Iceland Part V: A Watery Perspective between two worlds
After our delightful late evening at Laugarás lagoon, it was still another 45 mins drive to the campground at Þingvellir National Park, but luckily there were lots of sites for us to park our van and quickly get ready for bed. In the morning, I was excited for our coming experience of free diving Silfra, but I was also very nervous about the temperature of the water (2 degrees C/35 degrees F) and just how well these promised "warmer" wetsuits were going to actually be.
Luckily, the meetup site was only a 10 minute drive from the campground and we soon saw Birgir who looked just as I had imagined him - grizzled beard, vibrant eyes that hadn't lost any of their zest for life, and a physique that you'd expect of a man who made a living free diving and helping folks swim through the only channel in the world where you can touch two continental tectonic plates at the same time.
There were two girls, both 18 years old, in the van who would be joining us on our tour: Marlies and Jana. Both were German but had come to Iceland to work as Au Pairs and have a chance to tour the country. We were all soon chatting about how we had come to find FreeDive Iceland and how excited but nervous we all were for what was coming. When Birgir started handing out the specialized 7mm open-cell freediving wetsuits, I mentioned that I had been reading about them and learned that the best way for them to insulate the body in frigid water is to wear nothing underneath, not even underwear or a bikini. Birgir agreed with me and said he'd seen enough boobs/butts in his day and we were free to get naked and enjoy a commando feel. Soon we were all naked and giggling at just how un-self conscious and adult we were being and I, for one, was marveling at the lubed rubber and how easy it was to put on (Birgir said he soaks the suits in water with hair conditioner in it?) Soon we had our suits on and Birgir handed us hoods, gloves, boots, masks, fins, weight belt and snorkel and we started walking to the start of the dive site.
There were hundreds of people patiently lined up waiting for their turn to snorkel through the Silfra channel, but of course, we were the only people not in a dry suit. I was still wondering if I'd made the right decision, which I was not allowed to entertain as a notion for long because Birgir was treating us to a one man stand up comedy show that had us all laughing so much it was hard to feel nervous. As our turn materialized, Birgir warned us that there was a "no whining" policy for the first few minutes after entering the water as it would initially be quite shockingly cold but that the layer of trapped water would soon warm up from our body's own heat and the pain of our faces being in the water without any insulation would soon fade due to the cold numbing out any sensation.
I was quite astounded that even as I got in the water and became fully submerged, that I really didn't feel that cold at all. I did feel it on my face and my lips almost instantly felt swollen like I was in Zoolander, but overall, I felt remarkably free, buoyant (but not too much), and dare I say...comfortable? As soon as I put my masked face in the water, I was met with the most glorious of sights: water so clear with over 100 meters of visibility that it didn't even seem like water at all. It was mind bending.
We began snorkeling, knowing we were free to "dive" down whenever the mood struck. The point at which the two continental plates are the closest to one another is quite early in the channel so I wanted to get a hang of diving down so that I could be assured of getting the photo I wanted of touching the two walls with my hands, if possible. I managed to pull it off and I'm happy with how the photos turned out! I always have a harder time equalizing my left ear, but after a few attempts I got the hang of it. What was even weirder and more unique was that Birgir said you didn't even need to blow the water out of one's snorkel when coming back to the surface because it was so clean that one could literally just drink it! I can't say I've ever swam anywhere where I could take a gulp whenever I wanted. It was challenging to navigate the mechanics of free diving while also just processing the astounding visual information as we approached "Silfra Hall" where the canyon walls suddenly widen in a massive aquatic room with gentle current, and long sweeping sightlines showcasing the waters clarity.
Continuing on, I kept telling myself to really "feel" the moment so that I could remember this experience for the rest of my days. This was unlike anything I've ever done anyplace else in the world and I was having the time of my life. Next up on our swim was Silfra Cathedral or the "blue section" which is a breathtaking 100 meter long chasm of sheer lava rock walls that drop straight down. I took my time and tried to take it all in.
The final section is Silfra Lagoon, where the water becomes much more shallow and the sunlight illuminates the bright green swaying algae creating a very calming and peaceful end to the swim. I realized, with joy, that I didn't feel cold at all. When I saw Birgir heading for the stairs at the end of the lagoon, I assumed our time was up and we needed to head on out, but he turned and explained "oh, you can stay as long as you'd like - swim around until you get cold!" I believe we ended up swimming around the green lagoon for another 30 minutes and easily stayed in the water three times as long as the dry suit snorkelers who were immediately heading for the exit because they were numb from cold.
