Awaking from our hostel after a decent nights sleep, we departed from Selfoss after cleaning the ice off the car and headed back to the hot springs with new advice in hand as where to find the hot river in Hveragerði.
Upon finding the carpark, we grabbed our boardshorts and towels and walked the 3kms through the snow.
Eventually we stumbled across the boiling springs. After a long hike, it was time to jump in the water. Finding a pool of water that was warm, but not too warm was a challenge. I would walk in to my shins before running out from the heat. Deciding we needed to head down stream and feeling not very keen to change clothes again, we ran bare foot through the snow. Too cold to stay in longer than 5 seconds, we would jump in the hot water, only to find that it was too hot - we did this process of too hot, too cold, as we ran down the river for about 50 metres. Reaching a point where another stream of cold water was mixing with the warm water, we found the right spot.
After a good soak in the hot springs and a 3km walk back to the car, we hit the road to see Geysir and Gulfoss, part of the Golden Triangle.
Backtracking a little we headed towards Geysir first via Kerið, a beautiful crater lake.
On the way to Geysir we stopped at another waterfall.
As the name states, a large geyser of water explodes into the sky.
Afterwards, with the light fading for the day, we headed towards Gulfoss. Just catching the last minutes of the daylight for the day, we saw the stunning waterfall Gulfoss, a multi-tier waterfall.
With the light faded and darkness settling, we made the trek back to Reykjavik with the idea to try and spot the northern lights. With it being an uneventful evening, we retired to the KEX Hostel for the evening and to enjoy some of the Reykjavik nightlife.
Waking mid-morning, we tried to find a place to rent snorkelling gear to snorkel the gap between the tectonic plates that cut through Þingvellir National Park (turns out you can only do guided tours anyway). Unable to find anything, we headed back anyway to have a look at the area anyway. It's very interesting to know that the North American and European tectonic plates merge together right through the middle of Iceland creating the ridges seen below.
Returning the car in the late afternoon, tired still, we spent the evening exploring Reykjavik and booking a guided snorkelling tour.
The next morning we headed for a snorkel between tectonic plates in the beautiful calm clear waters of the Þingvellir National Park. Cold, windy and few snowflakes tumbling to the ground, we put on our drysuit and headed into the water. With thermals underneath, I was toasty warm. We let the current carry us down and we stumbled back to the van for some hot chocolate, where we changed and headed back to Reykjavik to spend the afternoon in some hot baths and an evening tour for myself to see the Northern Lights. Hopping on a bus, with a good chance of seeing the light, we headed south for two hours. Waiting and waiting. Eventually, the lights started to appear faintly along the horizon, and very light green. Unfortunately, the light didn't improve. Yet, I can say I have seen the northern lights, just faintly. Heading back to the hostel, I met up with Ryan and we hit the hay for an early morning. Packing up and saying bye, I took the bus to the Blue Lagoon for a relaxing morning in the famous heated lagoon. Bumping into Chris and his family, a Canadian from Halifax whom I'd met snorkelling, he kindly offered to give me a lift from the airport into Halifax.
I boarded the plane and headed to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada - I couldn't wait.