We caught up with Michael Vettas and Gilbert Romane, the two Australian adventurers and photographers who are taking a three week trip around Iceland, taking photographs while testing outdoor equipment and products “out in the field”. The two set out in late November, aiming to spend at least some nights camping in a tent as they travelled around the country counter clockwise after having first travelled around Snæfellsnes peninsula. We were interested in learning how the trip was proceeding, whether the two had run into any trouble and how the severe weather of the past few days has affected their travel plans.
Michael tells us the reason the two came to Iceland at this time of year because he likes challenges:
“Coming in the summer is easy!” he tells us laughing, “But coming in the winter poses a lot of interesting challenges. All my friends, especially my friends from Scandinavia, told me this was a crazy plan, travelling to Iceland at this time of the year. But I like a challenge! Going out of my comfort zone, and pushing myself a little. And this was definitely a challenge.”
Michael and Gilbert started off in Snæfellsnes peninsula, which turned out to be their favorite place in Iceland.
“Snæfellnsnes as a whole seems very underrated, for me that for sure. It kind of has everything. Every corner we drove around it seemed the scenery changed. It really had everything from complete snow mountains to black volcanic rock beaches to the picturesque Kirkjufell mountain. It was just amazing. And there were not many tourists at all, which was surprising.”
Despite having stayed on the main roads (most mountain passes are closed, anyway) the two Australian adventurers tell us they have not met all that many tourists outside the golden circle.
The time of year is obviously a factor: By late November the main tourism season is pretty much over. For a reason: The weather can make winter travels pretty challenging in Iceland. In fact the weather was what surprised Michael most:
“Everyone told us it was freezing cold and really extreme, so I was pretty afraid I hadn’t prepared well enough. But it turned it wasn’t nearly as cold as I had imagined or feared! A few degrees below freezing, but that’s not nearly as bad as I had feared.”
“We have met people along our journey, at campsites. They thought they were the crazy ones, staying in their campers. But then they saw that we were sleeping in the tent!” Staying in the tent was not nearly as bad as he one could have imagined. Of course Michael and Gilbert were staying in a four season tent, but it is an experience Michael would recommend to anyone: “It is amazing, actually quite warm, and you are ready to go out and take in the experience in case anything happens. A great experience I would recommend to anyone adventurous.”
This proximity to the elements is extremely valuable to photographers like Michael and Gilbert.
“Iceland is beautiful all year round, but this time of year you have quite a lot of amazing light from 2-3 hours of blue hour before sunrise, then low level light for 5 then 1-2 hours again of sunset blue. But then of course you also have the aurora, and on top of that the snow.”
This light makes visiting Iceland at this time of year particularly interesting. But as the extreme weather of the past few days has proven, it is crucial to plan and prepared, Michael emphasizes “And prepare to change that plan at the drop of a hat, it's difficult to believe until you see it, but the weather can go from sunny to snow in the matter of minutes.”
In fact the storms forced Michael and Gilbert to change their plans. Instead of making the full circle around the country they got as far as the town of Seyðisfjörður in East Iceland. “We couldn’t make it to Vopnafjörður, which was our next stop, so we kind of got stuck in Egilsstaðir. Rather than press ahead North, and then along the ring road in North Iceland and complete the counter-clockwise circle around Iceland we decided to head back after looking at the weather forecasts.”
But even if the brave Aussies didn’t make it around Iceland they certainly did manage to complete their goal of capturing some amazing photographs.
We caught up with Michael Vettas and Gilbert Romane, the two Australian adventurers and photographers who are taking a three week trip around Iceland, taking photographs while testing outdoor equipment and products “out in the field”. The two set out in late November, aiming to spend at least some nights camping in a tent as they travelled around the country counter clockwise after having first travelled around Snæfellsnes peninsula. We were interested in learning how the trip was proceeding, whether the two had run into any trouble and how the severe weather of the past few days has affected their travel plans.
Michael tells us the reason the two came to Iceland at this time of year because he likes challenges:
“Coming in the summer is easy!” he tells us laughing, “But coming in the winter poses a lot of interesting challenges. All my friends, especially my friends from Scandinavia, told me this was a crazy plan, travelling to Iceland at this time of the year. But I like a challenge! Going out of my comfort zone, and pushing myself a little. And this was definitely a challenge.”
Michael and Gilbert started off in Snæfellsnes peninsula, which turned out to be their favorite place in Iceland.
“Snæfellnsnes as a whole seems very underrated, for me that for sure. It kind of has everything. Every corner we drove around it seemed the scenery changed. It really had everything from complete snow mountains to black volcanic rock beaches to the picturesque Kirkjufell mountain. It was just amazing. And there were not many tourists at all, which was surprising.”
Despite having stayed on the main roads (most mountain passes are closed, anyway) the two Australian adventurers tell us they have not met all that many tourists outside the golden circle.
The time of year is obviously a factor: By late November the main tourism season is pretty much over. For a reason: The weather can make winter travels pretty challenging in Iceland. In fact the weather was what surprised Michael most:
“Everyone told us it was freezing cold and really extreme, so I was pretty afraid I hadn’t prepared well enough. But it turned it wasn’t nearly as cold as I had imagined or feared! A few degrees below freezing, but that’s not nearly as bad as I had feared.”
“We have met people along our journey, at campsites. They thought they were the crazy ones, staying in their campers. But then they saw that we were sleeping in the tent!” Staying in the tent was not nearly as bad as he one could have imagined. Of course Michael and Gilbert were staying in a four season tent, but it is an experience Michael would recommend to anyone: “It is amazing, actually quite warm, and you are ready to go out and take in the experience in case anything happens. A great experience I would recommend to anyone adventurous.”
This proximity to the elements is extremely valuable to photographers like Michael and Gilbert.
“Iceland is beautiful all year round, but this time of year you have quite a lot of amazing light from 2-3 hours of blue hour before sunrise, then low level light for 5 then 1-2 hours again of sunset blue. But then of course you also have the aurora, and on top of that the snow.”
This light makes visiting Iceland at this time of year particularly interesting. But as the extreme weather of the past few days has proven, it is crucial to plan and prepared, Michael emphasizes “And prepare to change that plan at the drop of a hat, it's difficult to believe until you see it, but the weather can go from sunny to snow in the matter of minutes.”
In fact the storms forced Michael and Gilbert to change their plans. Instead of making the full circle around the country they got as far as the town of Seyðisfjörður in East Iceland. “We couldn’t make it to Vopnafjörður, which was our next stop, so we kind of got stuck in Egilsstaðir. Rather than press ahead North, and then along the ring road in North Iceland and complete the counter-clockwise circle around Iceland we decided to head back after looking at the weather forecasts.”
But even if the brave Aussies didn’t make it around Iceland they certainly did manage to complete their goal of capturing some amazing photographs.
