Fire and Ice

well it's currently 5am on my first full day in Iceland. Having gone to bed at about 10, I'm now awake six hours before daylight. To say my body clock let me down is an understatement and a half! But still, what better opportunity for my first blogpost from this lovely place!

The journey started the way al good journeys do, with an overnight National Express coach... Unusually, I did get a handful of hours of sleep in as we ploughed from Brighton to Manchester Airport. I was then allowed a few more, as the coach got me there so early, it was 4 hours before the gate would open! A hint for weary travellers, if you need to sleep in an airport on the floor, lie with your head resting on its side. If you sleep with your head buried into your arms, it looks a bit more like you're sobbing/having some kind of breakdown, which draws more attention to you and makes disturbance far more likely!

James, my travel buddy, arrived at about 10:30, and it was roughly a 2 hour wait in the departure lounge before we could board the flight. We arrived in Iceland at about half three, and I was pleasantly surprised to note that it doesn't get properly dark until about 17:00; maximising massively our birding time for the next few days!

The journey to our Hostel caused some worry, at least for me. The drivers limited grasp of English and almost impenetrable accent didn't help, nor did the Bus's tendency to move at a pace that would have made walking quicker, and occasionally stop altogether before he restarted it. This did at least give us a chance to admire fabulous Icelandic scenery and architecture in the failing light! It must have taken about an hour and a half, but eventually, James and I arrived at the hostel.

My first opinions on it are absolutely fantastic! Diego, the Manager is friendly, relaxed and great fun, and we've already met some lovely people. I've managed by first glimpse of Aurora Borealis, a bewitching green ribbon of light, pouring through the sky to the west, although the views weren't brilliant. Hopefully we'll get a chance to get out of the city and see it properly before too long.

James headed out with a few other hostelers for the night, arriving back at about 4am. Having failed to have the luxury of a decent amount of sleep beforehand I declined, retiring after a plentitude of Cava, Vodka and Beer to bed at the tame hour of 10pm. I shall sample the nightlife (and attempt to get into somewhere despite being underage in Iceland!) another time. Till then, (I promise this really does mean goodbye in Icelandic) Bless!