Author: keith

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Accommodation Review – Hótel Vík Apartments

Our second apartment accommodation was a lot nicer than the first, less prison camp, more Scandy terrace. Vík is an interesting coastal town – comprising the old town (not very big, just a few roads), and the rest of town which is actually a mixture of coastal industry along the shoreline then Hotel Vík and its apartments, a camp site, and a small shopping centre. Behind all of this is the famous church on the hill which makes Vík a popular tourist stop.

The apartment itself was well appointed and spacious – just a little too warm, with unfathomable heating controls that said 23.4 degrees Celsius irrespective of the selected temperature.

The hotel itself, set about 200m from the apartments, seemed nice – we assumed lots of rooms judging by the coaches that kept arriving. Mostly modern decoration, with hints of odd – like the collection of emergency service figurines.

Odd wasn’t only in the main hotel building. We had a washing machine (and tumble dryer). Fortunately exactly the same one we have at home, as the program labels around the control dial were all in (what we presumed to be) Icelandic. I’m sure that ‘Supersnabb’ isn’t a program we have at home, and that ‘Urpumpning’ sounds anything but clean.

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Super Jeep – what is it?

A Super Jeep is basically a customised vehicle designed for use in snow in Iceland. Icelandic petrol heads love a variety of vehicles, and our guide talked about the different vehicles he would like to own…the problem being the cost. The one we travelled in was 25 million Icelandic Krona – that’s £150,000 – but can cost up to £250,000 for a six-wheeler, or even more depending on the level of customisation.

So, what is it? This one is based on a Mercedes Sprinter panel van with a 2 litre engine. The van is shipped or bought out of the country, fitted with large fixed side windows, the interior equipped with 14 seats (plus the driver), and a step and entrance way fitted to the passenger side. The van is then shipped to Iceland for the important work….

Mechanically the engine isn’t changed, but a triple ratio gearbox is fitted, controlled by 3 computers to interface with the van’s existing automatic shifter. Even then, it still needs various buttons and switches pressed to move between the different ratios, which needs to be done whilst stationary. The vehicle is lifted on much larger rims and tyres – which cost more than 1 million Icelandic Krone alone, and last just 12 months as they do something like 25,000 km each year. However they don’t wear like normal tyres – the sidewalls fail due to constant pressure changing…

Also fitted to the wheels are the remote inflation devices, which use a compressor to inflate and deflate each tyre using a smartphone. The driver can change pressure with a simple press of a button and monitor pressure in each tyre.

The final significant change is the axles and transmission which comes from Ford. Longer axles fitted at a steeper angle mean the vehicle can’t have air suspension, but with air pressure in the tyres being able to be reduced to just 1.5 psi for snow (we ran 9 psi off-road and 25 psi on road) the ride is pliant and soft.

These vehicles are really meant to be used on snow, but of course river crossings are made easier with a snorkel which is around 3m off the ground.

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On the plane

Not too difficult getting through the airport – 90 minutes from arriving to being airside.

No plane photo as there were insufficient windows, but as we got to the plane the pilot was looking at volcano pictures on his phone!! We caught him doing it…

However, once on the plane there are always things to entertain oneself with.

A final view of Manchester from the air, before heading out over the Atlantic for much of the flight.

And we made it! So did the bags…..