‘Theia Implied’ oil on canvas 195.5 x 96.5 cm 2022 £3400

 

…. From Hofn we continued East towards the Eastfjords …. pausing briefly to enjoy the view of where we have cycled from ….

 

…. The weather was amazing though chilly…. and we were about to travel through our first tunnel …. just 1.3 km long

 

…. pausing again before heading for the first tunnel ….

 

 

 

…. After the tunnel we found ourselves in yet another stunning location …. It was like this everyday, one stunning view after another. Iceland quickly began the most spectacular ride of my life …. everyday I was simply lost for words …. this will not be our last visit,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful day heading along the South coast to the East Fjords

 

 

A huge lagoon with an amazing number of  Swans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild camp

 

Stuðlagil – basalt canyon ….. WOW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A slow and developing problem we had was the wear on Aaron’s rear tyre, we had already used the spare and we were already commited to cycling into the center of Iceland. Well we had the ability to repair if necassary so we deciced to push on and moniter the tyre

 

With the East Fjords and Stuðlagil now behind us and with 10 days worth of food added to our bike we rose fairly early packed and with great excitment left Stuðlagil basalt column canyon and headed …. with a little trepidation …. to Askja, we had no idea if we could do this part of the tour no idea if our choice of equipement was up to the task, we new we had tough cycling ahead of us all off road all without back up, we had some spares some tools and we knew that finding water was not going to be an issue at all. there are notices in most if not all campsites that the water from all the rivers and streams and waterfalls is perfect for drinking so we has no worries and no need to carry extra supplies of water. Still this was going to be a full on adventure with no shops no convenience shops or bike shops garages anything like that at all. We were so excited for this….. the only concern was Aaron’s rear tire we had already used the spare …. but we did have the ability to repair the tire if necassary …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…. A short Preface ….

Our original idea was to take a ferry to Holland and then cycle to Denmark, unfortunately I messed up big time leaving it far to late to book a place on the ferry … it was a shame even though it would have taken us a month of cycling to get to Denmark and so would cut down on the time we had in Iceland. Time that was already limited due to the infinite stupidity of the UK government and BREXIT. All I will say about it here is that it is a shit show of epic proportions and the biggest incidence of self harm a government has ever inflicted upon it’s country and people …. It limited the time we would have in Iceland particularly for creating artworks. In the end flying gave us  two and a half months which may seem a long time but not if you are combining creative practice and cycle touring. Well it is what it is and we were not going to let our limited time spoil our cycle tour. We were determind not to rush, and to take as much time as we could ….

Well everything for this trip was in place and I had organised it as a self funded, self organised travelling artist in residence where I would be involved in gathering visual research and producing natural stone sculptures in the landscape as we cycle toured …. To get there we had a back up plan …. it was one we were reluctant to use but had no choice it was either fly or cancel. Now that we are back and are planning a return trip we are also collecting native tree seeds and are planting them in an effort to compensate nature and the damage caused to the environment through our return flight to Iceland. My intention is to plant at least 100 trees this autumn. It is a tough call philosophically but even if we had managed to travel by ferry it is a 2 plus day crossing and still I would be planting trees. However you travel there always will be an impact …. but in cycle touring one can greatly reduce that impact

 

 

…. Our second country outside the UK on our world cycle tour ….

Founded more than 1,000 years ago during the Viking age of exploration and settled by a mixed Norse and Celtic population, it has been an ambition of mine to cycle tour Iceland for many years …. since I was in my early tweens ….. it did not disapoint …. Starting somewhat backwards, or maybe not here is a map of our route which we kind of made up as we went. Our choice to cycle anti clockwise was a good call and was  Aaron’s decicion who having researched the prevailing winds had suggested we travel anti clockwise …. it was a fab decision …. spoiler alert ….. here is our route ….

 

 

…. first passport stamp …. Great stuff ….

 

          

…. by the time we were off the plane, had collected our bikes, we headed for Keflavik airport bike pit …. the bike pit was a dedicated and FREE shed with bike stands and tools, free to use for all intrepid cycle tourists …. what a fab thing …. It made a huge difference to be able to work on the bike, put them back together and check over everything for any damage during transport. That the bike pit was a covered area with enough space for Aaron and myself was a huge thing. Sheltered out of the cool night air, and I can imaginge what a pain this would be with no shelter and rain, tired as we were. We had been up since 6 am and by the time we had our bikes together it was well after 1 am with a short (9 km) bike ride to the nearest campsite …..

 

        

 

…. Our first ride in Iceland was just 9 km we left the bike pit at around 1 30 am and yes it really was that light and made our first friend on our way to our first camp ….

