Iceland

8 August -Moving Day

Leaving Bath just after 7am we drove to Heathrow, now that's always fun, dropped the car off, went to the correct terminal and joined the short queue at the Icelandair check-in counter all without any problems. The traffic was relatively light thanks to school holidays,I missed everyone and everyone missed me so AVIS was happy to take the car off us and refund our deposit and the airport was relatively quiet for the manic place it always is.

We are spending 10 nights in Iceland on a HF Walking Tour - the first we have done with this company. We identified a fellow traveller in the queue just in front of us,said hello and then lost sight of Malcolm from Margate near Dover as we went through security. All the buffer time we had allowed us to get to the other side of security and allowed us time to linger longer in airport cafes enjoying coffees and lunch. During one of the coffees we decided to get out the itinerary for our time in Iceland only to find out that when we arrive we are going for a walk or even a soak in a natural warm spring wonderland before being taken to the hotel. That would have been good to know before leaving home five hours ago.

The gate announcement for our flight didn't occur until 20 minutes before the posted boarding time. Finishing off our coffees the flight board ticked over and there was our gate. Off we set looking for Gate B35. The first sign we saw for it had a sign under it "15 minute walk". Off we cantered at the common speed in an airport of someone running late for their connecting flight. Our walking tour had started early. We arrived there in enough time to catch our breath and at the same time, unbeknownst to us, qualifying for the Team GB track and field team for Rio.

The flight over was good - just under three hours. A lot of people were transiting through Reykjavik going to the USA as this is a far cheaper option apparently - so file that one away. 

On landing we were met at the airport by the tour company, HF, and our friends, Mark and Pam, who had flown in from Norway. True to our newly discovered itinerary we were taken for a walk and to the famous Blue Lagoon. Around 20 years ago someone was drilling for geothermal heating purposes and found hot rock. Putting water on the hot rock produces steam which is used to produce electricity and space heating for homes. The outflowing water is chock full of minerals which, when pooled, produce a build up of the minerals and sky blue coloured water. The result is the Blue Lagoon which, apart from being chock full of minerals is for 18 hours a day chock full of humans. The place is now in the top 25 places in the world to visit so get in quick as there are a lot of humans out there.

I need to get all the superlatives in one sentence up front so that at any point if I mention the place was good it could mean any or all of the following: unbelievable, outstanding, spectacular, unique, incredible and/or amazing. This will save a lot of writing time and, for you, reading time which would be better used looking at the photographs. Also, Iceland is full of volcanic activity in all its forms:- lava fields, craters, active volcanoes, steam and gas vents, under glacial eruptions - you name it, it's doing it, done it or about to do it. When we travel these are the things that most often fill our views out the window. So away we go.

Iceland has a population of 300,000 of which over 100,000 are based in its capital, Reykjavik.  The population is growing and tourism is rapidly expanding in the country.  The locals speak Icelandic and most speak English and Danish - foreign languages they learn at school from about 10 years of age. There are about 107 swimming pools in Iceland.   They have their own breed of horses - no imports allowed and no exported horses are allowed back into the country so they keep their bloodlines intact.  

Our first full day started with a drive from Reykjavik east to one of many locations in Iceland that is ridiculously impossible to spell correctly let alone say. However we did spend the day walking below Eyjafjallajokull, the 2010 erupting volcano that grounded 1000's of planes for days and dirtied the washing of all those living in Scotland. Our bus is a high clearance semi off road, go almost anywhere vehicle. We need it because just to get to the start of our walk today we crossed the fast flowing waters of a glacial fed flood plain over 10 times.

There are 16 walkers on the trip plus a very good local guide (Dorothea who teaches Icelandic culture etc to 16 - 20 year olds as her normal day job although she is guiding during these summer holidays) and bus driver (Christian - who was a paramedic).   We have a 50 seater bus so plenty of room to spread out and keep all our many warm and wet weather clothing layers on the seats around us. There are walkers from Australia, Great Britain (given HF Holidays is a GB company), Canada and USA in the group.  All are keen and experienced walkers and range in age from us to 84 years old and most have done many walks with HF previously. 

