Joe Woodcock
The GoIceland team was curious about our first ever winner of the Great Auk competition. We sent him a few questions which he promptly answered.
For how long had you planned your trip to Iceland and who where on the trip with you?
Me and my dad had this trip (kind of) planned for 9 months
Tell us the route you chose to drive and how did you come down to exacly that trip?
Our trip was spread over 7 days, beginning with a drive out of Reykjavik, hitting the sights of the Golden Circle. The following day, we drove the dusty path of the F36 which sent us north. After having a whale of a time in Husavik, we rode the Diamond Circle, eventually swinging round to Myvatn Lake and its surrounding geothermal magic. The rocky F578 took us back down south, past the Langojokull glacier and into Thingvellir. Finishing with one evening back in Reykjavik for some jazz!
We sort of made the trip up as we went along – but buying a map in Reykjavik helped sort us out with some nuts off-road routes.
Why Iceland?
Because it was an enigma of a place in our mind’s eye – the scenery, we were told, like no other in the world…. it was out of intrigue!
It‘s obvious you did some thinking behind many of your shots, did the ideas come up spontaneously or did you discuss the shots, brainstorming perhaps?
Most of them were spontaneous, with the scenery that presented itself … but a few I had wanted to do, like hanging from a bridge! But in fact, the shot that Go Iceland chose was only taken because I gotten out of the car to photograph some sheep which ran away, and decided on that instead.
When you initally was handed over the Great Auk, what was your response?
That’s a weird looking penguin.
Tell us about the best part of the trip.
Kicking back with some zombies on Langojokull
What parts of Iceland did you HAVE to see?
7 days was by no means long enough to warrant an answer of such authority… but from what we experienced, you must ride some of those dust trails, off of the tarmac. Give them a lot of time! Also, Reykjavik is such a fresh and wonderful city – so reminiscent of San Francisco; it smells as if the air has been washed with soapy water, and the corrugated iron houses so haphazardly slapped with colour stand out against the blue background of the sea and sky. Taste the coffee at Reykjavik Roasters, get some live music and a hot dog from the famous quick hot dog stand.
Was there anything that you were suprised to discover here?
The phallological museum in Reykjavik.
If you could do the trip all over again, what would you do differently?
I would have gone for longer – 7 days is just too short to really live through Iceland.
What advise do you have for people coming here to drive around Iceland?
Do not run out of fuel! Buy a jerry can out there. Be sure to get off of the tarmac, but pay respect to those slippery, powerful grounds. Camp – it’s so cheap, and you get some killer views out of your tent in the morning. Don’t drink Brennivin! Drive slow – so you can take in the scenery as deeply and vividly as possible. If you’re tired, swim in some glacial melt water! Don’t do any night driving unless completely necessary – you never know what scenes are obscured by the dark. Always have your lights on, even during the day, otherwise locals will aggressively flash you. Shop at Bonus. Be sure you can jump start a car, and change a wheel.
Breathe in that Icelandic air deeply and enjoy it so much!
Thank you Joe! 🙂
Joe Woodcock and his father.