 

…. Pitched at around 3 am …. the blue flowers are Alaskan Lupine

 

 

We spent 4 days in Keflavik just to relax into being here, there was also some rain over the next couple of days and we knew the weather would be clearing and sunny in just a few days time so we opted to explore Keflavik …. say hello to as many cats as we could find …. find out where to buy various supplies like fuel for our stove – in Iceland the camping gas bottles are always available at petrol stations rather than at camping and out door shops like Blacks or mountain sports. Knowing this was really useful as we could see on google maps just where all the petrol stations were and so plan accordingly and not run out of fuel….. and that was good to know, also we wanted to check out the price of food in various supermarkets, check out some interesting public artworks …. and visit the viking museum …. and oh yes check over the bikes before heading East. Bike shops are few and far between. The next one from here after we headed East along the South coast would be at Selfoss a three day ride away, after that we would not find another bike shop until we arrived on the North coast of Iceland and that was at least six weeks cycling …..

                 

 

…. A few images from the Viking museum …. it is a fab museum where you can dress up in accurate replica’s of viking helmets hold an accurate replica of a viking sword and shield, and let me just say the helmet is super comfortable and really really heavy as is the shield …. they also had a replica of a viking board game which is thought to have it’s routes in chess so I dare say we will be constructing one of these and giving it a go at some point.  The first image below shows a set of what are called Tupilak’s …. they come from Greenland and are from what I gather  have an almost voodoo like use in ancient inuit culture made and sent with the intent of killing an enemy, It would attack the intestines – and were regarded as something that ate souls, they do remind me of totem poles though on a very small scale …. they are also quite disturbing …..

                   

                                                                                                                                                                …. me ….

 

… The viking longship was incredible …. in the 1880’s n almost perfectly preserved viking longship was found and this modern built viking longship was built based on the findings of that original longship and built using tradition tools and techniques …. though now in a museum the ship did sail to Greenland and a lot further too. The information regarding the construction and the knowledge they had was seriously impressive.

 

… Back at camp we were also testing a new piece of kit …. our portable solar charger …. It was and is superb, and being independent of plug sockets was fab. A 28 W foldable solar charger with a digital readout 2 usb ports, max output 5V/4A …. and it worked brilliantly. This really was one of the best pieces of kit to buy, especially later on in the tour when we headed for Askja in the centre of Iceland where there are no shops of any kind at all …..

 

 

… and then we were off …. great stuff …. Aaron had first dibs on who got to carry the solar charger … fab to have this charging our devices as we cycle ….

 

…. Our first ride to see the the North Atlantic Ocean from the South coast of Iceland. We were on our way to our second campsite at Grindevik …. we also had our first encounters with Kria (Arctic Turns) they do not like people, but then it was breeding season so they were a bit testy. And our first maintenance issue. Aaron had a problem with his chain and we discovered a half broken link … not much of a problem in the end as we just had to use our chain tool to remove the damaged link re attach the split link and put the chain back and we were then on our way ….

 

…. first proper look at a volcanic landscape. It was awesome … absolutely stunning ….

 

 

…. Along the route to Grindavik we stopped to visit this remarkable place and to have our lunch …. this is one of many places in Iceland where you can stand between two continental tectonic plates …. it is impressive …. there is also a bridge between the plates … so at this place you can cross between the Eruasian tectonic plate and the North American tectonic plate….. we had our lunch in the gap between the two …. It is far more interesting than just a single rift, on either side the land is fractured with varying widths of gullies. It is interesting to also note that the plates are moving apart at the same rate that Earth’s Moon is moving away from the Earth …. 3 cm per year ….

…. this really was an extraordinary place and we both either sat and just looked or walked around exploring in complete fascination. To see this geological process is just great stuff ….

 

 

                      

 

…. I organised this trip as a self funded self organised travelling artist in residence. Intentionally I had not brought any sketchbooks or art materials. I have read and researched a lot about Iceland including the impact that climate change is having particularly on receeding ice sheets and glaciers. Iceland is a formidibl, rugged environment that is also incredible delicate and this was one of the reasons I wanted to cycle tour Iceland as it would have the least environmental impact ….. so in concert with that philosophy the question is …. how is an artist to respond creatively to such an environment and at the same time do as little harm as possible. In terms of my artistic practice it was easy as for many years I have created temporary stone balance sculptures using natural elements in the landscape. They are fun, intense and yet calming, almost a form of meditation, and using the natural elements in such a way that they are not modified at all, physically interacting with the natural elements is a fundamental part of this philosophy …. and when you achieve that balance point it can be profound and exhilerating. At the same time because I use natural elements like rocks there is little impact on the environment …, the rocks are already there, they are not changed or modified in anyway. They are not glued together ….. as some have claimed and eventually with the wind and rain they collapse and become part of the landscape as if they were never there. The falling basalt columns provided a natural plinth and this was just great stuff ….

 

 

 

…. volcanic landscape ….

…. Our next must visit was to a geo thermal area – ‘The Blue Lagoon’ …. We did not bath in the geo thermal pools though …. these main tourist attractions are really busy and really quite expensive if like Aaron and …. travelling as inexpensively as we can …. is a necessity, then such this are easily avoided and to be honest being part of that kind of tourist conveyerbelt is not why we do this, also the idea of sharing a lake of water with many hundreds of visitors a day is not really my cup of tea. The nice thing here is that you can still do a fab walk along the various pools that are not part of the bathing area, and if you time it right it is less busy and it is still absolutely spectacular. The colour of the water is almost luminous and is caused by bacteria that thrive in geo thermal pools and by a high concentration of silicates …..

