We woke up to 6" of snow and a rather dramatic weather warning (more about that later) but the trip was going ahead. We came prepared for all this cold weather and have heeded other people's advice so got dressed in layers. It's not glamorous but here's what I wore: obviously I started with the essential bra, knickers and socks. I then added a base layer of thermal long sleeved top and leggings (I'm trying not to use the term "long John's" but that is basically what they are. I then added another pair of socks - thick walking ones, then the top layer was a long sleeved fleecy top and a pair of fleece lined walking trousers. On top of this - yes there's more - I put on a scarf, hat, ski gloves and a puffy jacket.
Note to self - don't put the final layer on until you are about to set foot outside or you will melt!
Once we got to the boat we were given a thermal onesie to put on over all the rest.
Believe me none of this was overkill. We were about to venture onto the Atlantic for 2 hours in the open air looking for whales - which we found by the way!
Successes of the day -
- 2 Orcas's seen
- I was toasty warm for the whole trip
On arrival back to the harbour we were met with the news that the Icelandic weather bureau had issued a "No travel warning" for the next day - the day we were due to drive to Varmahlid. This was because of a storm passing across the whole of Iceland. This left us with quite a dilemma and some decisions to be made. Our options were
- to stay on at Grundarfjordur until the storm passed, totally missing out our stay in Varmahlid and horse riding.
- leave Grundarfjordur immediately and head for Varmahlid a day early, hopefully beating the storm.
I was open to suggestions and recommendations from the staff who, let's be honest, have more experience about the weather and road conditions in Iceland than I do. My priority was staying safe.
Everyone was super helpful. The staff at Framnes rang Hestasport Cottages for us and asked what the weather conditions were like there. They all effectively made the decision for us so we threw our belongings into our bag, made a quick stop at a supermarket to get some food supplies and drove up the west coast of Iceland to get to Varmahlid.
The words of the young man in the car rental firm came to mind and I did question myself as to whether or not we were mad but then I reflected that these changes to our plans were dealt with calmly and efficiently by a group of people who are used to dealing with these extreme weather conditions and by travellers (ie me and hubby) who are open to suggestions, respectful of other people's knowledge and expertise and, perhaps most importantly, are flexible.
The drive to Varmahlid was quite uneventful although it was difficult driving and navigating in the dark. We did it though and were glad we did.
I'll tell you all about it in the next blog
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