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Category: The A-Z of Iceland

The A-Z of Iceland: F for Fontana | iamapolarbear.com

The A-Z of Iceland: F for Fontana

March 21, 2019

In today’s A-Z of Iceland, we’re off to the spa. F is for Fontana. Considering its position on the edge of the Golden Circle and the fact that it’s used by tour companies on their “Northern Lights and…” nights and also the fact that it’s amazing, Laugarvatn Fontana is surprisingly little-known. It’s the smallest of … More The A-Z of Iceland: F for Fontana

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The A-Z of Iceland: E for Eastfjords | iamapolarbear.com

The A-Z of Iceland: E for Eastfjords

March 7, 2019

In today’s edition of The A-Z of Iceland, I’m going to shine a little light on a lesser-known area of Iceland: the Eastfjords. Tourists flock to the south-west of Iceland. A lot of them cover the south coast, between Hveragerði and Jökulsárlón, the glacial lagoon. A reasonable number are drawn to the north, to Akureyri … More The A-Z of Iceland: E for Eastfjords

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The A-Z of Iceland: D for Dettifoss

The A-Z of Iceland: D for Dettifoss

February 21, 2019

Iceland has some spectacular waterfalls; indeed, I’ve heard it said that it has more waterfalls than people. Most people know Gullfoss, from the Golden Circle, and Skaftafell and Skogafoss on the south coast are very well known too. Dettifoss is well known in the north but a relatively small proportion of tourists make it so … More The A-Z of Iceland: D for Dettifoss

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The A-Z of Iceland: Camping | iamapolarbear.com

The A-Z of Iceland: Camping

February 7, 2019

The first time you hear the words “camping” and “Iceland” in the same sentence, it doesn’t sound appealing. When you’ve been there in the summer and seen how solid-roof accommodation both fills up and becomes stupidly expensive, suddenly camping in Iceland looks like a better idea. Here are a few things to know about camping … More The A-Z of Iceland: Camping

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The A-Z of Iceland: B for Bananas | iamapolarbear.com

The A-Z of Iceland: B for Bananas

January 24, 2019

Yes, well done me for choosing a subject for which I have no pictures! But there’s a reason for that. Welcome to the second episode of The A-Z of Iceland: B for Bananas! These are not just any bananas, these are Icelandic bananas! If you go to Iceland you’ll hear almost as much about bananas … More The A-Z of Iceland: B for Bananas

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The A-Z of Iceland: A for Alftavatn | iamapolarbear.com

The A-Z of Iceland: A for Álftavatn

January 10, 2019

Welcome to a new series for 2019, The A-Z of Iceland. These will be out every two weeks and will cover subjects from the truth of the Icelandic banana to abolished letters to sagas. We’re going to start with A for Álftavatn. Álftavatn is the second campsite on the Laugavegur Trail if you do the … More The A-Z of Iceland: A for Álftavatn

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Who am I?
I'm Julie, a travel, adventure and wellness blogger. I love Iceland, I love jumping into hot water and I do love a bit of snow.

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The reason I was in Scarborough was for the Trefoil Guild annual meeting. The Trefoil Guild is Guiding for adults and in some ways it’s better than Girlguiding: no responsibility for children, because it’s adults only, and open to everyone, regardless of gender or Guiding experience. In practice, it’s almost entirely female, heavily leans towards retired leaders and is having a membership crisis because the average age is somewhere in the 60s or 70s and new members aren’t joining at quite the pace that older members are leaving. Having been a member for ten years now, I don’t stand out among them quite as much as I did when I was a mere child of 30. I really liked Scarborough! It’s got a spectacular beach with cliffs at all ends, it’s got the oldest cliff lift in the country, I had an ice cream, I walked in the shallows until I had my feet scratched to bits by sand and salt under my sandal straps and the water was an incredible colour. Not pictured: a cheese toastie from a beach kiosk, four sticks of traditional Scarborough rock and 27km walked mostly back & forth across the beach in under 48 hours. I’ve done a few train adventures in my time but this was one I was… dubious about. Southampton to Scarborough by CrossCountry (well, Southampton to York, then a quick hop by TransPennine Express to Scarborough), so basically the entire length of England. So much potential for it to all go wrong, to the point that I’d taken to saying I was “hopefully” going to Scarborough this weekend. The UK rail network doesn’t have much of a reputation for reliability and CrossCountry tends to send shorter trains than the route requires, so half the passengers end up standing, packed in shoulder to shoulder. After a slightly intimidating UK train adventure this weekend, I’m off to Iceland for some geothermal and volcanic adventures next week, so I thought I’d go back to this volcano where I inadvertently became part of a Channel 4 documentary three years ago (see link in bio and skip to 32:27!) I often casually mention the boathouse and boat club, so let’s talk about it! I have a niece. She's three months old and I have very little interest in or enthusiasm for the baby stage - there was no, "Oh, I've suddenly realised I need one of these!" moments when I first met her, just a "yeah, I was right, I'm not a baby person". I just don't get the appeal of babies. Maybe there's a gene I'm lacking. This week has been #volunteersweek Week and as a long-term Girlguiding volunteer (adult leader for nearly 19 years but I started as Brownie helper when I was 13), I’m seeing a lot of “Thank you for volunteering!” and “we love our volunteers!” posts from every level and I have mixed feelings about it. I’m supposed to be promoting my book, A Polar Night’s Tale, this week but that moment of bravery has passed - I can see that I’ve sold one copy but I’m pretty sure Lulu is hiding another two or three from me. Thank you everyone who’s been positive about it! MY BOOK IS OUT!!!

About Julie

I'm a blogger, adventurer, lover of hot water, amateur paddler and polar bear who wilts in hot weather. Time (by day, I'm a researcher) and funds keep me within Europe and I make regular trips up to the north, especially to Iceland. I like the occasional adventure across Europe by train and I'm starting to make use of my weekends for 48-hour adventures. This isn't my only creative outlet - I've written two travelogues (one on a winter adventure across the Arctic Circle and one on exploring volcanoes during a warm summer road trip around Iceland) plus a little book of Icelandic pools and I have a fourth book in progress right now.

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