Anja’s Island report – BMW GS Club International e.V.

What was actually going on in Iceland in August when 23 moped men, two moped girls and two partners from BMW GS Club International e. V. followed the call of Haukur Haraldsson to his home country with her favorite toy (platypus, moped or rubber cow)?

A description from the perspective of one of two traveling companions:

So my platypus knight and ruler of the 125 hp platypus (Dirty Harry) actually claims that he wants me to have a passenger on his neck for 16 days with a tent, two sleeping mats, two sleeping bags and all the other bells and whistles.
Did he actually think about where there should be room for his toothbrush when my high heels, my little black dress and the make-up case are stowed away?
And does he have any idea how many words he gets whispered intravenously into his helmet from behind through this chatterbox during this time?
One thing ahead: he survived and at least I had a lot of fun and the opportunity to look at the magnificent landscape of Iceland in peace ...

Already on the approach over Keflavik both the truck and the lined-up motorcycles could be seen in the parking lot of the airport. The rubber cows loaded onto the truck a week earlier and brought to Iceland by ship were received by their owners, the ears (uhh rearview mirror) were unfolded and suitcases, luggage rollers and possibly the passenger were loaded.

So that Dirty Harry's moped did not have to drive 4000 km in a wheelie over Iceland's gravel roads due to the uneven load (according to Harald's meticulous projection, the weight on the rear axle was exactly 274,37 kg), I have my camel cuddly toy on the handlebars to balance the weight attached to the vehicle. Then quickly slipped into the motorcycle armor, searched for a little space for my pope between the luggage mountains and Haukur started the adventure Iceland with 24 mopeds in tow.

Past hissing, sulfur-stinking holes in the earth, romantic lighthouses, imposing waterfalls, tiny villages, quirky rock formations, black beaches, huge lava fields, cool coastal roads on the Arctic Ocean, lakes, fjords with whales and seals, geysers, sulfur fields and through them We were able to get to know Iceland's sand, stone and lava desert when the weather was fine. We climbed in the continental crevice between the continents, toured through this soft moss, on which one could chill so wonderfully, to bathe in bubbling warm springs, to climb volcanoes, to admire Iceland's glaciers inside and out and to be big Driving NATO cars on 700-meter-thick glacier ice.

We met at least half of Iceland's 723.549 sheep and we got to know the hospitable members of the GS Club in Iceland. They took a lot of time for us, accompanied us and showed us their great country, sang their beautiful songs for us and explained their world, their life, their love for Iceland to us in many unique conversations. Thanks for that!

Thank you for the many new acquaintances that we were able to make. Somehow I got the impression that Haukur either knows all Icelanders, is related to them, or at least knows someone who knows someone, who knows who ...

Thanks especially to Addi and his wife, who led us through the landscape around the volcano Hekla for a whole day. This is the most beautiful area of Iceland for me and Harald had to suffer because I was full of enthusiasm all day (i.e. every single one of the 16 days) while he concentrated on mastering the difficult terrain. Because he didn't stop at the thousand places that I wanted to take a closer look at, I took photos from the motorcycle and described the great landscape to him in detail. Now he has a hearing loss, but he can see in the pictures what he could have seen if he had not been a platypus pilot.

We ate hot dogs, burgers with fries with these incredibly delicious dips, there was lobster and fish soup, freshly caught scallops, rotten shark, fish & chips and a gigantic fish buffet, cream cakes, fish we caught ourselves, bagged food on the campsite and this cool skyr cake, Of which I must have devoured half all by myself.

Presumably, my abundant diet and the associated weight gain was the reason why the rear tire of Dirty Harry's rubber cow lost its profile at a rapid pace and had to be exchanged for a new one. While I suffered from the moaning of the moped men, who were desperately hunting for beer every day, my nightly hunt for the Northern Lights was very successful. So I am now the proud owner of some polar lights I shot myself.

In addition to the view of the Northern Lights, the canon of male sleeping noises could be listened to at night while walking through our tent city at the campsite. And then I wonder why the Dirty Harrys of this world can mess up an entire household in five minutes, plunge a kitchen into a battlefield, and an office into chaos, while constantly and unsolicitedly scrubbing their sacred mobile bases Rank and file?

In any case, the body cleaning instructions in Iceland's swimming pools were very helpful. I was looked at somewhat strangely by the Icelanders when I photographed one of the washing instructions in the shower of an Icelandic bathing establishment.

But maybe it will help that Dirty Harry knows all the important parts of body cleaning in the future and is not quite as "dirty" anymore. The washing instructions will be hung up in the bathroom. To train the body cleaning rituals, the moped brothers had to go to water holes and bathing establishments throughout the trip.

I eagerly listened to the lectures by the male motorcycle knights on the topic of how women could best master water crossings on a moped, and I comfortably hopped through the wet fords with my waders. I am a bit damaging that some of them got their feet wet while the girls mastered the obstacle without any problems. (Biggi and Petra you did it cool!)

On this occasion, Harald's “songs” to the melody “on the North Sea coast”, which he unceremoniously rewrote a bit on Iceland and croaked into my helmet: “on the Iceland coast - very flat in the water, mopeds and bikers swim between Fishing in the stream ...

And then, in contrast to these performances by Harald, there were the two special moments that still send shivers down my spine today, when Haukur sang for us with his magnificent voice in two mystical places with brilliant acoustics (rock and glacier cave). .

Oh, and then there are Iceland's petrol stations: in Central Europe's average petrol stations, there are Haribo strawberries, cigarettes, the South German, lottery tickets, flowers, ice cream, cuddly toys, a little bit of fuel for cars and the like, and a lot of fuel for men in the form of beer, wine and similar booze, while there is only one thing in Iceland: platypus fuel and a lot of loneliness.

And then, in contrast to these performances by Harald, there were the two special moments that still send a shiver down my spine, as Haukur with his grandiose voice in two mystical places with brilliant acoustics (rock and glacier cave) for us sang.

That was my insight into 16 days Iceland motorcycle vacation. He makes no claim to completeness or objectivity.
Thanks to my platypus knight Harald, thanks to the platypus that only lost four screws on the tour and (thanks to many cable ties) brought us safely to our destination. Thanks to Peter, who ordered me an Iceland shirt at the last minute and thanks to Haukur, without whom this trip would never have taken place.