We had lunch before setting off on a great walk with views to a number of glaciers tracking down into the valley below us. The area was greatly affected by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull leaving impossibly contorted landscape still settling down from the impact.

On the way home we did a short walk up a the Stakkholtsgja gorge before setting up in our new, rural hotel. Our days are longish - leaving "home" at 9.00 am then returning after 7.00 pm for dinner at 8.00 pm.  

Orchard Barn near Usk, Wales and Bath, England

Saturday 29 July – Moving Day – Goodwick to Usk.

Leaving our accommodation in Goodwick near Fishguard we had six hours to fill in before check-in time at our next accommodation at Orchard Barn at Raglan near Usk in Monmouthshire, Wales. Drive time was 2.5 hours so what could we possibly do to fill in the time? First up we went down some more ridiculously narrow high-walled single lane back roads to Abermawr Beach in search of bluebells, a childhood favourite of Julie’s from when she was four living in Yorkshire. Apparently Dodo’s fed on them so she would pick them in the park on walks with her mother and feed them to her pet ones at home. (Let’s see if she leaves this in). The day was just perfect and the scenery stunning once more.

Abermawr Beach 

The beach had “sand dunes” of washed up slate and river stones and then a sand (shale) like substance forming the beach and there were some really good waves breaking too. There were no bluebells or Dodo's but the hour stroll was enjoyable.

The roads led us to the village of Mynachlog-ddu (another jumble word to look out for) where up in the hills above were the source of bluestone for some of the inner stones that form Stonehenge. Finally all roads led to Orchard Barn and we moved into a beautifully restored barn. The owner is a somewhat famous sculptor, Harvey Hood, who has numerous commissions around the country with a major one being the Celtic Ring public art on the foreshores of Cardiff. 

Home for six nights at Orchard Barn, Raglan near Usk, Monmouthshire

The place is very spacious with views over the rolling valleys with their dry stone walled fields dotted with sheep and dairy cows. The sun was out and so was the wine as we sat in the afternoon sun outside. Curious sheep in the property’s orchard regularly stared at us through the gate before running off. We are yet to see the sun set or rise as the 16 hour days are too long for us to experience them.

Next Day - Our place is within easy striking distance of Brecon Beacons, a National Park filled with ancient archaeology, ruins and beautiful walks. One of those walks is the Four Waterfalls which follows an outflow of a subterranean river from an impressive limestone cave system in the Park. As it was a Sunday, and it is school holidays, and it was sunny, and it was warm, and it is a very popular walk, we arrived early at the single carpark at the start of the walk.

Sqwd Yr Eira Waterfall on Four Waterfalls walk (Sqwd = waterfall in Welsh)

Another way of crossing a creek

 At 8.00 am, we were first there and set off on the 8.5klm walk with the place to ourselves. It was a good walk, not great, but a pleasant stroll beside a clear stream and to four waterfalls. Heading back to the car over 3 hours later, we were passed by a constant stream of hikers. The carpark was overflowing and more cars were streaming in along the narrow roads as we drove out and relinquished our car park to the first person who asked for it.

Fall of the Fuller on Four Waterfalls walk, Breton Beacons National Park

Our proposed lunch venue in Usk was thwarted by someone who had proposed a while ago and was having a rather large and extravagant wedding there. Not to be put off we improvised by driving to Sainsbury’s (like Coles) and buying a couple of rolls and eating them in the car in the carpark. Drinks at home in the sun out front on the grass were had once again before turning in.

Next day – Monday 1 August – rain was forecast so we thought we might have a bit of a rest. By 9am we were bored and the rain hadn’t really arrived so we set off to explore the famous Tintern Abbey. This spectacular ruin from the 11^th century commands a prime position in what would have been a hidden valley near the Severn Estuary. It is seriously spectacular and extremely well designed with intricate water and sewage flows, 100’s of rooms and the spectacular cathedral rising 100 feet into the heavens. After the interesting, but showery, visit to Tintern Abbey we sat inside a glassed in tea house overlooking the Abbey and enjoyed a coffee and some Welsh cakes.

