Caves to explore, beautiful black sand beaches and unique lava rocks to check out, all just a short drive from Reykjavik, all the makings for my kind of adventure!
And adventure I got on a recent trip to the small town of Thorlakshofn.
Even though Thorlakshofn is just a 30 minute drive from Reykjavik for some reason it has never been on my radar. Until I set a challenge for the Viking that.
Let me explain the challenge.
H and I, we like to take as many weekend adventures as possible. But here is the deal, I tend to research all the places we visit and he gets to come along for the fun. So I challenged my Viking to do some research and find us somewhere I hadn’t been before, preferably close to home as it is winter and I get cold fast and want to be back in my sweat pants asap. Lucky for him his work ended up giving him his answer when he had a work trip to Thorlakshofn.
Technically it was cheating, but I won’t hold it against him as the Viking rose to the challenge, and has found a ton of new places I can’t wait to check out in the coming months. I will admit, when H first mentioned a visit to Thorlakshofn I was not that interested, and when our first stop of the day took us to a Viking ship and beautiful beach views, at least that was how H worded.
Not exactly the Viking ship I had in mind, or the beautiful beach (in the Viking’s defense he got the places mixed up) but the little ship was kinda adorable in its own way, and I never say no to a photo opt.
Not going to lie, after this grand introduction to Thorlakshofn my hopes were not very high for the rest of the stops H had planned. But I had faith in my Viking, and we were by the sea, so how bad could it be?
By stop two he completely redeemed himself.
Take me by the sea and I am a happy girl.
This spot, which we will just call area with lava rocks, was a welcomed surprised. I am usually not one to be interested in unique rock formations, that is my Viking’s area, but I have to say, all the lava rock around here was so interesting to check out. Apparently these lava rocks can be quite the tanning spot in the summer months. I am going to have to head back and investigate this, I wouldn’t mind some extra heat from the rocks!
While we were walking along the lava rocks taking in the sea (and the beautiful lighting!) I started thinking how strange it was to be walking on lava rocks by the water and not a beach?! I don’t know why this thought came to mind but it then had me thinking about all the other different things I have seen in Iceland. Like snow on a beach, in my mind beaches are hot sunny places, no snow around. Or hot steam coming up in the middle of a field covered in snow. Iceland is just full of unique contrasts. And that is just an example of the random tangents my mind does. Okay wait one more, I also couldn’t help but think that the lava rock kinda looked like a wrinkly babies butt. Now I am done.
Automatic timer fail?? I think to think of this picture more as a behind the scenes shot, I think it is one of my favorite pictures from the day, oh and this one too because it makes me look super strong:)
When H finally got me to stop playing around we headed off to stop number three, which was the stop I was most looking forward to, the black sand beach!
This beach is a popular spot for surfers, I can only imagine the type of dry suit I would need to be out in that water, but if you are into surfing and want to cross surfing in Iceland off your list this is your spot.
As we were walking up to the beach we came upon two ladies who had finished surfing and where in mid change from their bathing suits to warm clothes. Slightly awkward moment that we tried to avoid, but what are you suppose to do when you are almost to where they are standing, turn your back and wait tell they are dressed?? Or just keep going and keep your eyes down??
Anyways, after that awkward encounter it was time for the beach.
I love beach days!
The last stop, this was the one the Viking was waiting for, and the one I was most dreading. It was time to go into the cave…
I look excited here I know, but behind that smile I was so nervous. H, he loves finding caves and exploring under ground. Me, I prefer to keep my adventuress above ground. But I also suffer from a serious case of FOMO so into the cave I went.
Yes, that was the enterance I went down, I still don’t know how H convinced me to do it. And that person sliding down, thats not me, but that was exactly how I got in there, I just went for it and sled in. I will admit, it was pretty fun:)
My main concern about going into the cave was that it would be dark and claustrophobic. Thankfully this was not the case and it was no problem exploring around the cave. In fact, they have even shot music videos inside of this cave, how cool is that!?
I had so much fun the first time I had to give sledding another go!
Further back in the cave is a dark room that was covered in the most beautiful ice formations. I wish we could have really captured this area but to give you an idea.
We teamed up with some other photographers to try and light the area up enough for our pictures, it was somewhat successful but fun.
And then it was time to crawl out of the ice hole.
Ya I couldn’t look up when I was making this climb otherwise I would of freaked myself out.
And this was how I felt when I came outside of that cave.
Weekend adventures, they are just the best. I can’t wait for more adventures and the (hopefully) nicer weather to explore in. Is it summer yet?!
Question of the Day?
Do you prefer weekend adventures close to home or further away?
