After 3 weeks in Iceland and nearly 7000km of driving, we’ve left Gabby at the airport in Keflavik (hope she’ll be ok!) and we are flying to Sicily for 10 days of downtime with the kids before they go back to New Zealand.  It’s been a full-on trip with non stop moving and I think everyone is a bit buggered…  Here are my thoughts on Iceland:

• Iceland is spectacular – put it on your list of “must see” countries.  We loved it.
• Get there now – it’s becoming popular.  Don’t go in the high season.
• Icelanders are fiercely proud of their history and patriotic as hell.  And rightly so.
• Iceland is eye wateringly expensive, don’t bother trying to covert, you’ll weep!
• Get off the ring road, avoid the “golden circle” and Reykjavik (it’s touristy).  Drive the F roads and get off the beaten track. Then you’ll see the real Iceland.
• If you are going on the F “tracks” take 3 different maps and two GPS’s then you might not get lost.  Know what you are doing, it’s a mountain environment.
• It takes a long time to get places.  On the F roads it can take 8 hours to drive 100 km.
• They ride horses and they eat horses (it’s good, and considered a delicacy).  I’m sure they must have a ride and eat package?
• There are supposed to be whales everywhere.  We didn’t see any, I think they ate them all (I don’t blame them).
• The salted cod and potatoes is great (cook your own).  Don’t expect too much green stuff, nothing grows in a lava field.
• Favourite place was the highlands, followed by the north and west fiords.
• It rains, a lot – take good gear.
• Take a good camera, your iPhone won’t cut it.
• Get a really good wagon (4WD) so you can see the cool shit (and take food in the car!).
• 3 weeks is only just enough time if you want to see Iceland properly (4 would be better).
• Don’t believe everything the Lonely Planet tells you.
• Boys, if you come here you’ll need to grow a beard.  All Icelandic men have them!  I’m trying….
• And yes, there is a woman from Iceland claiming to have shagged an elf.  And she’s written a book about the encounter.  Bless.

Okay, signing off for two weeks, back when we return to Iceland to collect Gabby – unless you want to see Sicily?  On our return we’ll catch the car ferry from Iceland back to Demark, then maybe Eastern Europe for a bit.  Map below of our Iceland travels.  Arrivederci.