28-Apr-2001 -- After reading an article about the degree confluence project in a Dutch weekly magazine, I immediately checked the opportunity of visiting confluences in the Netherlands. One of the few confluences we have in this country was located close to my parents
(52N 5E), but was already visited. After that I realised I was going to visit Iceland for a meeting and I decided to try to visit one of the conluences at the island. One of my collegues was so kind to offer me his GPS for this trip.
The first weekend I tried to visit the unofficial confluence
64°N/21°W together with an Irish collegue, but without success. I don't think it is impossible to go there, but you will need some time and some climbing gear. It was the only day off during that weekend and there was so much to see in this magnificent country that I decided to focus on the official confluence 64°N/20°W.
The second weekend, I hired a car and the first thing I wanted to do was visit the confluence. It's almost a 2 hour drive from Reykjavik, through the hills and partly along the coast. The main roads are in good condition. The weather was good, although there was a very strong, cold wind coming from the glacier. The scenery in Iceland is changing every kilometer and there is so much to see with hot water springs, waterfalls, glaciers, mountains and in some areas moon-like landscapes.
The confluence itself is quite easy to visit. It is located in a flat area surrounded by mountains to the west and Iceland's most famous volcano (last eruption January 2000) Hekla to the east. I parked my car just 400m from the confluence, jumped over a fence, walked along a small path through the field and there it was. There is a small farm to the south and a solitary mountain to the north. I took some pictures,left the spot and continued driving along the beautiful south coast towards Hofnafjordur in the east. On
my website you can find some more pictures from Iceland.