Tintern Abbey

Our research indicated that there was a Roman town in the area so we put the location in TomTom and away we went. Today the village of Caerwent Roman Town is built within the ruins of the 75 AD Roman market town of Venta Silurum. Its 5 metre perimeter stone walls are still very much intact with some of the outer layer pilfered for nearby houses and farms leaving the intricate fishbone stone body of the wall exposed.

Caerwent Roman Town - Shops and Houses

Caewent Roman Town - the ramparts

Crumbling ramparts

Temple

A well signed (once we found the start) self-guided walk took us around the perimeter of the town and to a chapel, the enormous main market square, and to ruins of an intricate Roman shopping centre. Some of the houses even had heated floors way back then!

Raglan Castle

With all this archaeological discovery this Aussie version of Time Team were feeling a little peckish. A quick drive to Raglan had two benefits, food and a castle. First – food. With that done, courtesy of a very nice pub restaurant, we then set off to Raglan Castle just a few miles from home. This is a spectacular lavish castle, now in ruins, and dates from the 11 century. With two draw bridges, a moat still filled with water, complex kitchens, cellars, cool rooms, sewerage, fountains (fed by a spring a mile away) and battlements, this is the quintessential castle. An hour or so spent wandering the place, with umbrellas up and down the whole time, saw us fulfilled for the day.

The Castle Keep

The rain had arrived so we headed home after a great ‘easy’ day – just an old abbey (made famous by poet William Wordsworth), an ancient Roman town, and an old castle.

2 August – the rain eased overnight to a few showers and overcast skies. Not the best weather for walking high up in the Brecon Beacons but with only three days left before we move on, and with so much to still see and do, we decided to chance our arm for a walk. By far the most popular walk in the National Park is Sugar Loaf, so fearing crowds we set off early and arrived at the carpark by 7:30am after a very steep drive up very narrow roads. Surprise, surprise we were the first car there.

Our car park

The peak of Sugar Loaf was in clouds most of the time with occasional breaks lasting a couple of seconds. We were not due at the summit for another 1.5 hours so we hoped the weather might improve a little more by then.

Off we set walking amongst the high fields sheep along grassy paths bordered with hip high ferns.

walking up Sugar Loaf - the relatively easy part

Pointing to Sugar Loaf under cloud

hiking down before we start up again

Up we went, and then down we went (hate it when paths do that) to a stream before heading up again, this time more steeply and constantly. Reaching the western hip that would take us to the summit, a glance over the shoulder revealed a heavy shower of rain coming across the valley towards us – just great. Putting on our rain jackets, backpack cover and popping up the umbrella we continued up.

The rain arrived so we trudged up the most popular walk in the Brecon Beacons all by ourselves with just bemused sheep and some wild horses for company. As we neared the top the strong winds hit, driving the rain sideways rendering the umbrella useless. We finally arrived at some windswept boulders and sheltered behind them out of the biting strong winds and rain.

Near the top of the most popular walk in the Brecon Beacons, still all by ourselves, we enjoyed a cookie and a sip of water each for morning tea. Envious? The pelting rain eased to heavy windblown rain so we set off for the summit. Walking another 200 metres with visibility low with the inclusion of fog I happened to glance over my shoulder and there in the mist was the summit trig point. So there we stood in the driving rain on top of Sugar Loaf with stunning views all around us according to everything we have read.

Sugar Loaf trig point

A quick photo opportunity and we prepared to go down – but which way? Visibility was maybe 50 metres and with the rain driving into our faces we could only guess.

Fortunately we guessed right and came across the track down. It was well marked by sheep lying about looking at two idiots from overseas staggering around under clouds and driving rain on the most popular walk in the Brecon Beacons all by themselves. Arriving in the carpark wet and weary we watched as a young family with two young boys were getting out of their car to tackle the most popular walk in the Brecon Beacons all by themselves.

A quick stop at a nice coffee shop located in the Sugar Loaf Vineyard helped to recharge our weary bodies before we headed to the Bleanavon Ironworks. This perfectly preserved ironworks from the 1700’s was at one time the world’s powerhouse for the production of steel. The surrounding hills contained iron ore, coal, phosphorus and other minerals to make the production of steel very efficient. The company was so big it even had its own currency that had to be used by the 100’s of workers to buy food for their families.  Because of coal and iron, Wales had been described as the first industrial country in the world.

