FIRE AND WATER ICELAND SWIM TRIP
Where and how do you start to talk about one of the wonders of the world, a definite tick in the box for all swimmers a trip to Iceland...booked in January this year and eagerly awaited!!! Never having been before i had seen pictures, heard the rumours of its amazing waters and stunning scenery. A group of us, mostly swimmers (some of whom i already knew, some of whom were Facebook friends and others friends in the making) but with several divers as well, booked our places, booked our flights and on the 16th October 2014 we boarded our respective flights and headed out...well almost all of us...Jen Taylor for some reason only known to herself and despite having ALL day to get to the airport missed the flight by about 30 mins...and what a journey she had the following day to get to us...but battle on she did ...and eventually full of cold she arrive chirpy and ready to do battle with the water!!!
Our plane journey flew by...pun intended....with giggles as Alison Darley and Loraine Macdonald....Loraine, your use of an ipod....priceless...believe me folks you had to have been there but its a giggle that will stay in my mind forever....suffice to say...to use one you have to use the earphones!!!! But our laughter cheered the plane up and the journey flew by and before we knew it we had touched down in Iceland...bracing ourselves for the cold weather we battled to put our down coats back on before alighting the aeroplane. Luggage collected and into duty free....wine purchased....well it would be rude not too, we exited the building to be met with marvellous fresh air!. Our hosts had organised transport so luggage and passengers on board we headed to our accommodation, the Loft Hostel in Reykkjavik en-route being treated to a fantastic display of green flashes in the sky from the northern lights, its as if Iceland was pleased to see us. Literally dumping our luggage we boarded the buses again and off more northern light seeing...if we were lucky again.
First stop saw us looking at a beacon of light shooting directly up to the sky...wow, and more importantly.....why??? Shane Wasik of Basking Shark Scotland (http://baskingsharkscotland.co.uk/) our trip organiser explained to us that the Icelandic people celebrated the life and death of John Lennon with a beacon that would remain lit for a number of months, i felt privileged to have seen it. Leaving the bright light and in search of darker areas so that our eyes could adjust to the skies around us we headed towards water...us open water swimmers know that that can mean only one thing....at some point we would have to get in...yipppppeeee!!!
Cameras at the ready, we stood by the waters edge, those that knew how to use them at night were busy setting them up in readiness to capture the elusive lights. For those less endowed with photographic knowledge we simply enjoyed natures finest sky born display. Greens and the odd hint of blue washed across the sky in front of us, it really does take your breath away when you see them and was definitely a tick in the box for me of 'things to see and do'. Wandering around in the darkness...well yes ok..trying to get close enough to the water to ascertain whether we could swim or not...a quick dip of the hand deemed it 'beyond chilly' we had just left waters of around 12 degrees in the UK, this certainly did not feel 12 degrees!
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Right we have no swim kit on us...no towels ....but after a bit of walking...less than 5 mins to be exact we found HOT water...you are kidding i hear you say..nope, we found a large bubbling stone trough.....so well what is a girl to do...yep we did we stripped off and hot water skinny dipped whilst watching the norhern lights...now that is an absolute treat, Alison Darley and I were soon joined by our amazing friend Roger Taylor is loves water as much as we do. And so the three of us languished in the warmth of the water, our breath showing with every exhalation, above us the northern light danced their merry dance to a tune that only they were aware of.
To say it was a moment in my life that i will treasure forever, never did i think that i would get the opportunity to do this...and yet there i was living the dream. As we sat as we wallowed in the warm of the water...the only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been if it had been snowing!
.JPG)
All too soon the rest had regrouped and came looking for us, Shane's rather astonished tone when he found us and told us we were returning to the accommodation said it all....well we are open water swimmers after all....we were to surprise him a few more times during the trip....but with our swim kit on this time!!!...More adventures to come from our Fire and Water trip...some of the clearest waters i have ever swam in....but for now it was time for bed and sleep we did, warm water skinny dip, a glass of red, the northern lights...Iceland certainly does hold true to its magical state!!!
Pictures from myself, Roger Taylor and Christine Menzies
Our plane journey flew by...pun intended....with giggles as Alison Darley and Loraine Macdonald....Loraine, your use of an ipod....priceless...believe me folks you had to have been there but its a giggle that will stay in my mind forever....suffice to say...to use one you have to use the earphones!!!! But our laughter cheered the plane up and the journey flew by and before we knew it we had touched down in Iceland...bracing ourselves for the cold weather we battled to put our down coats back on before alighting the aeroplane. Luggage collected and into duty free....wine purchased....well it would be rude not too, we exited the building to be met with marvellous fresh air!. Our hosts had organised transport so luggage and passengers on board we headed to our accommodation, the Loft Hostel in Reykkjavik en-route being treated to a fantastic display of green flashes in the sky from the northern lights, its as if Iceland was pleased to see us. Literally dumping our luggage we boarded the buses again and off more northern light seeing...if we were lucky again.
First stop saw us looking at a beacon of light shooting directly up to the sky...wow, and more importantly.....why??? Shane Wasik of Basking Shark Scotland (http://baskingsharkscotland.co.uk/) our trip organiser explained to us that the Icelandic people celebrated the life and death of John Lennon with a beacon that would remain lit for a number of months, i felt privileged to have seen it. Leaving the bright light and in search of darker areas so that our eyes could adjust to the skies around us we headed towards water...us open water swimmers know that that can mean only one thing....at some point we would have to get in...yipppppeeee!!!
Cameras at the ready, we stood by the waters edge, those that knew how to use them at night were busy setting them up in readiness to capture the elusive lights. For those less endowed with photographic knowledge we simply enjoyed natures finest sky born display. Greens and the odd hint of blue washed across the sky in front of us, it really does take your breath away when you see them and was definitely a tick in the box for me of 'things to see and do'. Wandering around in the darkness...well yes ok..trying to get close enough to the water to ascertain whether we could swim or not...a quick dip of the hand deemed it 'beyond chilly' we had just left waters of around 12 degrees in the UK, this certainly did not feel 12 degrees!
Right we have no swim kit on us...no towels ....but after a bit of walking...less than 5 mins to be exact we found HOT water...you are kidding i hear you say..nope, we found a large bubbling stone trough.....so well what is a girl to do...yep we did we stripped off and hot water skinny dipped whilst watching the norhern lights...now that is an absolute treat, Alison Darley and I were soon joined by our amazing friend Roger Taylor is loves water as much as we do. And so the three of us languished in the warmth of the water, our breath showing with every exhalation, above us the northern light danced their merry dance to a tune that only they were aware of.
To say it was a moment in my life that i will treasure forever, never did i think that i would get the opportunity to do this...and yet there i was living the dream. As we sat as we wallowed in the warm of the water...the only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been if it had been snowing!
All too soon the rest had regrouped and came looking for us, Shane's rather astonished tone when he found us and told us we were returning to the accommodation said it all....well we are open water swimmers after all....we were to surprise him a few more times during the trip....but with our swim kit on this time!!!...More adventures to come from our Fire and Water trip...some of the clearest waters i have ever swam in....but for now it was time for bed and sleep we did, warm water skinny dip, a glass of red, the northern lights...Iceland certainly does hold true to its magical state!!!
Pictures from myself, Roger Taylor and Christine Menzies
You have the most amazing times in the water, a real mermaid!!!
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