We set off from Hvolsvollur towards our next destination. It was a 2 and a half hour drive to our accommodation near glacier lagoon. This place sits on the south-eastern coast of Iceland, beneath the behemoth Vatna Glacier. At 7,700 km2, this glacier is the second largest ice cap in Europe and covers 10% of the entire country of of Iceland. It is almost 1 kilometre thick in places and has around 30 glaciers leading from it.

As we drove toward this incredible natural phenomenon, we passed many of these glaciers snaking their way down the mountains.

The next morning, we took off on a zodiac cruise around Fjallsárlón lagoon. A massive glacier feeds off the Vatna Glacier, winds down the mountain and feeds into the lagoon. A giant wall of ice lines the lagoon and calves on a regular basis, leaving gigantic icebergs floating around this freshwater lake. We floated in between these icebergs and approached the giant face of the glacier. In winter the lake freezes and they used this wall of ice to film the ice wall sequences in A Game of Thrones.

After our cruise, we drove on to glacier bay. This place is spectacular. The Breiðamerkurjökull glacier feeds into a lagoon, which in turn leads to the ocean. We walked along the river in between, which flows rapidly from the lagoon, giant icebergs plummeting down the rapids towards the ocean. Many of them wash up on the black sand of the beach, giving it the name “diamond beach”.

It’s amazing to think that these icebergs begin as snow on the top of the glacier around 5,000 years ago. They work their way slowly down the mountain and eventually reach the ocean, where they break off in massive ice walls, falling into the sea. Ian, Lidia and Carmel decided they wanted to taste the 5,000 year old ice and stuck their tongues on one of the icebergs. I had visions of Dumb and Dumber and thought I might have to leave them there stuck to an iceberg and continue on the trip by myself, but fortunately for them they were easily able to remove their tongues.

Out next stop was Vik, a lovely little town surrounded by green mountains. We stayed overnight and walked on the beautiful black sand beaches before heading off toward our next stop, the blue lagoon.

On the way to the blue lagoon, we drove through hundreds of kilometres of lava fields, which looked other-worldly. We saw a sign for a viewing car park and so went off-track to see what we could see. After a short hike up a hill, we were greeted by an incredible sight. A deep black river of lava led down a mountain into the valley below. This lava looked very fresh. Ian decided to run up the hill to get a different perspective, and Carmel followed. Lidia and I decided to walk down into the valley to see the lava up close. What a surreal experience to think that not long ago this was melted rock.

For some reason, Ian currently has an obsession with licking things, so had to lick the lava. He says it tasted like cherry chocolate. Rocksucker.

Our next stop was the famous blue lagoon. We elected to stay in the Silica Hotel, which is adjacent to the blue lagoon, but has it’s own private lagoon for guests only. We wasted no time in donning our togs and getting into the lagoon. The water is a milky aqua colour, lined with bright white calcified rock and surrounded by a field of black lava rock. The water in the lagoon is fed by a natural spring 2 kilometres under the earth and varies in temperature from 38 degrees up to almost boiling point. As you wading through the pool or floating on a noodle you can suddenly enter a patch of water that is almost too hot to bear. You quickly move on to more bearable waters and enjoy the serenity. We smeared a clay-like face mask over each others faces which is said to have cleansing properties. Carmel got some of the clay in Ian’s eyes and as he washed it off under the tap he began squealing like a possessed piglet. Goodbye serenity.

Part of the deal of staying at the Silica was free entry to the blue lagoon and two free drinks there. We had booked ourselves into dinner there and thought we’d wait until the tour buses had left for the day, wander over to the blue lagoon, enjoy our free drinks pre-dinner and then have dinner at the Lava Restaurant before taking a dip in the blue lagoon.

We turned up and went straight to the restaurant. There was some confusion over the free drinks, but eventually the manager came over and poured us a champagne each and then a nice glass of Bordeaux during dinner.

We then entered the blue lagoon. On the way in we said we were from the Silica Hotel and we were given two wrist bands to exchange for our free drinks at the pool bar. Turns out these were the free drinks Silica were referring to, so we ended up with four free drinks each!

Now those of you who have read last year’s blog titled “Our Party Grows in Crete”, may remember that Rob bought bright pink speedos for himself, Dennis and myself, which we had to wear on the beach in Greece. At the time Ian couldn’t join us, but Rob had a pair of speedos made for him anyway and we found an Ian look-alike, lent him the speedos and dubbed him “Greek Ian”.

Fast forward to today and Ian has brought his speedos along with him to Iceland. He treated the entire crowd at the blue lagoon to a fashion show. It went down a treat with much laughter and whooping going on while I snapped some pics.

After that we spent an hour or two exploring the expansive blue lagoon while enjoying our additional free drinks. It was a great experience, although we decided we like the Silica’s lagoon more by virtue of the privacy.

The next morning we enjoyed a late breakfast before again floating around the Silica lagoon. It’s off to the airport after that. Next stop: London.