Page 3 of 4
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:08 am
by benp
Looks excellent
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 7:25 am
by ken
Their choice of vehicle for this trip
Defender Nuff said
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:04 am
by ruggedpeak
ken wrote:Their choice of vehicle for this trip
Defender Nuff said
D3 would have done virtually everything we did on this trip. The only possible exception was a couple of river crossings, one had massive rocks underwater and the other was not only deep but pushing the Defender down river as the current was so strong. That said a decent RAI and driver and a D3 would have probably got through.
Using the Defender had several advantages:
1 we could fly out rather than take a week to get to Iceland and a week to get back!
2 the roads are punishing, and I'd rather it was someone else's car getting the pounding
3 being so high up with huge clearance and a snorkel, river crossings were much less of an issue - had I been driving my D3 I'd have been a lot more circumspect about some of the crossings simply due to lack of clearance and overall height for the deep ones.
It was good to go 'old skool' with a defender. Saw a small number of D3's on the trails, plenty of D4's in town. FFRR's are also very popular over here, but as urban vehicles. It appears anything on coils can be lifted, but I guess air susp on D3's is a bit tricky.
As we drove into Reykjavik yesterday a D4 overtook us and it was funny to look down on them from our monster Defender
I have to say walking out to the Isak Defender each day did give rise to a smile
Very popular in car parks, and quite a few people in rental Suzuki's looking a little envious
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:18 am
by Kingmav66
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:34 am
by DSL
We went in July 2003 and the river levels were lower than normal as there had been less snow in the winter. To hedge that bet a better time would be late Sept/early Oct s'pose to make sure it's within the comfort zone of the D3's RAI. If I'd need to change the RAI for a Safari snorkel it would put the costs well into the "beyond reach" level.
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:49 am
by ruggedpeak
I will detail costs shortly - Isak offer a range of options and I'm meeting the boss of Isak, Jón, this afternoon as he's a Landy fan
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:18 pm
by ruggedpeak
Del, yes later in the season will be better. I reckon a D3 should be fine in rivers, even the deep ones, it just requires some wading and planning of routes through the river. The Lexus we helped could probably have got through the river they stopped at, but as we were hours from civilisation, I don't think they were hardcore off roaders plus had a young child, so I wasn't going to tell them to give it a go!
Also depends on weather and time of day. We got text from Jón due a big rainstorm passing over Iceland on one night to tell us to watch out due to rivers being higher. Glacial rivers (the muddy ones) get higher during the day as temps rise and melt ice. Glacial rivers are lowest in morning.
Having the huge Defender took away most of the worry about river crossings
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:21 pm
by DSL
Already started working on SWMBO for DSL's Big 2013 Road Trip. Just need the "Oh, go on then".
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:59 am
by ruggedpeak
No worries Gary: cost as follows
7day hire of Arctic Defender plus pre-programmed GPS, route book, map, and 6 nights pre-booked accommodation for 2 adults & 2 kids (2 nights in modern mountain hut in sleeping bags, rest in guesthouses with breakfast, all good quality) plus coolbox with crockery etc £3,053.00
Fuel for week £292
Flights (3 adults & 1 child due to age) via Icelandair in July (not cheapest but most convenient) £1077
For say 2 adults, cost of the car plus fuel would be similar, but flights less. Extras were food, and staying in Reykjavik for a day either side.
Please note we opted for the "full monte" 7 Day U Drive Package.
Isak and sister company Isafold Travel offer 3 Day U Drive trips, and also just normal car hire of the Isaks, or guide led tours. More info here
http://www.isafoldtravel.is/isak-self-drive/tours/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
If you or anyone else is genuinely interested in a trip with Isak/Isafold, please PM me as JB at Isak is a keen LR fan and may have some flexibility on pricing
Askja crater (50 sqkm lake in background) Viti hot pool in foreground
Cool German reg!
D2 'Lund Rover'
Playing in snow
Geysir
Blue Lagoon - thermal pool
Isak workshop
Guess what's on my Xmas list - Isak 130
Re: Greetings from Iceland
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:07 pm
by clement
How cool does that all look, really nice.