When we finally emerged, all four of us were grinning from ear to ear. The German girls kept saying "this is the best thing I have ever done in my entire life" and though I was old enough to be their mother, I had to agree that this was definitely in my top ten experiences of my life. I will never forget and I am so glad that I talked both Matt, but more importantly myself into not skipping this must-do attraction just because I was afraid of being cold. Birgir poured us hot chocolate back at the van and we all giggled and danced with joy as we dried off and got back into clothes. After some group photos, Birgir recommended that we head over the road and up to one of the main viewing platforms to get to see the tectonic plates from the vantage of the land which we promptly did together with the girls.
I have to say, after the thrill of seeing the plates from beneath the water's surface, it was less thrilling seeing the plates from a hillside, but it was nevertheless an important component of our visit to Þingvellir. We checked out Oxararfoss waterfall (not too exciting after all the waterfalls of the day before) before bidding our new young friends adieu and hitting the road to finish out the sights of the "Golden Circle" before heading to our next destination in this country: The Snaefellsnes Peninsula.
We decided to drive all the way to Gullfoss Falls and then stop at the other sights as we backtracked. Gullfoss was packed with tourists, but it was definitely the most "Niagara Falls" looking of the waterfalls we'd seen thus far and was absolutely worth the drive. We stopped at Geysir on the return and waited about six minutes before this "little Old Faithful" Geyser erupted in yet another constant reminder of the volcanic aspect of this island nation. We also stopped at Bruarfoss which was a glacial blue and quite stunning, though having to wait in a "line" just to get a good photo at the overlook point was slightly annoying because so many people lingered for far longer than was polite. I came across a delightfully pretty beanie hat on a fence on our return to the parking lot and saw that it had a ridiculous rainbow colored bobble, and thus it was claimed on the finders keepers principle. I washed it in the sink of the RV and it rarely left my head once it dried till the end of the trip.
Our already very memorable day came to an end in a silly saga that I'll never forget. We had read up on a hot spring called Landbrotalaug which was en route to our final destination for the evening : the campground at Grundarfjörður. Apparently, this hot spring is all natural, on private land, but is only large enough to fit 2 persons in it. It is very popular with locals and therefore heading there later in the evening gave us the best chance of showing up and finding the parking area empty - the guide stated that if there was a car when you drove in, you could be assured that the hot spring was already in use and you were out of luck. Imagine our joy upon arriving around 9:30pm to find the parking area devoid of signs of humanity. We were sooooo excited as we gathered our clothes, towels, a beverage each to enjoy in the hot water, and headed over to the site in what had become a light drizzle of rain. I'd forgotten the part where you have to walk through a river to get to the spring, and Matt chuckled since he'd opted to walk over in his all terrain sandals and could just walk straight through as I winced going across the sharp rocks barefoot. It was all going to be worth it as we got to enjoy the incredible sunset from this vantage point only made for 2!
When we arrived it became very apparent why it was stated the spring could only accommodate up to 2 persons. It was tiny, but appeared nice and deep. We excitedly started removing layers when Matt bent down and put his hand in the water and then looked at me with a expression of disappointment. It was only lukewarm! Like a tepid bath. We were both super downcast and not in the least prepared to sit in a tepid bath while the actual weather worsened around us. Just as I was mentally preparing to go back through the river, I noticed a path leading around the big lake that this spring is next to, and it was leading to spot on the lake where we could see giant plumes of steam. Maybe there was an area to soak that had warmer water?
We set off with renewed optimism to the site of all the venting steam. There were man made pipes erected around the area which must have transported the hot water at some point? Sadly, the water right here was so hot it burned the tip of one's finger when testing it. We were in a real Goldilocks and the Three Bears situation here with one pool being too cool and one being too hot, and we were searching for one that was "juuuuuust right"! Matt started navigating the edge of the water of the lake about 20 feet away from the hottest section where the spring clearly originated. He did, in fact, find water that would have been the ideal temperature to soak in, but sadly it also happened to be only about 1.5 feet deep. So we would have had to lie totally flat to be submerged and it was also too squelchy on the bottom that we decided against it. After getting skunked out yet again, I was finding the humor in the situation and took one of my favorite photos from the trip which I've posted below.
Back to the van, we dried off, had some dinner and drove the final hour to Grundarfjörður. I was a little sad that it was already getting dark when we drove across the famous "Sword Bridge" of Kolgrafarfjörður, a 230 meter long bridge that spans across the fjord, which I'm sure took away from just how striking it must be to see in the daylight.
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