Iceland 4

On our last day of going to see tourist attractions we went to Aldeyjarfoss waterfall as we loved  Gullfoss yesterday. Its located in the north of Iceland within the Highlands of Iceland. One of the most interesting features of the waterfall is the contrast between the black basalt columns and the white waters of the fall. The river Skjálfandafljót drops here and the basalt belongs to a lava field. Tumbling through a narrow passage into a wide basin, the black basalt columns provide a stark contrast against the thrashing white foam.

To finish off our trip that evening we went to visit Dynjandi  the largest waterfall in the Westfjords region of Iceland and is considered to be one of the most impressive waterfalls in all of Iceland. The waterfall in made up of 7 waterfalls, each with its own name, one of which is Dynjandi (thunderous). I was in awe of the height and complexity of the waterfall it was truly amazing to look at and a perfect end to the trip.

Iceland was such an amazing country to visit as it was so picturesque it was one of my favourite countries and I would go back in a heartbeat. I can definitely see why it's so famous for it's Volcanoes and Waterfalls with each of them being equally magnificent. I really don't want for this trip to end and go home but we are leaving for our plane in about ten minutes where we will fly back to Dublin.

Iceland 3

After an spending most of the trip so far outdoors in the scenic part of Iceland we wanted to try get more of a feel for the culture so in the morning we went to Landakotskirkja the cathedral of the Catholic Church in Iceland which is often referred to as Kristskirkja (Christ's Church) located in the western part of Reykjavik. It has a distinctively flat top, as opposed to the standard spire because of the community's request for a Neo-Gothic church, it is more conservative in style than Samuelsson's other creations but still has clear modern elements and glacier-inspired lines. The interior is traditionally Gothic, with a patterned tile floor and no aisles or transepts. It was very interesting to see how their church compared to our Catholic Churches back home they were much the same with a few variations.

Iceland is famous for its waterfalls so of course we had to visit some this evening we decided on going to Gullfoss (Golden Falls) Iceland's most famous waterfall. Its found in the canyon of Hvítá river in southwest Iceland. It is amazing I was so awestruck by the waterfall a bit above the falls it turns sharply to the right, flows down into what looks like a three step staircase and then quickly plunges in two stages. When you first go toward the falls the crevice is hidden from view, so that it appears that a mighty river simply vanishes into the earth. Glacial water is brownish, since it carries lots of sediments that the glacial ice has carved off the earth on a sunny day the water plunging down the three step staircase and then tumbling in two steps down into the deep crevice truly looks golden. It was one of the most magical things I have ever seen.

Iceland 2

Today we decided on staying outdoors because they weather was looking good with clear blue skies and the temperature wasn't that bad once we wrapped up. We went to the Vatnajökull National Park where we visited one of its sites yesterday Askja to see what else it has to offer.

It is one of the three national parks of Iceland. Vatnajökull is Europe's largest glacier, the glacial ice hides a number of mountains, valleys and plateaus. It even hides some active central volcanoes. Nowhere in Iceland except the Mýrdalsjökull glacier gets more precipitation or water drained to the sea than on the south side of Vatnajökull. The scenery surrounding the glacier is beautifully varied. Near the north, the highland plateau is divided by glacial rivers and the volcanoes of Askja, Kverkfjöll and Snæfell as well as the volcanic mountain Herðubreið. In the east broad wetlands and expansive ranges distinguish the areas near the glaciers around Snæfell. The south side of Vatnajökull contains many high mountain ridges, with outlet glaciers descending between them onto the lowlands. The southernmost part of the glacier envelops the central volcano Öræfajökull and Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnjúkur. It was a great day even though we were all so tired from walking so much we though we didn't mind that much as we got to experience the Volcanoes and glaciers first hand.

Iceland 1

We arrived in Reykjavik (Iceland) Airport in the start of winter we knew it was going to be cold but we were still very excited!

We wanted to get stuck in straight away so we went to Askja a volcano in a remote part of the central highlands of Iceland. Öskjuvatn is a large lake that fills much of the smaller caldera resulting from the 1875 eruption. When the lake originally formed it was warm, but today it is frozen over for most of the year. Víti is a smaller explosion crater on the north east shore of Öskjuvatn. It contains a geothermal lake of mineral-rich, sulfurous, opaque blue water, which is suitable for swimming even though its not a good idea to swim in the craters. It was also formed in the eruption of 1875. It is a gorgeous scenic site and it was a great way to start our trip in  Iceland.

That evening we went to the National Gallery of Iceland as we were feeling tired and wanted to go somewhere near our hostel Reykjavík Hostel Village. It is located in Reykjavík, and contains a collection of Icelandic art which features artwork of famous Icelandic artists and artwork that helps explain the traditional Icelandic culture. It holds rotating exhibitions that reflect its collection or display work by individual artists, Icelandic as well as foreign ones. The NG’s buildings at Fríkirkjuvegur 7 houses several exhibition halls on three floors, an art store and a café. It also has a restoration laboratory and a specialist library, containing archives, documentation, and photographs to the preservation and the dissemination of material that relates to the research field of the institution, i.e. Icelandic art. Personally my favourite exhibition was TREASURES - Beasts in Cages in Room 4. It's a selected modern and contemporary works from the collection based on several master works of the pioneers of Icelandic contemporary art Jóhann Eyfells (1923), Magnús Pálsson (1929) and Dieter Roth (1930–1998) with the addition of works by the generations who followed in their footsteps. I love art so seeing this was a perfect end to my day.

Venezuela

Venezuela

We flew from Toronto to Venezuela.

I chose to go to Venezuela on my round the world trip, because I have family who were born in Venezuela, and the stories they told me about it really interested me.

