A Land of Colour: Iceland in Photos

It’s the colours that you’ll notice first; everything is cleaner, brighter, contrasting against the white snow or black lava that seems to encompass much of the design.

The misty orange haze dancing on the horizon still yet to set though it was well past 2 am or the bottle green panels of Harpa – the cities prized concert all – which weren’t really bottle green at all, but glimmering greens, purples, blues and pinks depending on which way the sunlight hit the panels, a mermaid’s tail.

Iceland is beautiful.

Three shades of blue greeted me in the Marina most mornings – a sky blue, cerulean blue water and the dark blue stripe adorning the Royal Greenland fisheries boat.

Walking through downtown the lines out the front of the bright red of the tiny red Bæjarins beztu pylsur stand, the most popular ‘restaurant’ in Reykjavik.

The stark white of the silica mud that I slathered on my face and was splashed across the decking compared to the vivid purple of the sky and milky blue water of the Blue Lagoon.

Maps on my room in the Icelandair Hotel Marina was painted light orange, blue and green…

…while my bedroom at my Ocean View apartment was stark white. Some mornings the whiteness continued outside through the dense fog coming in from the Atlantic Sea.

Descending into Thrihnukagigur, a dormant volcano which last erupted over 4,000 years ago, and the magma chamber you’ll notice colours left by the melted minerals – vivid purples, deep reds and shimmering blues.

Unlike the vivid colours found inside Thrihnukagigur, Flame the Arctic Wolf cub who hung around the base camp seemed to blend into his hiding spots… unless he spotted someone with a plate of hot stew or wanted a belly rub.

Iceland’s landscapes are full of colourful.

Every hike crosses over lava fields – the rusting iron ore or the soft green mosses coating the rocks, and maybe a purple flower or two blooming through; and when the snow finally begins to cover the blackened land it becomes something even more beautiful – a new shade for the land to create contrasts against.
Everything is so dramatic, rugged, but from underneath the lava that once destroyed the flora comes new life.

The 2 degree Celsius water that I floated through at Silfra, the space located between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, was full of fluorescent green seaweeds and brown dirt trails if you accidentally stirred the ground; but the water was clear, the sunlight reflecting the aqua blue colour once you put your face underwater.

The eggshell coloured Icelandic Horse, Ljosi seemed most interested in stopping to eat the flourishing bushes each time we stopped from our tölt across the lava fields.

While there were faces appearing from the hardened lava, where green shoots and baby pink flowers began to bloom for the summer, close by there was an oasis of greenery. The perfect place for the horses to stop and eat while Mira and I enjoyed lunch and a break, climbing to the top of the hill only to find a hidden hideaway with a guest book for us to leave a message inside.

Even when the weather turned bleak there were still colours to be found. The well walked reds and browns of the paths around Geysir – the white water shooting up at 3-minute intervals a stark contrast to the greying skies.

While at Gullfoss the bad weather kept people moving fast past the waterfall and overlooking the waterfalls protector, endlessly watching over the area.Rushing through þingvellir National Park, I followed the crowds of people wearing multi-coloured jackets to the site of the first parliament…

… before finding my way to one more beautiful waterfall just before the sun set and I had to return to London, and my trip to a land full of colours ended.

What activity would you most like to do in Iceland?
In your opinion, which place or country is the most colourful?

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