I C E L A N D // Part 3, The Golden Circle

Iceland Part 1, Part 2.

If you ever go to Iceland, or know someone who has, you will at some point hear about The Golden Circle. It's (mostly) made up of Þingvellir National Park,  Gullfoss waterfall and Geysir.
After our mammoth roadtrip, this seemed like it would be a piece of cake. And thank the heavens, it was! Again we followed the route on i heart Reykjavik and added on Gamla Laugin (The Secret Lagoon) and Kerid volcainc crater.

A note on Lagoons... Everyone knows about the iconic Blue lagoon in Iceland. It is the internets dream place, every photo taken there is the money shot, it seems. And as amazing as it looks, I found myself with little interest in going. I have no idea why, as if you know me it seems like absolutely my kind of thing - 1) beautiful 2) B L U E 3) hella photographic. And yet.... meh. After researching I'd heard that it was very expensive and always packed full of people, and the idea I had of Iceland was a quieter one. Plus paying so much for 2 kids who may not like it also seemed a bit of a bummer. Knowing that there would be ample opportunity for wild swimming and finding an alternative called The Secret Lagoon, I convinced my husband it was the right thing. We visited The Secret Lagoon on our 9th day and up until that point he was still *this close* to booking us a spot at the Blue Lagoon most days. Then we had this amazing trip which ended up at The Secret Lagoon and we knew it would never compare. It is natural and breathtaking and just an amazing slice of Iceland. I'm not saying go don't go to the Blue Lagoon, but do Gamla Laugin first/as well.

This is an ideal trip with (or without) kids. There are regular stops, wide open spaces, limited time in the car. And so much beauty. We did this trip in a day, setting off at a decent time and spending a glorious few hours at bedtime swimming the lagoon. You can really make the trip as long or as short as you want depending on stops. The Þingvellir National Park is amazing, you could easily spend the whole day here wandering and picnicing. It would also be an epic place to camp. Also the toilets at the visitors centre are the most picturesque place to wee ever, so go do that.

And did I mention The Secret Lagoon yet? No? At the end of the day we arrived around 7pm. We weren't sure what to expect or how the kids would be seeing as it was technically bedtime, so when we rocked up to this little quiet place in the middle of a small village, we had no expectations. We got changed in the little wooden cabin and walked through to the pool. It was beautiful. Go scroll down and look at the pictures. See? We all sunk in, and it was honestly just magical. The heat and the surroundings, the golden light and the hushed hum of everyone relaxing...It did something to us, to the kids. They were in a little trance like us. Sach was the most beautiful I have ever seen him. His face flushed rosy red from the water, he spent hours collecting the algea from around the pool and piling it up, happily chatting to himself. Arla was half asleep, happy to be held and whooshed through the water, us passing her back and forth so we could swim around and float and breathe. It was the highlight of this trip. Of this year. It's become my happy place,and sometimes I find myself wistfully thinking about it and pretending I'm there (instead of making this weeks 543rd meal).

So here it is, The Golden Circle.

I C E L A N D // Part 2, Road Trip

Ah, the Road Trip.

As I wrote in Part 1, we researched the things we really wanted to see in Iceland before leaving and very high (if not at the top) of both of our lists was the Glacier Lagoon. If you google 'Iceland Glacier Lagoon' you will be inundated with glorious images of other-wordly ice, breathtaking and ethereal. You will think "I WILL DO ANYTHING TO SEE THAT". 

Anything, it turns out, is driving for 8 hours with two children under 5 in the car.

BUT. Adventure! Floating ice! Glaciers!

In all fairness, when we planned this trip we didn't realise it would take 8 hours. We thought it would be closer to 4.5. HAHAHAHAHAHA. 8 hours, dear reader, is what happens when kids get involved. What with their needing to be fed and watered, and then to get rid of that water and food and then be entertained and all. that. jazz.

About half way there, when we realised we were only half way despite driving for what we thought would be the total duration, we arrived in the semi darkness (perpetual daylight, remember?) in the pissing rain to the bleakest place in Iceland. Vik. With it's deep black,foreboding shoreline, and the sheets of rain falling in every direction, it felt like an omen. A very bad omen. My husband and I looked at each and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Should we go on? Should we try and find somewhere to sleep for the night? Should we just run into the ocean never to return? We wrapped up, dragged the babes through the rain and into the warmth of a cafe - chips and hot chocolate, we decided, would solve everything.

And it did. With full bellies and a break from the car exploring the rock museum, we found the strength to carry on. Driving that distance across Iceland was *mostly* amazing. The landscape could not be more different from one hour to the next. We drove through lava fields, past black beaches, around mighty waterfalls and finally we arrived to our campsite, at the bottom of a glacier. 

Let's be clear, our children were rockstars. R O C K S T A R S. It's really quite ridiculous to ask two small children to be strapped into a small moving space for hours at a time and be happy about it, yet they did their best. They even enjoyed some of it. They really hated some bits, yes, but didn't we all?

Arriving at the campsite was absolutely magical. Sach was so excited about his very first camping trip, and even though it took another hour to set up, and despite forgetting the sleeping bags (thank God for the 57 wool blankets we remembered to bring) he thought it was amazing. And that joy spread through all of us and hunkering down, the four of us snuggled in that tent that night made the drive totally worth it.

At the time of our trip I wrote on Instagram:

'The thing about travelling with kids is that sometimes it feels like you're being selfless - overlooking places or things that you want to do but that wouldn't suit you as a family. But really, you're being somewhat selfish in taking your kids on a big trip in the first place. It's hard being 5 and understanding that to do this very cool thing you may have to sit in a car for hours on end. Over the course of the trip we managed to gently balance all our needs, which was a great thing to accomplish for our fam.'

That part about balancing our needs? This drive was the turning point for that. I mean, I like to think we're considerate parents. We love our kids and want them to enjoy the amazing sights whilst being comfortable and making sure to remember that they are small. But moving through the frustration of not being able to stop to take photographs or sight see everything was a really important reminder for us. A reminder that sometimes the 5th waterfall looks exactly the same as the other 4, and stopping at every crumbly shack that you want to photograph really isn't worth it. It reminded me of this blog post which says 'it's their day too'. The needs of the group, of the family, are greater than mine or his or ours.

After our night in the tent we woke and drove to the glaciers, battling the rain for the view. We pretended to be lava monsters, drank more hot chocolate in Vik and bought more Iceandic snacks than we could consume. I took so many photo of Sach doing a wee in exoctic locations that his 18th birthday is all set to be outstanding. We got home happy with our heads full of wonderous sights and a promise to give the car a break. For 12 hours or so.

// Iceland road trip tips //

This is the route we took and it was brilliant. The roads (in summer) are pretty quiet, flat and well signposted.
Get snacks. ALL THE SNACKS. I mean there's nothing better than a foreign food shop anyway, is there?
We camped here, and it was lovely and quiet and clean and beautiful.
There is really so much to see on this stretch of road that you don't need to do it all on one way - even though some of it is so alluring you might forget that. Break it down, there's always tomorrow.
Some waterfalls are better than others. Our favourite was Skogafoss which you can actually walk behind. Pretty cool.

See part 1 of our trip here.