Sólheimajökull Glacier Ice Climbing and glacier hike

Sólheimajökull Glacier, the site of our adventures for the day

Too tired to type but what an awesome day. So just the bare basics for now...Private ice climbing and glacier hike tour with Hidden Iceland once again. Our guide, Prokop, is awesome. He's got a great sense of humour and obviously knows what he is doing. He was also fantastic with the kids. For those considering doing this, Hidden Iceland provided all the gear. We were advised on the type of clothing to wear but Prokop had spares of everything from down layer to mitts. We were also provided boots. Ice climbing was definitely doable and enjoyable as a beginner, but you do need a moderate level of fitness. 

Sólheimajökull Glacier itself was stunning and walking/climbing on it felt surreal. The photos really didn't do it justice. Ice climbing was as hard as it looks. Doing one climb was plenty of exertion. My forearms felt like they were going to fall off by the end of 3 climbs. The kids had a ball though and loved exploring all the crevasses.

As an FYI you can do it in the summer months too, and according to Prokop the ice is actually easier to climb but the glacier isn't as scenic without all the snow so take your pic!

Our drive to the glacier

Hidden Iceland provided all the gear. Prokop spent a fair bit of time making sure we had the right gear and that we would not be too hot or too cold

Walking towards the glacier. The lake was just to our left, frozen and covered with snow

Right on the edge of the glacier

Our practice wall

Let's do this one Prokop says...Ok sure! Jonah scampering up, nicknamed squirrel

Mal nicknamed "the tennis player" by the kids on account on his grunts with each movement

zapped of all energy by the climb

Elliot's long limbs made the wall look not so high

An achievement to make the climb!

Hiking on the glacier with our awesome guide Prokop

Exploring the glacier

Walking back after 4 hours on the ice

Nothing like some axe-throwing to finish the day

Protein to feed the muscles

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

The iconic Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss

Another day another tour, today we set off at the usual time on Hidden Iceland's Enchanting Snæfellsnes Peninsula Day tour, covering the peninsula which has seemingly inspired Jules Verne and used for filming in Game of Thrones. It was a mostly sightseeing tour with short walks but filled with Icelandic sagas thanks to our Icelandic guide Ingi. The tales were mostly dark and some were downright horrific which reflected the harsh life that was on Iceland. They definitely did not make good bedtime stories!

The highlight for the children though were putting on "mini spikes". The highlight for the adults (and the kids to some extent) was the lunch at one of the fishing villages. The seafood was fantastic! In contrast our dinner was hotdogs at a petrol station. Such is life!

Will keep this brief with just photos of more spectacular scenery!

Mini spikes must mean exciting terrain. The dumb Aussies had no idea how they went on. It took us a while 😂

Walking to admire the lake and lava fields of Selvallavatn

Djúpalónssadur Beach & Western Coast

Arnarstapi Cliffs & Búðakirkja Black Church

Group 12

Let's add to our frozen waterfalls collection. Selvallavatn Falls

Picnic anyone?!

Small and unassuming but awesome food

Because I had not hope of remembering the name. Easier to take a photo!

A whole boardful of grilled scallops

Pan-fried cod

The kids were tempted to order this based on the description but opted for seafood instead. We were in a fishing village...

Viewpoint to the Westfjords. Actually I think it may have been the other direction but we were too cold to turn around! It was windy up here!!

The church at Hellnar, the entrance in Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

Walking down to Djúpalónssadur Beach, almost like walking in Mordor

Lots of cool rock formations, as well as rock lifting station to measure your strength!

Djúpalónssadur Beach

By this stage the light was fading fast, so quick snaps and move on! One of the many rock formations near Arnarstapi

Stone Bridge, our guide just called in rock with a hole

At this point you can't even tell what we were taking a photo of! Giant meeple, accompanied by another dark tale

By this stage, the famous black church was against a black background so not much of a contrast!

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon & Ice Cave Discovery Day 2

 

Sapphire Ice Cave

We had an amazing adventure today to the Sapphire ice cave. Our guide Max dropped us off at the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon where we rendezvoused with Pat, our ice cave guide. Pat would drive the bumpy 30 minute journey in a super jeep to take us towards Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, an outlet glacier of the larger glacier of Vatnajökull. This same glacier would be the one leading to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, the source of the "diamonds" at the nearby diamond beach. We hiked about 40 minutes on thankfully relatively flat, although rocky and uneven terrain to get to the entrance of the ice cave. We had to trust our cold weather gear which held up! Phew! Once in the caves, the near 0 degree temperature felt absolutely balmy...

Pat pointed out the various points that the entrance to the cave had been in previous years, which was sadly receding by around 350m each year! They predict that this will be the last season for the Sapphire ice cave. Once at the cave, we were transfixed by the phenomenal blues of the ice. It was an environment that felt so surreal. Apparently blessed with perfect weather conditions to accentuate the blue of the ice (no snow, no wind, no cloud, recent rain but not too recent, cold snap), the "cleanliness" of the glacier (usually concrete grey because of the ash in summer!), as well as the comfort of the hike to the cave itself, we were super happy! We'll take it thanks! 

The guides did a great job taking their groups through the cave system so each one is in a cavern by themselves which meant we always felt like we were the only group there. This was definitely a great reason to be in Iceland in the winter as this activity is not possible in the warmer months. If you do get an opportunity, we highly recommend it as it was a unique experience (at least for us!).

Our super jeep

Our group hiking in the sunrise (around 1045 just in case you were wondering...)

Our first glimpse of the cave entrance

The old cave entrance not so long ago...

Could pass for a Star Wars scene. The old entrance visible

All sorts of phenomenal colours and textures

Wow!

To get perspective on the length of some of these caverns

cave ceiling

Cave wall

Beware of icicles

 A newly created alternate entrance

Our adventures continued at the lagoon with a brief view of the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon itself, followed by fun at Diamond Beach. Young Jonah only realised at the end why it was called Diamond Beach. Obviously not listening to the guide!! The rest of the day consisted of a long drive back to Reykjavik with rest stops. We checked back into the Hilton ready for more Iceland adventures tomorrow!

Hiking back towards our jeep the guide drank from the glacier. He blends into the rocks...but you can make him out

If he can do it, let's do it too. Apparently delicious water

View of the glacier

Once back at the carpark, and cooled down from our walk we were freezing and hungry! Yay for langostine soup. Yummy

The roll was good too!!

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. Can't see it from this pic but there were many many seals

Diamond Beach

Up where they stay all day in the sun...

Umm no one else was doing this...

Nor were they trying to pound a glacier ice into a round ball

looking for a nice flat piece to distort the face

The source of the "good" exemplary behaviour