Renegade Writings

The collected writings of a Renegade Tourist

Month May 2014

Coastal road, remote fjord, 3:40 pm

We’re on a gravel road, the car vibrates and bounces on the uneven surface, small rocks ping off the underside of the body at a steady rate and we stir up a big cloud of dust behind us. To the left of us the mountains, barren cliffs coming down in terraces towards the sea, the narrow road clinging on to the edge above the blue water and me fighting against the loose gravel to keep the car from careening off the edge. I look out over the fjord to the mountains rising sharply on the other side, and realize how … Read the rest

May 26, 2014 0

Coastal road, east Iceland, 1:45 pm

We have just come off the gravel road at the bottom of a fjord and are speeding outwards toward the tip of the peninsula when I have a moment to relax and look out the window. On our left, moss covered rock formations rolling down from snowcapped peaks in a gentle slope, continuing on the other side of road, down to the clear blue ocean and on the other side of the fjord, darker mountains rise steeply to flat tops scattered with snow. It’s supremely beautiful.… Read the rest

May 26, 2014 0

Road number 1 north of Höfn, 12:20 pm

The surrounding landscape is littered with crags and cliffs, tendrils of the mountain creeping out onto the plane. The road winds it’s way through a maze of rock, around tight turns, up steep hills, down sweeping slopes and through narrow passages, high cliffs on both sides. It’s a real rollercoaster ride through the stunning landscape.… Read the rest

May 26, 2014 0

Walking on ice

Today we had a glacier tour booked, but since it was all the way back in Skaftafell, we got up as usual, hopped in the car and drove off, going west this time so we could see the scenery from the other side as we zoomed by. Except for picking up a forlorn hitchhiker standing in the rain, it was a smooth and uneventful drive.

At skaftafell we had a quick lunch, put on all the warm clothes we had with us and reported to the glacier guides. They fitted us with safety harnesses, helmets, ice axes and crampons (kind … Read the rest

May 26, 2014 0

Svinafellsjökull 2:10 pm

The rhythmic crunch of spike-soled boots on ice, the air is cool and crisp but my body is hot from exertion. Spread out in front of me is jumbled field of snow and ice, crisscrossed by crevices and gullies, sprinkled with volcanic ash and dotted here and there with puddles of absolutely clear water where the blue core of the ice shows through. Even if you’ve grown up with snow and ice, this is quite an experience.… Read the rest

May 25, 2014 0

Long drive and glaciers

We left Vik this morning and drove out into the ever changing, ever spectacular Icelandic landscape. Due to the rain, we only made a few stops to look at the scenery and quickly made it to Skaftafell national park.


  • Yini dancing in the rain during a short stop to look at the scenery

  • Yini jumping, in the background fields of volcanic sand.
  • Us and the volcanic sand fields, with our car in the background
  • Not sure why this thing is sticking up from the ground here

Skaftafell is an outlier of Vatnajökull, one of the worlds biggest glaciers. Due to … Read the rest

May 25, 2014 0

Road no 1, afternoon

The black sand eventually gives way to some sparse yellow grass spreading out over the fields, the snowy mountains looming closer, masses of ice blocks from the glacier spilling out onto the grass. The road curves away from the mountains, running through fields of greenish yellow, the glaciers tumbling down in the distance. The road curves back and the mountains grow higher but less steep, slopes of sand running down towards the sea. The grass grows higher and the mountains become darker again and more rocky, tendrils of broken black cliffs crawling out on the plane, the road snaking between … Read the rest

May 24, 2014 0

Road number 1, noon

The landscape is ever changing as we go along, from brooding cliffs just off to the right as we set off, passing by green pastures dotted with grazing sheep, driving through moon landscapes strewn with dark boulders covered in sickly yellow grass. Out again onto open fields where green shrubs mix with the barren soil and dead grass, off in the distance, fields and lonely farm houses hugging the base of steeply rising mountains, topped with ragged black cliffs; little ponds and lakes on both sides all along the way. We finally cross a river on a narrow bridge and … Read the rest

May 24, 2014 0

Main road near Vik, 10:15 am

This car has far more problems than I care to list, the gear lever has to be manhandled into position with force and precision, if I let go of the wheel, the car skews off to the right, the windscreen wipers work none too well, and only the driver side speakers function. In short, it really is just as sad a car as the rental company’s name suggests, but it’s getting us where we want to go, zooming along, with verdant fields on the right and stupendous cliffs looming up on the left so close you could almost reach out … Read the rest

May 24, 2014 0

The Golden circle

Yesterday, Renegade Wife and I slept as long as we could to kill the jetlag, then spent the afternoon exploring Reykjavik. It’s a pretty small town for a capital city, and we didn’t see all that much. Today we headed out in our battered old rental car (the company Sad Cars that we rented from has older cars and lower prices than most other rental firms) to see the real Iceland.

We did what is commonly called the Golden Circle, a tourist rout that heads north out from Reykjavik then bends off towards the inland  and comes back in a … Read the rest

May 24, 2014 0
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