14 Sept - Airplane

14th September

Sunshine!! And not just a bit, but clear blue skies for the first time in ages! Jason was happy, I was a bit nervous, but we walked to the airstrip and signed up for the flight. And we got a bit lucky too - there was another couple who wanted to do a similar but slightly different route to us, so rather than make there and back trips, the pilot decided to extend out trip for free to cover the extra areas the other couple wanted to see, and put us all in the plane

together. We sat around for a little while - apparently they were having trouble getting the plane filled up from their tank on site, so it was decided that our plane would have to make a stop towards the end of the flight to re-fuel. Hooray, another landing and take off inserted into the itinerary!

The plane was just as tiny as I’d feared, and we were all given headsets with microphones attached - naturally Jasons one broke itself before we were even off the ground :-)

The tour took us all over the local area and then down as far as Vatnajokull glacier. I have to be honest, although I had my reservations about the trip, and although by the end of it I had a pounding headache from the engine noise that got through despite the headphones, and despite being cramped into one position for two and a half hours, it was well worth it and something I’d recommend to anyone. The perspective you gain from being so far above such massive geographic features

makes everything look even more amazing than we already thought it was. We took about a million photographs between us, lots of which are marred by the fact we had to snap through the planes windows which had a less than perfect finish, but I’m sure you can get the general idea of things, even if we’re not going to win any photographic prizes for image quality.

There’s not much more I can add to the text so I’ll just devote the rest of this page to images - hover the mouse over each for a word or two about what you’re looking at.

Pseudocraters at Myvatn - no lava underneath, they're formed by steam explosions when flowing lava passes over wet ground, like a lake or swamp.

Krafla Power Station and Viti, the lake in the top of the Krafla caldera

Viti, the lake in the top of the Krafla caldera. There are two lakes called Viti in Iceland - the other one is in Askja. Viti means 'hell' in Icelandic - the lakes were believed to be doorways in days gone by.

Dettifoss in the foreground and Selfoss in the distance

Herdubreid, looking a little more snowy than when we saw her a week or so ago. Apparently theres a hiking trail to the top, and heliski trips are popular in the winter. Just mind the edge...

Glacial flow. Its easy to imagine from images like this just how fluid snow and ice can be, when it feels like it.

Askja caldera and Viti. We were here only a week or so ago and the whole place was just black rock. Things here change fast!

Very fetching image of me - proof that I got in the plane!

Sometimes things got a little wonky in the plane...

Vatnajokull glacier with some crazy looking fissures at the edge

Hot spring lake on the Vatnajokull glacier

Its hard to get a sense of perspective on these cracks without a visual reference, but from up in the plane the larger ones each looked at least 20-30 feet across, and who knows how deep. Not something you want to stumble across in a blizzard...

This is part of the massive channel that flootwaters and other debris from the Vatnajokull glacier has carved at points during the last few thousand years. Pretty impressive when you see it from the air.

Tha valley gets a lot less pronounced and more green, the further from the glacier and the closer to the coast you get...

The valley is a relatively flat piece of land, something coveted in Iceland, so despite it technically being in the bottom of a potential flood plain, its well cultivated...

Coming in to land at Akureyri for refueling. The 'co-pilot' was a fellow passenger - worryingly, the proper pilot had to ask her more than once to be careful what her feet were doing as she kept knocking the pedals! Not to worry, I'm sure they dont do anything really important :-)

Refuelling at Akureyri. Good job they provide steps!

BACK

Eventually back on the ground at Myvatn, we made our way back to Moglet for the afternoon. It had been a much earlier start than we were used to, and the enormous headache I’d managed to grow during the flight meant I just about crawled into bed and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. Next up, Husavik...