 

 

 

 

 

…. Whilst camped at Grindevik we cycled to visit the site of the recent volcanic  eruption at Fagradalsfjall ….

…. lava flow frozen into ripples as it cooled ….

…. Even after 9 months the lava flow was still venting and actually just 60 cm below the surface it was still liquid molten rock …. we walked along the surface of this lava flow for a while and you can see and smell the volitiles emanating from the lava flow ….

 

…. from the ridge as we climbed to view the volcanic crater you can see the lava flow ….

 

 

…. and then we continued our journey of along the South coast of Iceland heading East …. Aaron had done a fair amount of research before we came here closely following and understanding how the prevailing winds behave during the summer months … we knew that the winds could be ferocious and Aaron’s research indicated that we should head East …. and it really paid of …. all along the South coast we had predominantly tail winds … and we had warm sunny weather too up to 15 degees C ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

…. this camp was terrific …. donantions only …. good showers, toilets fab weather and fab views ….

 

…. the landscapes from time to time were covered as far as the eye could see with wild Alaskan Lupine. Introduced the stabalise the soil and to enrich the organic content of the soil including adding nitrogen. And it thrives the scent is wonderful ….

 

 

…. Skogafoss ….

 

 

 

…. beyond Skogafoss there are 26 more waterfalls and the walk continues all the way up to the glacia and ice cap, we had a day walking up to explore some of these waterfalls but we were cautious of going all the way up to the glacia as we were only really equiped for long distance cycle touring. We did really want to do more exploring like this but our equipment was really limited as far as trekking in the mountains go ….. but the next few images show that where ever we were we combined a lot of walking with our cycle tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

To visit the next waterfall we had to back track a ways, we had planned to visit this waterfall on the way but the weather was ….. interesting and we had our first introduction on that day to the infamous Icelandic side winds that fall of the glaciers, being dragged down of the glacier was a band of cloud heading out to sea we, and we wrere heading straight towards the rain, it was fairly heavy and cold and we really did not want to stop. It seemed from the weather map of Iceland that the band of rain would stop by the time we reached Skogafoss and that turned out to be right, the band of rain was at least 10 km wide, and by the time we got to Skogafoss we were back into sunshine.

 

The ride to see this next waterfall was a round trip ride of 50 km …. and the wind was still strong and had moved from the North into a strong headwind, much more manageable than the side winds. These side winds are challenging they would come out of nowhere and suddenly drop any passing large coaches …. and there were a few, would play havoc with steering the bikes in the strongest of these side winds we had to lean the bikes over at an angle of up to 6 degrees …. so yes challenging ….

 

 

 

 

After a few days exploring these waterfalls we pushed on to another tourist hot spot Vik, and the famed black basaltic sand beach and on the way we could not resist visiting this crash site

…. Militery DC 3 crash site near Vik ….

              

 

 

 

…. Walking out to the crash site is across a huge flood volcanic flood plain and the sand is black volvanic basalt ….

…. it is so atmospheric and so different to anything I have ever seen …. slowly life returns in small patches of wild flowers ….

 

…. could not resist paddling in the sea …. and it was not cold either ….. the waves breaking later in the day were quite spectacular ….

 

 

…. sometimes the unexpected happens as with this stone balance sculpture on the black sand beach near Vik ….. can you see the delicate contemplative profile of a young woman …..

 

 

…. continuing East ….

 

…. this part of the South coast was much anticipated As we cycled East we could see glympses in the distance of the  Jokularson glacie, in fact there are are glacier after glacier along this coast…. seeing glaciers and glacier lagoons for the first time was a remarkable experience ….

….. and more waterfalls with volcanic basalt columns near Skaftafell….

 

 

 

 

…. Icecap and volcanic crater ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…. Diamond beach …. as the icebergs calve they slowly drift to the mouth of the glacial lagoon where they get stuck and slowly reduce in size by errosion and melting until they are small enough to pass into the ocean where the waves slowly erode the iceberg’s the remnants of which are left along the shore … it really is quite spectacular, and we just stared watching the ice being tumbled in the breaking waves ….

 

 

 

 

I could not resist to pick a small piece of glacial ice up …holding this ice in my hands was extraordinary contemplating the journey that this ice had made over many thousands of years from falling as snow to being crushed into glacial ice flowing down the mountains calving into the Jokularson glacial lagoon slowly reducing in size over many more years until finally washing up along this shore for Aaron and I to pick up and to contemplate this nature ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…. Skaftafeell to our next camp would be our longest bike ride …. 117 km ….and we finally made camp at a secluded campsite in a small forrest pitching at midnight ….

 

 

…. A short ride this day especially after the previous day’s 117 km …. just 36 km …. to Hofn ….

 

 

…. Looking back West along the South coast …. the way we came ….