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.