We moved on to “Reykjavik’s The Pearl” (Perlan Interactive Nature Museum) next. I’m going to get this out of the way right now…It was quite expensive, like everything in Iceland, Norway, Netherlands and Germany. I will try and refrain from whining about any cost of any food or attraction from now on…You can call me out on it if I do!

It is an impressive architectural building containing a well done museum/nature center with exhibits such as a massive “bird cliff,” erupting geyser in the large atrium, observation deck that looks over the city, some impressive large-screen movies on volcano irruptions, and a real ice cave that they somehow keep frozen and intact. All interesting but not mind-blowing like the land itself. I would suggest this museum if you want an introduction to the country, or need something to do on a rainy day. But if you only have a few days in the country, better to hit the road to the hinterlands!

We still had hours to burn and our exhaustion was becoming harder to fight so we found a city natural area around a lake and let the kids nap in the car. Bridget and I hiked through the hillsides of blooming Lupines, though I got sidetracked by several birds including Redwing. I made the not-so-hard decision to leave my “good” camera at home. It is far too large and heavy to haul around all day while exploring. Plus, this was a family trip, not a photography trip. Instead I brought my very small Sony A6500 and three lenses: a Rokinon 12mm super wide, a Tamron 18-300mm zoom and a Sigma 85mm f1.4 that I rented from lensrentals.com (I could have left the 85mm f1.4 at home since I hardly used it). All this fit into a Lowepro Trekker Lite SLX 120 that I could sling over my shoulder.

Interesting fact about the Lupines is that they are not native to Iceland but now have spread across many lower elevation parts of the island, especially along roads and in towns. There is a real controversy among the locals and government on whether to eliminate them or not. Many photo tour groups come from all over the world to photograph them in June/early July. We did not see many once we got away from civilization.

We headed out of town along the Ring Road towards our cabin, but still had lots of time to explore. But we were still fighting crabbiness and exhaustion as we made our way east.

So naturally I decided we should go spelunking; a great thing to do when you can barely keep your eyes open! Actually it was a roadside tour. The tour takes you down into the old Raufarhólshellir lava tube which was the result of the Leitahraun eruption, which occurred east of the Bláfjöll mountains about 5200 years ago.

You put on a hardhat and a headlamp and follow the guide (and about 30 other tourists) down into the lava tube. It is very cold down there. In fact, it is too cold for any insects so there are no bats or other critters living in the lava tube. It is also not a cave in the sense that there are no stalactites and stalagmites. It is also not claustrophobic; the diameter of the tunnel is maybe 30 to 50 feet wide. Our guide was good, but like lots of tour guides, it sometimes seemed like he was just reciting very quickly his rote routine, including his not-so-great jokes. He was also hard to hear at times. Semi-interesting I guess but probably very interesting for folks who really dig geology.

Finally we made it to our “farm stay” AirBnB cabin. It was about 5 miles inland, the last few miles on very rough, “wash-boardy” road. Bonus were the Viking ponies and little sheep we passed on the way. Well, I had to stop and take some photos of these cool animals (future post). Did you know that no horses are allowed into Iceland. This is to insure that the genetic lineage of these Viking-era descendants stays pure. The boys had their own cabin, and like ours, it was tiny and brand new. The listing made it sound like you were actually going to be surrounded by farm animals, which Bridget would have liked, but really you just drive through their farmstead to get to the cabins. But an orange cat and a couple dogs did come visit us.

NEXT: A waterfall you can walk behind AND the world’s most dangerous beach!