

- Skaftafell National Park with Svartifoss visit
( and I was wondering what else I can do at Vatnajökull, but with the eruption, maybe we will cut out any glacier walking stuffs )

- Jökulsárlón

- Before ending the evening at Hofn and staying over Hofn. I have seen nice evenings in Hofn's harbour.

Too packed you reckon ?

( I actually planned and booked all lodgings almost a yr ago so I cannot seem to maneuver much anymore, but I probably can do more emphasis on certain areas instead )

Ryan

Hi Ryan,
I think Skaftafell (Svartifoss), Jokulsarlon and Hofn in one day is packing it way too much. In August you will have much longer days, but then it will still be very tiring for you...

Not sure where you will drive from to reach Skaftafell and what time you plan to reach there...

From the visitors carpark to Svartifoss and back will take you 2-1/2 hours (45 mins hike to Svartifoss, 45 mins back, and 30 mins at the waterfall, and some rest afterwards), not including any detours along the way.

The glacier walk is quite interesting, very well organized, safe and fun. If you haven't walked on a glacier before, then I suggest you don't miss out on this experience. You will need to check their schedule, but it would take at least 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

The drive from Skaftafell to Jokulsarlon is at least 1 hour or so. Once you reach Jokulsarlon, you will easily want to spend at least 2-3 hours wandering around the edge of the lagoon. Then cross over to the other side of the road where the icebergs that would've floated into the sea would've been washed ashore by the tide, onto the black pebble beach. That would take at least another hour or so.

I am not sure of the driving time from Jokulsarlon to Hofn, so can't really comment on that one...

The farthest I went south-east, was until Jokulsarlon.

Hope this helps...

nice pics, try some panoramic too?

Thanks for your comments. I did shoot some panoramas and posted #16 and #18, but they don't seem to show up in this new layout of the forum. So, I just left it at that. They look ok on flickr though...

 

[asterixsg]

37. Parking in the snow, anyone ?

38. Breakfast

It was so heartwarming to see people brave the freezing temperatures and cold winds to come out and feed the ducks and geese. Icelanders, you are so special

39. Resting place

Was wandering in Snæfellsnes, went to a church and found a cemetery behind...

40. Do you see what I see ?

There are all kinds of patterns on the mountains in Iceland. I suppose that's what give rise to all the stories of trolls and elves...

 

[giantcanopy]

Hi Ryan,
I think Skaftafell (Svartifoss), Jokulsarlon and Hofn in one day is packing it way too much. In August you will have much longer days, but then it will still be very tiring for you...

Not sure where you will drive from to reach Skaftafell and what time you plan to reach there...

From the visitors carpark to Svartifoss and back will take you 2-1/2 hours (45 mins hike to Svartifoss, 45 mins back, and 30 mins at the waterfall, and some rest afterwards), not including any detours along the way.

The glacier walk is quite interesting, very well organized, safe and fun. If you haven't walked on a glacier before, then I suggest you don't miss out on this experience. You will need to check their schedule, but it would take at least 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

The drive from Skaftafell to Jokulsarlon is at least 1 hour or so. Once you reach Jokulsarlon, you will easily want to spend at least 2-3 hours wandering around the edge of the lagoon. Then cross over to the other side of the road where the icebergs that would've floated into the sea would've been washed ashore by the tide, onto the black pebble beach. That would take at least another hour or so.

I am not sure of the driving time from Jokulsarlon to Hofn, so can't really comment on that one...

The farthest I went south-east, was until Jokulsarlon.

Hope this helps...

Thx for the valuable info. I would be starting out from Vik to Skaftafell . Looks like will have to wake up early and a long day
Was the hike ard Skaftafell difficult ?

We did 2 glacial hikes in NZ before, so was thinking of giving glacial hikes a miss.

I think I will spend more time in Jokulsarlon then !

Ryan

 

[asterixsg]

Thx for the valuable info. I would be starting out from Vik to Skaftafell . Looks like will have to wake up early and a long day
Was the hike ard Skaftafell difficult ?

We did 2 glacial hikes in NZ before, so was thinking of giving glacial hikes a miss.

I think I will spend more time in Jokulsarlon then !

Ryan

Hi Ryan,
If I remember correctly, its at least a 2 hours drive from Vik to Skaftafell.

No, the hike around Skaftafell wasn't difficult at all. In fact, I was so pissed off with the bad weather I got at Svartifoss, that I ran back to the visitors carpark in around 20 odd minutes :bsmilie:

OK, if you've walked on glaciers in NZ, then you could give the glacier walk in Iceland a miss...

I do believe that you will enjoy Jokulsarlon a lot, please plan to spend maximum time there. Its an ethereal experience. I have posted only one photo #16 of Jokulsarlon, I'll look for a couple more from that location and post later.

Do go to the other side of the road to the black pebble beach. You will get to see scenes like in #15 and #33...

You will be travelling when the conditions to photograph would be much better with beautiful light. I can't wait to see your captures :thumbsup:

Cheers