Malcolm is travelling in Iceland in an RV and notes some differences to our scene — not the least of which is the pronunciation of place names.
This little missive comes to you from Iceland. You read that correctly — the Scandinavian island country to the north and east of Britain.
What does this have to do with Caravan World, a recreational vehicle (RV) magazine?
RV travel, Iceland-style
Given I’m travelling around in a rental motorhome, I wanted to check out the local RV scene as I move.
Apart from servicing and repairs, there is no local RV manufacturing business. Most caravans and motorhomes here come from Europe in general and Germany in particular. There are none from Britain or North America. The caravans seem privately owned, but a substantial and growing motorhome rental market exists.
Everything from the 7.4m (24ft 3in) motorhome we are getting around in, to the diminutive Fiat Doblo van. In case you haven’t seen one, they are smaller than a Toyota HiAce van and just large enough to contain a bed and not much else, including any kitchen facilities. I mention that fact because it’s raining here now, and it’s good to be in something you can move around.
Campervans and motorhomes of all shapes and sizes
Camping rules and realities in Iceland
Caravan parks are an interesting study. There’s no freedom camping here, it’s verboten (forbidden)! All RV travellers must stay on a campsite, and those we have been using have been a very mixed bag. The one at Reykjavik (the capital of Iceland), where we stayed on our first night, was great, but the rest have been of a variable quality.
The biggest issue seems to be that the facilities (toilets, showers and camp kitchens) don’t match the number of campers — which is particularly a problem for the little van travellers. In part, that’s caused by two things. The first is that tourism in Iceland has escalated over the past few years and the second is that RV travel here is very seasonal. It’s summertime here at the moment, complete with almost 24 hours of daylight. Although, the daytime temperatures have been like a warm winter day in Sydney. Wintertime here in Iceland is a very different matter and is not attractive to tourists at all. Indeed, many places shut down.
Not all camping sites will take bookings ahead, and not all have booked sites. If in a prime position, once parked up, you don’t move. That’s particularly the case if power is required because some of the power boxes I’ve seen have been in odd positions. Our rental motorhome doesn’t have a freshwater or a grey water hose. There are plenty of free dump points, and draining the grey water is a matter of driving over the drain and opening the grey tank valve. There’s usually a fresh water supply complete with a hose nearby.
Language, maps and motorhome features
One little challenge here is place names and map reading. Try looking up Kirkjubæjarklaustur or Eyjafjallajökull (the Iceland volcano that erupted in 2010 and caused chaos for European and North American plane flights), and you’ll understand the problem. Fortunately, Google Maps is very good with predictive text.
Our motorhome is Sunlight T66, a German brand and part of the worldwide (except Australia) Erwin Hymer Group. Built on a Fiat Ducato MultiJet 140, it’s a typical European design with a rear bed (either a large double or two singles), a split bathroom, an L-shaped kitchen and a front dinette incorporating the swivelled front seats. It’s very German in build and design, that is, very well put together with storage built into all kinds of imaginative places. It has a feature that many Australian motorhomes lack: a large, full-width rear storage area measuring 1.1m x 0.95m (3ft 6in x 3ft 1in). Because of the aforementioned camping grounds, it’s great to be travelling in a fully self-contained motorhome.
Large vistas make a motorhome look small
Iceland: one for the outdoors lovers
We are enjoying our travels. In many ways, Iceland is like New Zealand on steroids. It is a spectacular country on many counts and for anyone who likes walking and hiking or just the great outdoors, Iceland is the place to be. It’s a small country packed with features like numerous high waterfalls, glaciers, hot springs, volcanoes (mostly dormant) and panoramic landscapes.
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