Njarðvik & The Blue Lagoon

7th to 8th August 2003

The final leg of our trip took us from Selfoss to Njaršvik - the hostel nearest the airport - and to the Blue Lagoon. On the way to Njaršvik we headed around the southern side of the Reykjanes peninsular to see if we could find some puffins. This took us towards a place named Grindavik, along what must be some of the worst dirt tracks in the world. We didn't get as far as the puffins, the road became nothing more than a muddy ditch and it had started to rain, so we chickened out on that front, but we saw some more interesting landscapes.

Interesting landscapes on the way to Grindavik - More furry rocks

Interesting landscapes on the way to Grindavik - More furry rocks

Interesting landscapes on the way to Grindavik - alienesque landscape

Interesting landscapes on the way to Grindavik - alienesque landscape

After failing to find any puffins, we headed towards Njaršvik, which is on the northern side of the Reykjanes peninsular. This took us past the Blue Lagoon, which we would come back to in the morning to partake in the healing warm waters.

Njaršvik and Keflavik (all, it seemed, part of the same settlement) make up one of Icelands largest settlements outside Reykjavik. The hostel was nice and, for most of the evening we had the entire hostel to ourselves however later in the evening we were joined by a number of other people who, we think, had just arrived on the flight that we had come in on nine days earlier.

Njaršvik Hostel

Njarðvik Hostel

We decided to splash out on a proper meal out, so went to the restaurant recommended by both the hostel staff and our trusty guidebook - Rain. We had an exceptionally lovely, if expensive (eating out in Iceland, as you may have gathered, is staggeringly expensive) meal.

We got up early the next morning for our last half day in Iceland. We headed to the Blue Lagoon, arriving just before it opened, and went straight in.

Outside the Blue Lagoon - in the rain

Outside the Blue Lagoon - in the rain

The Blue Lagoon was created by accident a few years ago, where the run-off water from a geothermal power station collected into a lake. The water itself contains very high proportions of various minerals - particularly silica - and is reported to be excellent for your skin. The weather on the day was very poor, which made the exceptionally hot and soothing waters even nicer.

The Blue Lagoon - not looking very blue due to the weather - 1

The Blue Lagoon - not looking very blue due to the weather - 1

The Blue Lagoon - not looking very blue due to the weather - 2

The Blue Lagoon - not looking very blue due to the weather - 2

The silica in the water is used in a range of beauty products sold by the people running the Blue Lagoon, and helpfully they put the raw stuff (minus the gravel) into pots around the pool for you to daub all over yourself... as you can see here.

Silica skin stuff

Silica skin stuff

Silica skin stuff

Silica skin stuff

Silica skin stuff

Silica skin stuff

The lagoon has all sorts of nooks to explore, colder areas, warmer areas, caverns, all sorts. We spent around three hours exploring, relaxing, generally unwinding and calming down after ten hectic days of travelling.

The Blue Lagoon in the mist

The Blue Lagoon in the mist

Outside the Blue Lagoon, some of the waters collected into pools by the side of the road, creating a beautiful scene.

With the Blue Lagoon done, and us both truly relaxed and happy, we headed back to the airport - nearly running out of time in the process due to hectic problems with finding a petrol station we could fill the car up in before returning it.

So, that was our Iceland trip... hope you all enjoyed looking at our photos and reading about it all - we certainly enjoyed taking them in the first place.

Mark & Audrey

page created: 16th August 2003 | updated: 7th November 2005