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The driving is slow going today.  So many pot holes in the ground we're shaking and shivering along. First stop of the day was Dettifloss (actually pronounceable!). Waterfall stop 9? It is grand and awesome and big. Definitely one of my favourites. The area around it is so vast and bleak and then in this crack in the earth is a beautiful river and powerful waterfall and rainbows plural. Because we are less tourist areas there was no rail or platforms just you and the waterfall. Some girl who was not with us was getting stupidly close to the rapids near the top of the waterfall.

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18th SEPT tour day 4?

The homemade bread at breakfast was so warm and dense, kinda like a damper.  And there were some pastry things that were kinda like donuts but denser. Once again we are overly surprised that the weather is meant to be good today. We knew we were going to have a day or two of nice weather at the start but then consistently after that it’s been forecasted to rain tomorrow, and then we check again in the morning and the forecast has changed to sunny. Outrageously fortunate. Odin is smiling down on us.

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Carissa and i decided we would leave the curtains open so we could check if there were any lights. The forecast was strongest earlier in the night and we didn't see anything but it was such clear skies we figured it couldn't hurt to hope a little. So at like 1am? we were in bed, lights off, just lying down and messing with our phones to set alarms and check tomorrows weather and stuff. We were legit in the process of going to sleep when Clarissa was like mmm I'll just check. AND SURE ENOUGH!! It wasnt super bright green but it was green. We slipped on our shoes, and shoved on our coats then I went and knocked on the others doors. Liz was still up so grabbed her camera stuff. The boys opened it a crack and were like "what?? We're in our pants" (but they're english so pants means undies) and I started babbling that its green but not super green but you can check if its worth it before getting dressed then Carissa shouted out that it was getting greener. So we ran down the stairs, shoes still untied, jackets unzipped, jumped as the dogs barked then spilled out into the field and it was legitimate. It was actually happening. Bright green, in crinkled dancing sheets just like in the movies. We were wooping and laughing and absolutely giddy and then this big bright green light streaks across the sky in a bit of a circle above our heads, like someone was painting for us. It started to get some purple colours in the mix and it was honestly just so unreal, like it was all just a giant green screen stretching out as far as the eye can see but like a real real good green screen. It only lasted maybe 5 minutes and then the colours started to fade again. It was short lived but bright and brilliant and we were so so happy. We waited out a while longer just in case it started again but alas. We went to bed with full hearts and for a while i was too excited to sleep. Kept sitting up to look out the window, just in case. Eventually i switched my bed around so I could lie down and watch out the window and then drifted off to sleep. In the morning i found out that some of the others switched their beds around too to do the exact same thing. Such a happy, wholesome household.  NB photos are not of the brilliant lights that we saw, I was not reaching for my camera in the moment. These were taken afterwards when we were waiting a little longer in case it started again. They appeared white to the naked eye but by turning up the ISO and having a long exposure time you can make them look green in the camera. We were starting to think that all photos of the northern lights were a result of this trick and it was all just a lie. Don't think that anymore. Photos were taken with a couple of cans of chickpeas acting as a tripod.

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"I accidentally turned the rocket into a sauna" is not a sentence I thought I'd be saying and deffs not one that I thought would make sense to the people I said it to. Decided to have a shower before bed in what we have dubbed 'the rocket'. The control panel includes a telephone which didn't make sense until I found it wasn't just for showering. I thought I was turning on the exhaust fan. Wasn't until I turned off the water that I realised it was making more steam. It wasn't turning off so I sat down and let it steam me up until I found the power button.

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There was a kitchen in the cabin so Andy, Liz, and had a cook up instead of eating in the restaurant.  It was nice but some of the others had some self spiced reindeer in the resturant. Was feeling a little cheated until I found out it was $70, i mean if I was there I might have done it for the experience but I'm kinda glad i didn't have to make that choice. After dinner I tried to teach the boys and Carissa how to play 500 but about 10.30pm maybe? We got an aura alert. They haven't been super reliable so far so I just went out to check. It wasn't green and it wasn't dancing but it was stronger than it's been before and Liz can do some nice things with the camera even when it's not strong enough to the naked eye.  So we stood outside for an hour and a half maybe, waiting to see if it was going to get better but it didn't.  Was still really nice to do some star gazing. Saw some really bright shooting starts which is always fun. The farm doggies didn't know what to make of us. We turned in about midnight. 

