Ice Ice baby

Tell people you're going camping in Iceland and the typical response is likely to be: "Why?" After they see the photos, however, it probably won't be long before this mysterious little island in the North Atlantic ocean is placed near the top of their travel to-do list.

Iceland is, for reasons its name renders obvious (even more so when you see its location just below the Arctic Circle), a fairly grim place during winter and very sparsely populated.

During June, it was reasonably pleasant at around 15degC but, true to form, there was plenty of ice on display, much of it in the form of huge glaciers or floating around in large, blue-ish chunks in a series of magnificent glacial lagoons on the southeastern coast.

Nothing tells of luxury like a bottle of Moet chilling in what can only be described as nature's champagne bucket.

And with tents pitched on the shore of the lagoon, seals frolicking in the freezing water, icebergs calving and creaking, a full glass of whisky and the sun hovering above the horizon at about 11.30pm, one moment summed up exactly why humans go camping.

But Iceland isn't all about ice.

It's also about rugged peaks jutting out of the earth, huge waterfalls, steaming geysers, geothermally heated streams, alien volcanic landscapes, well-coiffed native horses, culturally insensitive horned Viking helmets and whale-watching opportunities on the coast (we were told whales were spotted on 99% of the trips. We were in the 1% minority).

It's a very diverse place and, in a way, it could easily be classified as the New Zealand of the north - only with much bigger 4WDs, more crazy Vikings (like musicians Bjork and Sigur Ros, who the locals all revere) and the ability to play golf at midnight.

Having visited several European cities in the months before this trip, many of which tend to trade on their cultural grandeur, we found it a refreshing change to be impressed by natural surroundings.

And it was, to an extent, an indication of how visitors to our own country might feel.

Reykjavik, the nigh-on unspellable capital city that's home to about 100,000, is surprisingly trendy and remarkably expensive.

It used to be common for New Yorkers - when their dollars were actually worth something - to jump on a plane and go clubbing there for the weekend and then recover in the supposedly restorative waters of the Blue Lagoon near the airport, a pool that's heated by a geothermal electricity station.

There are a range of great shops, restaurants and bars (it's always slightly alarming seeing drunks in broad daylight, but it never gets dark in summer, so, not surprisingly, given the locals' penchant for booze, it's quite common), and everyone speaks perfect English.

Outside the capital, however, the biggest town has only 10,000 inhabitants.

Iceland is small (small enough to hire a rental car and drive around most of it in six days, anyway).

But it's also perfectly - and remarkably - formed.

Ben Fahy is a former ODT journalist now based in London.