We traveled around Venezuela by bus usually, as taxis are known to be dodgy, as most aren't registered. Buses were regular and cheap, and short distance regional routes were served by por puesto (like a cross between and bus and a taxi)

Sightseeing

Being in Venezuela, of course we had to go to Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world. A lot of planning had to go into this, because the waterfall is located in an isolated jungle. We had to get a flight from puerto Ordaz to Canaima camp, the starting point for the river trip. Luckily we chose the right time of year to go to Venezuela because trips to Angel falls only take place from June to December, because the water it deep enough then. 

  We travelled along the river in wooden curiaras (boats) with the Pemon Guides. Pemon people are indigenous to South Africa, but live in area of Venezuela, Brasil  and Guyana. They have an amazing culture, and the language, Pemon, is beautiful. 

   The Falls were spectacular! They are truely breathtaking, and pictures don't seem to do them justice.

Angel Falls

The medanos de coro National Park is another place we visited in Venezuela. It is a huge vast desert. We got to go quad biking along the sand dunes, and it wasn't too hot, as it would be in the summer.

We also made the long journey to Mochima National Park, because my family told me it was definitely worth the journey! The whole western section of the park is made up of marine area. We went scuba diving and diving off small cliffs into the sea.

Montreal

          Canada

                                          By Grainne

Flight : From Solomon Islands – Australia ($575)

             From Australia – Montreal ($1,253)

Accomodation : Hotel Abri Du Voyageur.We found this website online. We got a discount price of $31 a night, 33% cheaper than the usual price. The hotel is located in the heart of the entertainment district in downtown Montreal. We got a bus straight from the airport to the hotel. The plane landed at 6 o'clock, and we were all really tired from the flight, so we just went back to the hotel and slept.

International Arrivals Hall in Montreal Airport

location of the hotel

View of Montreal airport from the plane

SIGHTSEEING

Old Montreal: On our second day in Montreal we went to the Vieux Port, a large waterfront green space with loads of attractions like  Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal Science Centre, the Labyrinth, the Clock Tower. We went at about 5 o'clock, and spent about 4 hours there

The Labyrinth is a maze.It took us an hour and a half to get through. It cost $13 per person, which was definitely worth it!.

Notre-Dame Basilica: We took a guided tour of the basilica. There was a fee of $5 at the door, and the tour was free.

outside the basilica

Notre-Dame Basilica

We decided while we were in canada we had to go to a hockey game, in the Bell Centre. The game was between the Montreal Canadians and ... The atmosphere in the arena was amazing

Swinging bus stops in Montreal

To get around Montreal, We got the bus (Societe de transport de Montreal). It was really cheap and easy and some f the bus stops were these swinging bus stops, which we all loved!

Most days, we went to Rue St.Denis, the principal shopping street in Montreal. There were loads of lovely restaurants and shops and it was moderately close to where we were staying.

      The weather in Canada in Autumn is cool, but it rarely rained and it was usually quite sunny. The trees were really spectacular, so we decided to go to the Laurentian Mountains. We hiked up one of the mountains, and the view was really breathtaking.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Montreal, but i really loved it there, and would definitely return.
 Next stop, Toronto!

Toronto

Toronto

We got the train from Montreal to Toronto. We caught out train in the montreal train station. We traveled with VIA rail.  The journey was around 5 hours, but the train was so comfortable. Tickets were $120 per person. 

  We stayed in the Rex hotel, Jazz and Blues bar. We chose this hotel because it seemed like there was loads of culture there, and the music turned out to be amazing!

the Rex hotel.

Sightseeing

•     We were really eager to explore Toronto more, and first we went to the Royal Ontario Museum. This museum has over 6 million items and 40 galleries, so we obviously didn't get to see everything in the museum. The museum was recently renovated, and the outside of the building is stunning in itself. The fossils and evolution part of the museum was my favourite.

•     We went to the CN tower another day. This is the worlds tallest tower. The sheer height of the tower is amazing, but we were lucky enough to get to do the ledge walk! This is a thrilling walk on the outside ledge of the tower. We were harnessed in and got to step out onto the ledge. It was absolutely terrifying, but it was such an amazing experience and I will definitely be bragging about this for years to come!

•     One day it was really warm , so we went to the St.Lawrence Market, an amazing food market. It's huge, and full of homegrown foods. We picked up some lovely food and went to High Park ad had a picnic.
• We went to Chinatown. There was so many interesting little shops and markets and its really close to Kensington market, another market with loads of bohemian shops.

The Solomon Islands p4

Today we went fishing at Sanbis resort on the other side of Gizo. Laura got really lucky, she caught us dinner.

It was our last day in The Solomon Islands so we didnt have time to do much else as we had to get a boat back to Australia to catch our flight. We quickly packed up and made our way to the boat, off to Canada we go!

The Solomon Islands p3

 

Today we went on a tour of Simbo Island. The boat ride took 1and a half hours but we knew it was well worth it when we saw the beautiful scenery.

We spent the whole day in Simbo and when we got back we went to Nuzu Nuzu restaurant which was lovely.

The Solomon Islands p2

The first thing we did this morning was go for a walk at Kolombangara, a large dormant volcano peak. There's a natural rainforest nearby where we saw some breathtaking scenes.

View of Kolombangara from across the lake

  

Afterwards, we went surfing at Pailongge 

    

After relaxing for a couple of hours in our hotel, we went to Fatboys, a hotel restaurant nearby

 

 

The view from our table was amazing, as the restaurant is on a pier that hovers over the Lagoon. The food is not as impressive - fish and chips, grilled fish and salads - but it is still lovely. We'll definitely be coming back here!