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Before dinner the boys and I went for a walk out into the horizon. We found a bit of a creek which we were weary of because chris said there is quick sand in some areas, and the ground was quite soft. But we also found what I'm quiet confident was a sacred pagan sacrifice pit. Lots of dark soot with these odd cylindrical bits in it. We asked Chris about it when we got back but he just said it was probably due to some sort of lava formation which I thought was a bit of a cop out because everything out here is probably due to lava in one way or another, the entire land mass is due to lava. Definitely a pagan pit.

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Turns out we're staying a little up the road from the edge of the world. A couple of cabins in the middle of nothingness. It was amazing, exactly what you come for. We had a real cute cabin which felt like a family holiday house in the wilderness. The farm as they're calling it is on the highest point of the highlands (excluding the moutains of course) 500m up. The owners have been out here for 4 generations. Used to be more of a sheep farm and it's only the last owner that added some extra cabins for accommodation. The little church was built by his grandfather in memory of his wife after she died. I love it, so quaint.

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Had an Icelandic snack at the edge of the world. Its the dried fish I had the other day except not as ground up, Chris bought the fish whole from the supermarket and just tore it up, but with a little butter on it too. The fact it wasn't as ground made it tougher and more chewy but the butter made it soften up and turn more creamy like actual fish meat.

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Drive 10 minutes and the scenery changes again. Here we are at the edge of the world. Post apocalypse will look like this. Easy to believe we were the only ones left in the world.

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Waterfall stop 7? Little walk, more highland berries, some rock scrambling, good stuff

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Stopped at a gas station to fill up and pee. Chris told us there was really good 'soft ice' here and he wasn't wrong.  So good. And such generous servings, this cost me $3.50. Everyone got one and we all sat, in the sun, outside in the back yard, dripping and smiling. It's 22o and very pleasant in the sun, legitimately hot. It feels like we've taken a day trip out to a sea town and we're happy and adventurous and so so wholesome.  I wish i was better with words to explain how happy I am. There's a happy group photo of us all I'll post later but its on someone else's camera

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Next high lands stop. There were some sheep which did not like us. A big field of really squishy moss to lay down in and berries to pick! Chris told us yesterday we could go berry picking but I thought it would be an organised activity like it is back home but he just let us out and said go wild. We were tentative at first like ¿which berries? And he just waved his hand dismissively and said they’re all edible. The bigger ones are Bilberries and taste like sweet blue berries, not at all tart. The little ones are crowberries and come off the green ferny looking plants and aren’t as nice but it was still fun finding them. This was a good pit stop, very happy

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Was driving up in the highlands and said quick chris! Pull over! Waterfall stop: 6? Absolutely beautiful place to do some solid rock scrambling.  Can not believe how lucky we are. Andy slipped a little and almost hurt his camera, decided to duck and roll instead and has a lump on his knee now but it could have been worse. Chris lets us play and climb and stuff but always looks really serious when he tells us to be careful. When we were on the first glacier the boys climbed out of sight and when we told chris they were over the mound he was silent for a moment then quietly said 'they should not have done that.' We don't want to disappoint chris.

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Stopped in Djúpivogur for lunch (map for reference). Most of us had bought lunch at the supermarket for a change but then Chris said there was good fish and chips at this place and when the weather is so nice who could say no to that. Fish caught fresh last night. I really don’t think the pictures of this town did it any justice but it looks just like you would expect a little icelandic town to look. Boats in the harbour and solo wood cabin houses. The eggs are an art installation, each one has a plaque under it with the type of bird the egg colour mirrors.

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We have a big drive today which is aye okay by me. Bit of a rest day. I reckon everyone had a tiny bit of a nap in the morning. Chris printed us out some lyric sheets so we could learn a popular folk song. Tis nice to have a little sing a long in the car. These are the kinds of organised activities I can really get behind. These are some pics from our very regular "photo stops" for some people on this trip they are very important so we're not trying to get photos out the window. For others they're just a chance to have a stretch and feel like we're doing something. The clouds were low this morning, hugging and making rings around the mountains.

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17th SEPT trip day 3?

This morning at breakfast Chris, our guide, said that there was a news report about a heat wave coming up north (where we are heading) going to be 20o! It's raining everywhere else in the country but we seem to be chasing the good weather. Maybe I didn't need that extra jacket (but still not regretting buying the extra jacket. Was great on the glacier lagoon yesterday)

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Went for a walk in the evening :) Sculpture and recital centre are widely Photographed. I'm sure I will learn why on the walking tour tomorrow