Adventure of the Seas Day 6 - Akureyri, Iceland - Part 2 (Godafoss)

In Part 1 - we arrived in Akureyri.  The weather looked to be good, at least better than the previous day.

We were picked up at the port by a representative from the car rental company (Enterprise Car rental) and brought to the rental office quickly.  Fortunately, the office was very nearby, about 3 minute drive.

This was the car - Ford Explorer.  It was definitely the largest vehicle I had ever driven my life.

The original plan was to drive all the way to Lake Myvatn, which is 100km from the port.  If you were ambitious, you could even go all the way to another waterfalls called the Detifloss.

However, after the driving experience in Reykjavik and taking into account my two kids, I decided not to be too aggressive.  Futhermore, the port call wasn't very long.  The all aboard time was 4pm and we still had to return the rental car.  So, I decided to drive to Godafoss (50+km away on the same route) and come back to explore the city itself.

After picking up the car and then returning to port to pick up the rest of the family, we were off!

It was a beautiful drive!  We had to climb up some hills and then come down again.  The undulating terrain made for beautiful scenery.  But the downside was that we could not drive too quickly.

It didn't take too long to reach Godafoss, slightly less than an hour. The scenery was beautiful all the way. There was a visitor cafe, so it was easy to spot where to stop for Godafoss.  From a distance, I could also see the tour coaches, so something was going on there.

Still pictures can't tell the beauty. Check out these videos.

Godafoss Waterfalls Part 1

Part 2 - You could get close.

Part 3 - Two Rivers forking 

Part 4 - another view


Here are the still pictures.  Breath-taking.

As we were in no rush, we could take our time to explore, take more photos and videos, and take in the waterfalls.  I think we spent almost an hour at the waterfalls.

Just standing to watch the waterfalls is quite a sight.

This is the carpark for the waterfalls.  I believe the coaches drop off the tourists here and drive off to the nearby visitor center, which is about 800M away on foot.  See a subsequent video to get a better idea.

There were no barricades or ropes to indicate where the rocks ended.  Be very careful, especially if you have kids.

You could easily jump off the cliffs into the waterfalls.

No flotation devices nearby either.

Yups, I was rather near the edge, but not over.

Even nearer.  Don't worry, I lived.

Not too many people, so we could all take turns to get the best photos.

Looking the other way, this is what you see.  The weather and climate in this part of Iceland is so inhospitable, you literally only have grass and tundra.  No shrubs here, let alone trees!

Living here would be rather challenging, would it not?

That was a patch of ice!

We are in early summer.  Some flowers.

This couple climbed down to take a closer look at the ice.

That's the sign in the carpark.

Back in the parking lot, I found this huge 4X4 vehicle parked beside the Ford Explorer.

It must be some off-road vehicle.  Anyway, we had no intention to go off-road.

The Godafoss is by no means the biggest or tallest waterfalls. But somehow, it has a rather intimate feel, perhaps because we can go so near.

Here is a video compilation of the earlier clips put together.


Go on to my next blog post - Godafoss continued.....