Iceland. Land of fire and water!

Flying over Rykjavik

I usually manage a weeks holiday abroad at this time of year with the camera and having previously been south, to Portugal and Cyprus,I decided this time to head North to slightly colder climates and thus choose Iceland as my destination.I`d researched the country beforehand and knew that it would offer good photographic opportunities regarding the local bird population.Although ther

e are not huge numbers of different species there,85 in fact,it was the abundance of them that drew me initially to the island!I didn`t really have a plan for my sortie but would pick up the small vw caddy campervan from nr the airport and then drive in a north easterly direction,following the coastline, with my final destination being lake Myvatyn some 450 km north. On arrival the weather was good with long clear sunny spells and a temp of between 9 and 10 degrees,this was excellent as the weather here is very changeable and could very easily have been driving rain with snow flurries on the higher ground.Snow was still very evident on the mountain tops as the plane approached the airport. Having picked up the camper van from nearby,I headed for the local netto and obtained provisions for the week.Iceland is noted for being extremely expensive,as regards dining out, so I made sure I was well prepared.A tank full of diesel in the car and I was on my way north, skirting Reykjavik on route 1.The scenery changed dramatically on leaving the capital and I was soon amongst fields and meadows heading for the Snaefellsnes peninnsular, just how I imagined it.The population of Iceland is roughly 320,000 people with 2/3 living in the capital,so with it being roughly the size of England, there was plenty of driving and hardly any traffic on the roads!One of the first of the many lakes that I came to held a pair of Red throated divers,I duly pulled over and spent a great half hour taking a few shots of the divers.



What a great bird to start my holiday,it was a real pleasure being in their company and not another person or car in sight!I could hardly drag myself away but needed to press on to locate a campsite.It had been an extremely long and tiring day so I decided to turn in early tonight and make a good early start the following day.More of my time in Iceland will follow in my next blog,so again thanks for dropping by and catch up soon!!!!