Tuesday: The sun is finally peeking out from the storm clouds, sad though that is :( The weather towards Reykjavik is apparently lovely, and we're off! Flugfelag Island's Fokker F50 launches into the sky, I am partially doped of course.
But it was a relatively smooth jaunt, with some lovely views.
These rivers meander quite wildly.
After a quick check-in, and a quick run to town to get some wool products for a couple of people, it was off on a bus to make 3 stops on the so called 'Golden Circle' - it is the most popular tour circuit in the country.
The problem is there's like an hour to drive between each one. First stop is a geothermal area known as GEYSIR, which translates in English quite readily.
Apart from the boiling pots and the eggy smell, there's only one pot that has a regular geyser, every 4 to 7 mins.
Inside is the entrance to hell: Yes, it's J.Lo's bosom! Endless and evil.
At times it looks like the place is on fire.
It looks so odd seeing steam rising up from all over the place. Where they cannot find it on the surface, drill 200m and it's boiling water quite often, or super heated steam.
One geyser blast just went off.
And another!
Mud boils.
The rivers are full of hot water too.
So at the only regular geyser here I watch and wait near the hot pot. It gurgles and burps..
And here it comes!
Higher!
And then it's all over. They should rename GEYSIR as SEX.
Iceland does a great job of selling it's chilly climate, the fire and ice thing certainly has a lot of appeal. I am just amazed a country of 330,000 has done so much!
In the distance is a very cool 22Km wide glacier which I wish I could get closer too! 22Km wide! Not long, wide!
Next is Gulfoss, Foss being water fall like the English 'Force' used for the same thing.
It's a two level water fall with rainbows in the sunshine...
The big one drops into this giant fissure.
And the upper one just looks pretty.
Here's that glacier again, it goes way wider than my pic.
The final thing on the circle drive is another giant fissure, the same one really that's up in Akureyri, the tectonic split of Europe and America.
You can walk down into it like this mom and her daughter from Finland (who thought Iceland was warm.)
Apart from sightseeing I went back int town for supper, which was scandinavian open top sandwiches topped with mountains of fresh shrimp and I bought some cheese and onion crisps (because they are thin on the ground in Canada.) No northern lights by bedtime, but gotta be up in the morning!
One more post and the blog ends. Tomorrow I am in a jeep driving round the Reykjanes peninsula -volcanoes and caves! They will drop me at the airport when it's all over :(
One more fun fact: Iceland has a phallusarium. Yes a museum full of wieners. There are two human ones - donated before the people were dead (!), and no I did not go!
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