FREEZE THE DAY

Amid volcanoes and glacial lagoons, a new self-drive route invites travellers to embrace Iceland’s wild unpredictability Maryann Wright enjoys an incredible, elemental experience

- Maryann Wright

Iceland is a country of extremes. It's an otherworldly place bordering on the supernatural where the threat of deadly volcanic eruption looms over all life as the country grows two centimetres apart every year. Yet Icelandic people are among the most chill I’ve encountered anywhere – and that’s coming from an Australian.

Their life mottos vary between “tomorrow we could die, so today we live”, “no stress” and “everything will work out”. Locals learn that even the best-laid plans could get remade by Mother Nature – any combination of ice, wind and fire wreaks havoc on roads, houses and air travel regularly – so they fully embrace the uncertainty of life and impressively live in the present.

Two of Iceland’s biggest volcanoes, Katla and Hekla, are due to erupt any day – in fact Katla is 20 years overdue. Icelandic hotelier Sveinn Jensson has been waiting for the Katla eruption since he was a boy: “Our job is to live in harmony and peace with volcanoes. We have lived with and survived them so far.”

For visitors to Iceland, these lessons from the locals come quickest off the beaten track beyond Iceland’s Ring Road. In pursuit of ditching the usual tourist spots to get respectfully close to this spectacular volcanic land, I set off on The Volcanic Way, a new 700km self-drive route along the south of Iceland. Starting in Keflavik and driving as far as Hali and back – roughly 12 hours of driving across five days – this route unlocks a trifecta of the country’s dramatic landscape, kooky culture and warm local community.