Day 7: We saw where John Snow got Nekked

The big plan for the day was a whale watching tour! It was an hour and a half away, with a quick stop in between. We woke up, had a quick breakfast, looked for a novelty coffee mug, and we were on the road again.

Our first stop was another waterfall. We're not sticking with the rivers and the lakes that we're used to. Suck it TLC! The place was called the fall of the old gods. Apparently some historic person threw all of the old idols down the falls to get his village to convert to Christianity. Neat, but we had humpbacks to see.

It was another 40 minute drive into a harbor surrounded by snow capped peaks. We listened to Asgier while we drove. There's something about listening to Icelandic music while driving in Iceland. It just works well. We checked in for our whale watching tour, and the guy told us to put on some warm clothes and meet back in an hour or so. We asked if we needed gloves. "Yes. If you have anything to keep you warm, you should wear it!" We took his suggestion, and changed into full thermal gear. We had jackets on jackets. When we got on to the boat, they gave us a big one onesie to put on top. Here was our boat:

Just kidding. This was our boat:

The first boat would have been way cooler! Actually, we were supposed to go on a much smaller rib boat, but after being stuck in Boston for 2 days, this was the only other whale watching we could book. At any rate, we put on the onesie and made our way out into the bay.

We had a perfect spot at the front of the boat. The guide started off with some brief safety information, and a quick warning about sea sickness. The first mention of throwing up off the side of the boat started an unavoidable chain reaction in Aaron's head. "Don't get sea sick. Don't get sea sick." It was inevitable, but keeping our eyes peeled for whales and the cold wind were decent enough distractions. 

We saw a few puffins floating on the water. We saw some porpoises, but they were pretty far out, and they were fast. We saw another small whale, but again it was a pretty far out, and if you weren't looking precisely where it popped up, you would miss it. "Don't get sea sick." 

About 20 minutes into it we saw a large whale on the horizon. The boat made a b line for it, and the next thing you know, we're right on top of a group of 5 humpback whales! It was amazing! They were right next to the boat, and we were spinning around in circles so that everyone could get a view. "Don't get sea sick!" They were on the left of the boat, then the right of the boat, then just in front of us. The waves were going up, then down. "Ok. You're sea sick". Aaron had to go sit down at the back of the boat.

He managed not to throw up, but it is interesting how quickly someone can turn green. At any rate, Kaylea managed to get some good pictures and video while Aaron focused on the mountains, the horizon, and anything that wasn't moving. We had some hot coco and cinnamon rolls as we pulled back into the dock, and Aaron started to get some of his color back.

Whale.Whale.Whale.

We ate some crepes for lunch, and mapped our way to our next stop. A cave that was in Game of Thrones! Not just any cave. It was John Snow and Ygritte's cave. You know the cave. It was roughly 40 minutes away so we hit the road. Again, bathrooms are a big problem here. There are none and, due to the lack of trees, there is nowhere to stop on the side of the road. Kaylea got an app called Flush which shows bathrooms in the nearby area and includes notes, such as if the a fee is required.  It's been working pretty well, but it can still be two hours in between bathroom options so that's been fun. 

We arrived at what appeared to be 2 large dark holes in the ground with a sign that said no bathing. We worked our way down, and Kaylea dipper her feet in the water. That doesn't count as bathing. The water was super hot, and bright blue. The whole cave seemed to be held up by boulders that were precariously balanced on top of each other. It was probably pretty dangerous, but it was really cool looking. 

We took some pictures and once again, we were off! It was another 40 minute drive to our next stop, Dettifoss! It's a gigantic waterfall! It also happens to be in the intro of the movie Prometheus. It took some planning to figure out the right route. Marc (you remember Marc) had visited the waterfall a few days earlier, and had to deal with some road closures and illegal dirt roads. Kaylea found a paved one that led us straight to the parking lot for the hike to the waterfall. It was super easy. Thanks for the heads up Marc! 

The area around Dettifoss was unreal. The drive up, and the area surrounding it was a giant primordial landscape. It was like Mars but with more water. Dettifoss itself was half frozen, which made it look even cooler. There were some parts of the trail that were closed off because the edge of the cliff was at risk of crumbling. We hiked around the park for about 2 hours. It was mostly hiking over large rocks half covered in snow. It was only a little treacherous. When we finally got back to the parking lot, we were the last car there. We had been hiking around, and nobody else was there. It was kind of spooky. It was 9pm, and it was still daylight outside. We were also 2 hours away from our next hotel.

The drive to the hotel was equally spooky. In the 2 hours it took us to get there, we saw maybe 5 or 6 cars. We were alone for miles. A lot of this trip has been pretty isolated, but this is the most alone we've ever felt. Just the 2 of us driving through desolate snowy mountains, jamming out to Sohn and making stupid jokes. It was a blast.

We arrived at the next town just before 11pm. There was no food open anywhere. Even the gas station was closed, and that was our last chance for food. We asked the guy at the front desk of the hotel if he had any suggestions, and he said "I think the gas station is open", so that was nice. There was a small shelf in the hotel with some snacks that we could buy. This was our dinner for the evening.

We never should have left that cave.