How the Bleanavon ironworks site looked in its heyday

Employee accommodation in the 1950's

Employee accommodation in the 1960's

Today the abandoned iron works are well preserved and free to wander around. With great displays, including company accommodation set out in different eras dating from the 1790’s, we were able to get a real feel for the hard life the miners and their families had to endure.

As luck would have it there is a lovely pub just down the road from our place serving excellent meals and fine real ales. TomTom was hungry and knew exactly where it was and took us to lunch, albeit at 1:45pm.

Arriving home after 3:15pm, another great day in Wales was had by all those in our car. Meeting one of our hosts coming out of his workshop, Harvey (Hood) invited us up to his house for a coffee with his lovely wife Sue. Harvey is definitely a who’s who in the sculpture world having lectured/exhibited all over the world, meeting the Queen and Prince Charles and regaled us with some fascinating stories of his travels and experiences. 

So now the day has finally ended. We are really in need of a holiday!

Next day the weather was iffy with showers, low clouds and winds. Undeterred we set off to evaluate the opportunity of spending several hours walking uphill to reach the peaks of Pen y Fan, at 886 metres, the highest peak in southern England, and the associated Corn Du and Cribyn, the second and third highest peaks.  After the automatic gate opener let us out of Orchard Barn we took the hour's drive to a desolate carpark high in Brecon Beacons National Park and were rewarded with cold, windy and showery weather.

Automatic gate opener

We sat in the car hoping (sort of) for a break in the weather but more showers came in so we settled for plan B – a walk on the other side of the valley to the hill of Twyn y Gaer that has panoramic views to Pen y Fan, Corn Du and Cribyn over the valley. 

Parking beside Libanus Church we headed up through lush pastures, through sheep farms and on to the fern covered hilltop of Twyn y Gaer. Ruins of a 45AD Roman fort were evident although now under a carpet of short grass.

Tour guide

Nearing the top of Twyn y Gaer

Just beating a local Welshman with a sprained ankle in a plastic boot and his collie dog to the summit we picked the best spot out of the biting winds and settled in for some serious view observation. For 360⁰ we had stunning views of dry stone walled farm plots in the distant valleys below and also views to Pen y Fan going in and out of showery clouds high above us.

The Summit trig point of Twyn y Gaer

Welsh Cakes at the trig point to celebrate

Pen y Fan in the distance (right)

Typical narrow single roads which we usually drive up & down - yes, it's 2 way

Returning to the car around midday we asked TomTom to take us to the Three Salmons pub restaurant in Usk. The meal was very nice but the place was run like Fawlty Towers. No one could find “Manuel” so we were allocated a table near the window by a young fellow from behind the bar. He then asked us if we would like a menu - now there's a novel idea in a restaurant. An elderly couple was complaining about the ‘too tough steak’ to the bar waiter who didn't really know what to say or do - I was waiting for him to offer a menu. Manuel finally appeared, all Spanish, running around busily doing nothing much. We finished our meal and waited and waited for someone to give us the bill but no one was around so we got up and went to the main foyer to pay. Manuel was there coming out of the bar and asked us if we wanted dessert – we were standing in the foyer! We tried to pay but the machine was broken and Manuel hadn’t been told by ‘Polly’ the voluptuous young blonde who wasn’t, but should have been, in the foyer behind the counter.

‘Polly’ took over us paying for lunch. The other EFTPOS machine wasn’t working either. After two goes ‘Polly’ traced the problem to an unplugged Cat 5 cable lying on the floor. After plugging it in all was good and away we went out to Fawlty Towers carpark.

Caerleon Roman Baths

With the lunchtime entertainment over we drove to the village of Caerleon and its Roman Fortress from 75 AD. A legion (5500 soldiers) of Romans set up here and for 300 years built a spectacular city 20 hectares in size. Soldiers and their families lived here in a very sophisticated and complex community. Today ruins of Roman baths, a colosseum seating 6000, and a garrison for the soldiers, are very much still visible. We wandered all the ruins for a couple of hours. The place is astounding and is well supported by a great museum containing all the uniforms, pottery, jewellery and artefacts from the area found during archaeological digs and well set up to entertain children.

