“This is my favourite spot in the whole of Reykjavik,” Jon told me as we looked out towards the lighthouse. Located just a few minutes’ drive from the centre of town, it felt almost as if you were right out in the countryside. “When I was young, you could come here and no one else was around. But now they’ve put in a path, and lots of people come here to walk their dogs,” he added.
Jon is a friend of a friend who has lived in Reykjavik most of his life, aside from a few years spent living in Canada during the early part of the 2000s. He returned to Reykjavik in the mid-2000s, just as Iceland’s massive economic boom was beginning to take off. A few years later, of course, the economic collapse painted a completely different picture. “A lot of people bought big cars during that period,” he said, “and now they have nothing to show for it.” I already knew about the collapse, but I hadn’t known about the wild economic boom that preceded it.
When I first mentioned I was planning to visit Iceland, my friend back in Sydney told me, “Oh, you simply must meet Jon.” She introduced us via email, and we made loose plans to catch up. Sadly, a bereavement in his immediate family meant we had to wait, and it wasn’t until my very final day in town that we finally locked in our plans.
Over the course of a couple of hours, Jon showed me around some of his favourite local haunts. Within minutes of leaving the centre of Reykjavik, I was genuinely surprised to find us exploring seemingly remote areas. “This feels just like parts of the Northern Territory,” I thought to myself as we took in the grand, sweeping landscapes.
“I understand quite a few films have been made in Iceland?” I asked him, mentioning that I’d heard Batman and James Bond movies featured scenes filmed locally.
“You see so much variation in the landscape in such a short space,” he told me, adding, “You would need to drive for hours and hours in parts of North America to see that kind of variation.”
Indeed, he was right. As we drove, we passed large lakes and mountains, spotted snow in the distance, and got a close-up look at boiling water and bubbling mud.
Jon also had some great stories to share from his life, including memories of an early performance on Icelandic television featuring a young, very pregnant Björk wearing skimpy clothing.
“I almost got the sack over that,” he told me with a grin.
It was a truly lovely way to spend my last few hours in Reykjavik. Jon is a genuinely top bloke, and I’m so grateful to my friend for the introduction and to Jon for taking the time out to catch up.
“It would have been nice to have caught up earlier for a beer,” Jon said, but sadly, due to the bereavement in his family, that wasn’t to be.
Hopefully next time, because I certainly think I’d like to return to Iceland at some stage. It’s a great country, packed with incredible sights and the friendliest people.
