My Big Adventure, Part 3: Monday

A lot of the hot water from the springs is pumped along a big pipeline to Reykjavík, but the excess (along with the steam) is used to generate electricity for the capital.

From the viewpoint, we also got to see some of the volcanic landscape:

We walked back to the coach, and moved on to Þingvellavatn, the lake which is fed by the Öxará river:

Next to the lake is Þingvellir, or assembly plains. This is where the first parliament (the Alþing) was established, and it continued to be held here for centuries. The area is now a national park:

The area is in the rift between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are gradually moving apart. This means that Iceland is growing wider by approximately 1cm every year. There are lots of places where you can see different layers of rocks:

We walked down to the area where the Alþing used to be held. The Law Rock is marked by a flag pole - this is where the Law Speaker led the parliament. Along the way, there were some rock formations that looked like faces watching the visitors - maybe they were Icelandic trolls?!

We went a bit further round the lake, to a river with a small waterfall:

Further along the shore is an area that is used as a wishing well:

Our next stop was at a cave in the middle of nowhere which was inhabited until at least the 1920s. Apparently the last person born in the cave now lives in Reykjavík:

<>
On the way to our next destination, we saw some Icelandic horses, which are often referred to as Viking horses. This is because Viking settlers brought horses with them, and as far as anyone knows, no other types have been brought to Iceland. This means that these very friendly horses are pretty much the same as those around over 1000 years ago:

Our next stop was at Gullfoss (Golden Falls). This waterfall is actually in two parts, the lower part has a bigger drop than the upper part:

The falls get their name from the spray that floats through the air and catches the light on sunny days:

In the distance, it was possible to see glaciers on the mountainous volcanoes:

We had lunch in the cafe at Gullfoss, where I had some very nice mushroom soup with fresh bread rolls. I also bought a tuna sandwich for later. There was a big gift shop as well, so I had a look round, and bought myself a book of Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales.

After everyone had eaten their lunch, had a look at the falls, and been to the visitor centre which explains about the natural history of the area, we set off for one of the most famous natural sights in Iceland, Geysir:

Geysir (the name, meaning gusher, has been adopted into the English language as geyser) is one of several hot springs which are all close together. Geysir now erupts two or three times a day, but there is a more active geyser, Strokkur (meaning churn), which erupts every 5 to 10 minutes:

There are several others as well, although they don't erupt - they tend to just bubble in pools of milky-blue water and let off wisps of steam. It makes the whole place looks quite eerie:

Each geyser has it's own little name plaque, and they are all roped off to stop visitors getting too close, just in case they do explode:

Again, there is also a gift shop and a visitor centre nearby.

We continued our tour, stopping at another, smaller, waterfall, which had a salmon ladder to the side of it:

Next was a visit to Skálholt, which used to be the seat of the bishops of southern Iceland. There has been a succession of churches on the site, the most recent being built in the 1960s. The one before this was destroyed in an earthquake. The Bishop of Iceland is now based in Reykjavík:

They are now excavating the ruins of the older churches, in a project that was started in 2002 and is due to end in 2007:

After visiting Skáholt, we visited a nearby volcano:

Although the volcanoes rise out of the ground, the surrounding areas are very flat:

Our final stop was at a town known as the Greenhouse village. This is because they use the geothermal energy of the nearby springs to heat greenhouses, enabling them to grow flowers for the domestic market, fruit and vegetables (such as cucumbers and tomatoes). They even grow bananas!

There is a down side to living in these areas - we were shown a spot where recently a new spring had appeared suddenly, which meant that the house that stood there had to be demolished.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day, with a very knowledgeable guide who told us about all sorts of things: the history of Iceland, the language, the naming system (they don't have surnames as such, they use a patronymic system - this can get very confusing! The Icelandic phonebook lists people by their first names, and also gives occupations to help you work out if you're phoning the right person), the natural history, and all sorts of other information.

My Big Adventure, Part III: Monday