6000 seat colosseum where gladiators used to fight

Eight man Roman barrack room

Roman barracks

Bath stone coffin with skeleton inside it

The end of another interesting day.

4 August - our final day in Wales and our final opportunity to walk Pen y Fan. The skies at home were clearer so off we went on the hours drive to the start of the walk. The higher we climbed the worse the weather became. We arrived at the start of the walk once again and once again we sat in the car in the rain frustratingly looking at the path leading up the hill.

Path (left) to Pen y Fan hidden by clouds

Abandoning the walk we spent our day exploring a wide area driving in and out of Wales (mainly Monmouthshire) and England (Heredfordshire and Gloucestershire).

First up we visited Arthur's Stone, a 5000 year old Neolithic chambered tomb located high on a hill in a segregated off farmers property. The only ones there, other than a rubbish truck driving down the narrow lane, we spent a bit of time drinking in the history that surrounded us. Nearby was another chamber and a settlement from the same era but we could not visit them.

Arthur's Stone burial chamber

We then headed off to the Wye Valley and Yak Rock overlooking the Wye River. This is a very popular place with an enormous carpark with lots of pretty walks leading off from it.

Wye River from Yak Rock - part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (the Wye Valley)

The views were great overlooking sandstone cliffs that are breeding grounds for Peregrine Falcons - the fastest animal on the planet travelling up to 389 kph. We were lucky enough to see a Peregrine Falcon, Sparrow Hawk and a Buzzard all sitting together at the top of the cliff where we were standing!    Well we think we saw a real Peregrine Falcon. 

Rare trio of birds we saw

Returning to our favourite restaurant in Raglan we had lunch and headed home.

5 August - Moving Day. Under sunny skies we had an hours drive to Bath but four hours to fill in. This was easy to do as we drove the length of the picturesque Wye Valley pulling into lookouts and viewpoints along the way. We entered England and drove through the Cotswolds and into Bath. The closer we got the heavier the traffic. Our accommodation is a restored apartment taking the whole floor (not big) in a sandstone Georgian row house building, typical of Bath. After moving in we went for a walk around the beautiful city of Bath for the afternoon. The place was packed with holiday crowds enjoying the sunny weather by packing the parks and streets.

our welcome to our apartment

Walking one of the backstreets we solved a mystery that I didn't know had been nagging me for a long time - what ever happened to Captain Arthur Phillip, the bloke that settled Australia. Well he moved back to Bennett Street in Bath and lived there until he died in 1814 aged 76. Julie glanced up and saw a plaque beside a door where he lived. We spent a bit of time talking to a lady who lived there as she was coming out with her dog. She said the plaque had only been placed there a week ago.

Outside Governor Phillip's place in Bath

The Royal Crescent in Bath

Bath Abbey

Oldest house in Bath - 1482

Typical residential area

Pulteney Weir and Bridge in Bath

Beau Nash appears in many Regency novels

We left the maddening crowds to have Bath by themselves the next day and did the Bath Skyline Walk that traverses the hills high above the city. It mostly passes through farms, paddocks and forests and other green spaces. We left early in the cool of the day, initially spending our time with locals walking their dogs. Hot air balloons breathed fire above us as they drifted on the light winds blowing over this beautiful city. With lots of ups and downs and being 14.5 klms long the walk took us fours to do. This was a great way to get a bird's eye view of Bath and see not just the Roman Baths, Abbey and touristy things. 

Bath Skyline walk with panoramic views over Bath

a stile or two

Sham Castle - someone's folly

Bath - The Roman Baths

Next day we did The Roman Baths, Abbey and touristy things.  The baths date from around 75 AD. For centuries they were expanded, refurbished, left in ruins and, today, they are a very popular place to visit. We arrived at opening time, collected our audio-guide, and had the big pool area initially to ourselves. I spent a bit of time talking to a Roman slave, an actor who would not come out of character. Everything I said and asked him was turned into 75 AD responses - he was really clever. 1.5 hours later the buses had started to arrive and, with them, the crowds and the queues so that was our cue to leave, but not before sampling the actual spring water - it's not that tasty but supposedly has health benefits from all the minerals!

