Iceland Pt 1

Iceland is cold, windy and spectacular! We arrived without drama to Reykjavik and were impressed by the low-key nature of the place, with the corrugated iron buildings and bright colours. We've since headed off on the 'ring road' journey, starting with what they call the 'golden circle' east of Reykjavik. The last few days we've been based around Skogar, seeing spectacular waterfalls, a glacier and huge 'otherworldly' landscapes (oh, and Puffins!). These past few days have also coincided with particularly high winds: like blow-you-off-your-feet winds. It was so strong it moved the back of our car almost a metre on the gravel car park outside our guesthouse! Here are some pics.....

Corrugated iron house in Reykjavik. Some are very basic shacks, whilst others are high-Victorian....

Main church in Reykjavik (Hallgrimskirkja) with 'rainbow' street. Quite a fetching effect. There's another one (or two) in Iceland. This one benefits from perspective to make it look like it goes all the way to the church - but it doesn't go too far....

Main street in downtown Reykjavik...

Colourful houses in corrugated iron....

Bemused tourists having just arrived from London, in front a fishy-viking sculpture on the Waterfront....

Inside Harpa, the arts centre on the waterfront. It was only half built (funded by banks which went bankrupt) when the 2008 financial crisis hit hard. The government chose to finish it, even though they couldn't really afford to do so at the time....

More colourful corrugated iron....

Hallgrimskirkja with statue of Lerifr Erikson, a gift from the USA to the Icelandic people in 1932. He is likely the chap who discovered the Americas well before Columbus...

Inscription above door to Hallgrimskirkja - it would be very difficult to play Scabble in Icelandic - or to even start!.... 

This is the gap between the tectonic plates of Europe and America. It is also the site of the first parliament of Iceland, the Althing, which is the oldest continuous parliament in the world. It was first held here, from 930 until 1798, in open fields for a few weeks each year....

Another view - it is quite a large site and within the Thingvellir National Park (the 'Th' is actually an odd 'P' character that I don't know how to type - but it sounds like 'th')...

The tectonic plates create many fissures and many of those are filled with water, because Iceland's largest lake is adjacent. The lake is replenished underground from a huge glacier 60km away, which keeps the water around 2 to 3 degrees constant. The colours (blues and greens) are pretty spectacular and people (like Jenny and Gillian!) choose to snorkel in it!...

The word for a 'geyser' derives from the geyser called 'Geysir' in Iceland, which in turn derives from the Icelandic verb 'geysa' ('to go quickly forward'). Unfortunately for the old geyser Geysir, it refused to geysa from the 1930's. It occasionally returns, such as in 2010 for 2 days after an earthquake. When the geyser Geysir would geysa, it could be up to 80m high, the second highest in the world. But there are many other geysers around it and one of those (Strokkur) performs every 10 minutes or so to about 30m. The colours and bubbling is all very interesting....

A big hitter on the 'Golden Circle' route is Gulfoss, a massive waterfall east of Reykjavik. It was very impressive. There were intentions to harness it's power for hydro-electricity in the early 1900's and a local farm girl led a campaign to protect it. She is honoured in various displays nearby. Glad she did...

On the way to our second night we stopped at Kerid Crater and walked around it. The colours were great. It was created by natural subsidence, not an explosion or meteor or anything like that....

At one of our supermarket visits, the little shopping centre had a display that showed the tectonic plates split through the shopping centre! The glass floor shows the gap down through the rocks (with Gillian straddling two continents). A display explains the construction team were quite perturbed and they had to amend their design to remove some extra levels....

Typical Iceland view from nearby Floi Bird Reserve we visited close to the south coast: big mountains; flat land; red roofs and white walls....

Seljalandsfoss which allows you to walk behind. Very spectacular. Nearby is Gljufrabui, another falls set inside a canyon....

Inside one of many earthen-roofed farm buildings scattered around the countryside, many leading to caves where hay might be stored...

Panorama of landscape where we are currently staying near Skogar on the south coast. Our little guesthouse is set at the foot of the bigger mountain on the right....

All through Iceland are very pretty pony's - called 'horses' - with short legs, big manes and googly eyes. There are many colours and types. In 982 the Althing (see above) passed a law to prohibit importation of any more horses to prevent cross-breeding. So they have been pure bred for over 1,000 years!....

Our guesthouse for tonight and last night. There are big windows and the view is awesome - as is the wind!....

Views from guesthouse....

Nearby is Kvernufoss, another one you can walk behind. This waterfall was very spectacular, because of it's canyon-like setting, the height and the sound....

After Kvernufoss we headed around the corner and up the hill to Solheimajokull, a glacier where you can walk from the car park to the head of the glacier - which we did. However, it was more of an arctic stagger in the unbelievable wind, something Shackleton would have been proud of. Once there it was fantastic -not just the overall setting but also the little ice pieces on the lake shore (little 'diamonds' because the water is so pure) and the scale, once up close to the glacier.....

Finally today, we headed up to Dyrholaey (a headland near Vic) to see the views and Puffins! It was spectacular and we did see Puffins! The iconic black beaches of Iceland were on show, as well as the basalt sea stacks called Reynisdrangar to the east....