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There is nothing like the ‘Big Smoke’  of London to make me realise how much I already miss the wilderness and landscape of Iceland – A starker contrast there could not be. London definitely has its charms and appeal, being so steeped in fascinating history, but my passion lies in pristine wilderness, glaciers, mountains, icebergs and mother nature. Still, it is a good opportunity to see a few historical sites, unwind and recharge the batteries with a spot of good ol’ English pub food. Thats steak and ale pie, chips and gravy, over boiled ‘vegies’ and a pint (or two) of the local brew. Tomorrow will check out the Tower of London and a few other historical sites before heading for home on Sunday.

All good things must come to an end they say – And to this end today is my last day in Iceland. I am leaving for London late this afternoon for business and a bit of rest and relaxation for the next few days. It’s hard to believe I have been here for more than two weeks. In many ways Iceland feels like a home away from home for me; it has just about everything I love in spades – spectacular landscapes, great light, peace, natural wilderness, tranquility and fantastic food. I am already looking forward to coming back next year.

I do not intend for this post to be a full debrief on my trip – that will come later once I have had time to sort and process all my images and reflect on the trip. I shot more than four thousand frames during this trip and have only posted a very small sample to date. I have kept my initial ‘best’ picks up my sleeve for my portfolio and future blog posts – I want to process them at home on my Mac Pro on my wide gamut monitor to get the best results after I have had time to do a full edit.

The pace of photography in Iceland has been frantic to say the least in order to take advantage of the best light. Sleep has definitely taken a back seat throughout the trip and as a result my batteries now feel really depleted and badly in need of recharge. The continual short broken ‘naps’ of a few hours here and there is a pace I can no longer sustain. After two and a half weeks my body is craving a solid good nights sleep; which I will be sure to get in London this evening.

Now, I am about to pack up from the small town of Vik and make the two and a half hour drive to Reykjavik to return the rental 4 wheel drive and catch the shuttle bus to the airport for the afternoons flight. Farewell Iceland…. For now.

Yesterday I picked up a 4 wheel drive in Reykjavik and headed up to the geothermal pools at Hveravellir; roughly 70 miles from the waterfall ‘Gullfoss’ and the major tourist attraction ‘Geysir’ (the spouting boiling water after which all other such vents are named). The road from Reykjavik to Gullfoss is paved and easy driving – even if it is on the wrong side of the road for an Aussie. The road from Gullfoss to Hveravellir however is a rocky, washboard, potholed excuse for a road that would break pretty much any vehicle of the non-military variety. It is liberally sprinkled with rocks the size of soccer balls, blind corners, steep drops and various other obstacles that are ‘car breaking’ in nature. I don’t think my Jeep’s suspension will ever be the same. Total toll – the car fridge packed up from all the bouncing, the 12 volt-240 volt inverter seems to have given up the ghost and one ‘check engine’ warning light; which seems to have gone away after topping up the coolant.

I arrived at Hveravellir just in time for an hours photography at the geothermal pools before the light faded for the evening around 11:30pm. Rather than pitch the tent I decided to pull an all night shift and turned around immediately and drove the 70 miles back to Gullfoss to be there in time for sunrise at 4am. The drive back was much more challenging as a thick fog bank had rolled in behind me on the way in, reducing visibility to about 10 metres. It took more than three hours to make the return drive, but it  was worth the effort as the light at sunrise this morning was soft and translucent.

Now I am having a late brunch at Geysir after catching up on some sleep and am about to head over to the Jokulsarlon lagoon for more iceberg photography – a few hours drive on paved roads.  The weather at the moment is magical – its around 20 degrees, the sun is shinning and there is no wind – ideal conditions for the lagoon.

Yesterday afternoon we headed into the Landmannalaugar area of Iceland for the evenings photography – 45 minutes drive along more of Iceland’s infamous dirt roads. Landmannalaugar is a very famous volcanic area of Iceland encompassing multi-colored peaks, steam and sulphur vents  and crater pools. The weather on first arrival was somewhat overcast with occasional patches of brief sunshine and a few odd rain spots – a real mixed bag where pretty much anything can happen (and usually does in Iceland). We decided to hike up to the top of one of Landmannalaugar’s highest peaks stopping to photograph the geothermal vents and other features along the way. We had some wonderful photography amidst the back lit steam vents on the assent. We arrived at the summit a full three hours before sunset to be greeted by overcast light and howling winds; which after a short period of time had us all chilled to the bone. The ambient air temperature was about 5 degrees but the wind chill would have pulled it down significantly below that. Everyone decided to bug out shortly after making the summit and make for the 4WD for coffee and cake. Dmitry and I chose to tough it out for the next few hours until 11 o’clock in the hope we would get some good light at sunset. The next three hours were uncomfortable to say the least. Landmannalaugar’s volcanic peaks are exposed and open to the full force of the arctic winds; which scream down from the north. We spent the next few hours just trying to stay warm by hunkering down as best as possible on the lee side of the mountain – which is hard to do when there is no shelter.

Then, as if someone flicked a switch the wind simply stopped and the clouds parted as the sun began to set and we were rewarded with some stunning Iceland sunset light including a large rainbow amidst the distant rain showers. We spent the next hour or so rattling off frames from the summit as the light continued to get better and better. The ‘edges’ of weather combined with sunrise or sunset light are golden for photographers – we live for these moments and this was most definitely one of those moments. It was wonderful. In the brief hour of great light I reeled off more than a hundred frames.

With the light fading we packed up and started the steep descent back to the truck; arriving shortly before midnight (thanks to a wrong turn I took in the lava field – lava fields are natures natural maze).

Today we are headed back into Reykjavik to the airport to drop off most of the other photographers. I am then picking up another 4 wheel drive and am heading up north to photograph the geothermal pools and then to Gulfoss before heading back to the glacial lagoon. The weather forecast is very good for the next couple of days so I am hopeful of even more great Iceland light.