Inside the baths

Underfloor heating - floating floor on stacked tiles

The actual spring - Kings Spa

Tasting of the sping water

My Roman slave friend

Another sighting of a bird of prey overlooking Pulteney Weir

Searching for a coffee, we were crossing the Pulteney Bridge, opened in 1774 with its main feature being that shops are built across both sides of it. One of those shops was a coffee shop with only one other couple in it. We jagged the only remaining table with direct views down the River Avon and enjoyed a nice morning tea and an interesting chat to the two other people in there who turned out to music teaching partners who, until recently, hadn't seen each other for 27 years.

Bath and the River Avon

Our final day in Bath was not held in Bath but an hours drive away in Avebury.This is a return visit for us as this walk was one of our earliest when we were here in 2012 and one of our all time favourites.

Start of Avebury walk

Around 5000 years ago the fields around Avebury were busy. The locals were standing up huge stones in intricate circles, building a hill, burying their dead in extravagant tombs and tumuli, digging enormous trenches and walls and in their spare time linking all their work to Stonehenge 25 miles away. The walk is just outstanding as far as ancient archaeology is concerned. 

The man-made flat-topped Silbury Hill existence still remains a mystery today despite numerous archaeological digs. It dominated the start of the walk as we walked along an overgrown track beside a creek. 

Silbury Head

Path to West Kennett Long Barrow

Crossing the A4 highway we entered another farm with fields of ripened wheat. We followed the wide path to the top of the hill through golden fields to West Kennet Long Barrow, a 5500 year old burial chamber where over 46 people were buried over a 1000 year period. Visitors are free to enter the tomb built out of large boulders. We could go in about 20 metres and there are several smaller chambers just off the main corridor. The end chamber is about the size of a large (Australian) bathroom but as we approached we could make out in the half light two barefoot girls (witches?) sitting crossed legged, burning incense and candles, meditating. We let them be and went up on top of the Barrow and had morning tea overlooking the valley below to Silby Hill.

Julie approaching the Barrow (disappears to the right)

Entrance to West Kennett Long Barrow

Witches in West Kennett Long Barrow

Silbury Hill from Barrow

Morning tea on top of Barrow

West Kennett Long Barrow entrance

Next we set off back down the hill to continue the loop walk and true to our usual walks we got lost. Well not fully lost as we knew where we were, but were unsure of where we were to go so after going in one direction, backtracking, heading off another way, backtracking and finally heading off in the right direction we realised we were in the wrong paddock!

On the right track

Looking for the track

Not on the track and not looking for the track

On track and at the Sanctuary

The Sanctuary

Getting back on track by climbing through thorn bushes and a barbed wire fence we came to the Sanctuary. Located on top of a hill the sacred ceremonial site from 2500 BC is now gone but scientists have marked out where the huge timbers and, later on, stones were placed. The site was linked to West Kennett Long Barrow and Stonehenge at the time.

Burial "Hedgehog"

Crossing the A4 again we came to Overton Hill - a bronze age (4000 yo) burial site with numerous burial mounds called tumuli or hedgehogs when they have trees growing out of them.

Overton Hill and tumuli

Today, although well protected, sheep graze in the field and rest on the sides of tumuli. Setting off uphill for 500 metres we then turned into another ripened wheat paddock and passed numerous hedgehogs. Heading down hill and into the village of Avebury itself we entered the enormous fields of 3-4 metre high standing stones and stone circles. This is a seriously good walk with so much history and archaeology. One of the best features of this walk is the Red Lion Pub and once again we enjoyed is fine food and British beer.

After lunch we wandered around the standing stones a little longer and then headed home. Tomorrow we drive to London,drop off the car and fly to Iceland for a 10 night walking tour.

I'll finish up this post here and publish it before we go to Iceland. The next post will be sent subject to downtime on the walking tour and internet availability so it could be a couple of weeks if both of these are in short supply.

We are both travelling well and thoroughly enjoying or trip. Keep the letters, postcards and emails coming. We really enjoy them. So far we have received none so keep up the good work.

Bye for now 

JeffnJulie