Day 6

We have had a quiet day today going to the sea side! Not very inspiring. The south coast of Iceland near here has black sand and very poor access. In Britain we are used to the seaside having access from towns and villages, in Iceland the houses back onto the seawall making the sea difficult to get to and when you can get to it there is nothing to see. We thought we would go to see the continental divide instead.

This picture shows a path that goes along one side of the boundary between the tectonic plates .At the end of this path is the site of the first parliament that Iceland had in the 10th Century.

This is the view from the site of the parliament and shows the plain that seperates the two plates.










The water in the bottom of this plain is the most amazing shade of blue which the pictures do not do justice. This is the 'Drowning Pool' where until the 1700's women were drowned for not ironing the table cloths or having hubbies dinner on the table when he came back from a bit of pillaging.



Finally here is a close up view of an old lava field where you can clearly see the waves of molten rock before it solidified. All this geology so little time.

Day 5

Day 5
Today was a beautiful day so we went to the capital, Reykjavik. For a capital city it is suprisingly small but very pretty. We parked on the waterfront and walked up into the town stopping at the cathedral, a monumental concrete structure that was breathtaking in its design.












Inside we found an organ which was a masterpiece of pipework and all the pews could be turned round so you could either face the front and get the sermon, or face the back and listen to this amazing instrument.
















The whole city has a very modern look and feel to it. The view from the waterfront shows a very modern looking city which actually stands on a piece of land with the sea on three sides.











Whilst we were walking down a side street I bumped into an old friend, Noggin. We stopped and had a chat about all the pillaging that had been done and who we were going to invade next but coffee was beckoning so we had to leave him.
















On the sea front was this very artistic representation of a viking longboat. It is made from aluminium section and provides a striking addition to the shore line.

All the time we have been in Iceland we have been without a phone. Our tour operators provided a SIM for us which we could use for our holiday. Unfortunately you need an Icelandic Social Security number to activate it. This has finally been resolved today after many emails back and forth.

It also seems that the mist we had on Monday wasn't mist at all, it was ash!! The owners of the hotel have spent the whole day emptying, cleaning and refilling the pools at the Hotel. This has taken all the hot water so no showers until after 7.00pm when the volcano is due to have boiled another kettle full of water!
This was the pool on Sunday




And this was how it looked this morning as they were emptying it!

We are just off for dinner, Soused Herring I presume!

Day 4

Day 4
We have had a good day. The weather was good so we decided to go to Geysir to see the geyser. It was a spectacular drive over a very barren, wild landscape that took us to the strangest place we have seen so far. The water was boiling in pools; it looked like a jacuzzi but the water was actually boiling. The star attraction was the geyser. It blows about every four minutes so we didn't have long to wait but I still managed to miss the first one. Jean took over and got some good pictures of the pre blow bubble, the blow and the refilling of the hole when all the water had been spread around in the sky.




















The size of the spout can be seen as I stand a bit too close to the geyser as it goes of.

















The next picture shows the hole after the water has gone and the pool is emptying back into the chamber where it will boil again. The whole cycle takes about 5 mins. We were lucky to see a triple header before we left where the spout goes up 3 times in 30 seconds.










Who says Trolls don't exist? This one was guarding the geysers! I shall call him Olisonn! I am still looking for a female troll which I shall call Kittydottir!


















Next stop Gullfgoss, some of the most spectacular waterfalls I have ever seen. There are two steep falls of water that have carved out the most amazing canyon. You can get some idea of the scale if you look for the people who are standing on the rock that is sticking out into the waterfall. The sound was incredible and the power of the water was staggering.






This is the final fall as the water goes over the edge into the canyon the river then flows away up the picture. The water turns through 90 degrees. The book tells us that 3850 cubic feet per second of water flows over these falls!!!

Here is a better view of the water leaving the falls.

Day 3

Day 3
We went to find the volcano that shut down Europe but we couldn't see it. The clouds were very low and we couldn't see the top of the foothills. We went to Skogfoss and then to Skogar folk museum and water fall. That was impressive, 380 steps to the top! This is a view from the bottom where the water from the glacier pours over the edge of the cliff into the river at the bottom.



This is the view of the cliff from the top 300+ steps later.

After this we went to the folk museum which was fascinating, a coach party of Icelandic OAP's came in and had a singsong around an instrument that looked like Seasick Steve's Diddley Bow. There was a real mixture of stuff from skrimshaw to mobile phones.




There was a large exhibit of nautical stuff including this boat which was in service until the middle of the last century.


Outside were some original grass roofed huts. which were very basic inside. Finally there was a transport section that boasted some of the oldest vehicles in Iceland. Most of the exhibits were covered in plastic sheets to keep out the volcanic dust that was everywhere.


Update to Day 3
We have just been down to the bar (where else) and we looked at the pool and it has turned a murky grey. Yesterday it was a brilliant blue. The barman told us it was the ash that has been washed down with the rain. They will have to drain the pools and clean them and start again or the caretaker will have to put on his Speedo's and Hoover it out. So what we thought was sand when we were driving today must have been ash. It is very fine and makes your hair feel sticky, very strange. Looking forward to better weather tomorrow when we hope to see another waterfall and geysir.

The night time photo

Day 2

Day 2
We went for walk this morning and the experience was surreal. We walked up the main street past the 'Geothermal Park' and up the hill towards all the steam which was coming out of the ground like something you see in a film about New York. As we walked up the slope we could see the steam but were amazed by the noise. It sounded like a boiling kettle and was really odd. The signs said don't go too close to the edge as the crust is thin and you could fall in!!!! The temperature of some of these pools has been measured at 300+ degrees, pressure I presume.

We saw this amazing site, a boiling mud pool making a lovely slurping noise. We didn't know how easy it was to find these amazing sites and only a walk away. The town is full of greenhouses growing bananas! All this heat is managed and used to make plant growing a key industry. The weather is good and we have both got slightly sunburned.






The area is covered with tiny plants that cling to these slopes and flourish as tiny spots of colour. We pay a fortune for these from garden centres and to see them in their natural habitat is amazing.
The view back to where we were staying was also pretty good.














This was the landscape we were in the middle of. It was very strange. The sound is the wierdest bit. You don't expect the sound of boiling, it is so close to the surface.















Then we found the church. Why can't we design and build things like this? It was awe inspiring. The whole place was so peaceful and beautiful.


















We went back to the geothermal park where there was a pipe that sounded like a foundry and frightened Jean so much that she ran past it!!!

Day 1

This is the first post from Iceland where we are spending the May/June school holiday.

Day 1
We flew from Manchester to Reykjavik via Glasgow on Icelandair. The flight was good apart from the landing in Iceland which was very bumpy. We had hired a car and were given a Suzuki Swift 4x4 which is very nice but very underpowered on the hills. The drive from the airport to the Hotel Orc (very Lord of the Rings) at Hverageroi, I don't know how to pronounce it but it is very nice being on a flat piece of land with a very hilly, thermal, backdrop. We went to the local pizza palour and had a nice pizza and watched the Eurovision song contest where the Icelandic entry was greated with raptourous applause and then it came nearly last. So Sad!!
The locals seem friendly but we will see.
Tomorrow we will explore the local area.