Saturday 8^th January, 2017.

THERE’S THE TOURIST BUS!
Iceland abounds with natural wonders. It sits at the meeting point of the North American and Eurasian continental plates. The plates are slowly moving apart, which means that the country is slowly, by just a few centimetres per year, getting wider. The rift runs diagonally from the southeast corner of the country to the northwest and makes Iceland a hotbed of weird geological activity. Geysers shoot water over 70 feet in the air, geothermal hot springs power cities and create heated soaking pools, earthquakes happen every day, and volcanoes explode and form underground caves and black sand beaches.

But I really don’t know how somebody lives in this area all year round? Cold, colder turning to icy!!!

I am hearing comments from home about how hot it is there and each day for us here, it is getting colder. That was today. It was so hard leaving our warm farmhouse to venture out into the world of icy weather to go sightseeing….I am sure there must be a crazy gene in my body to be doing this. I am beginning to think so – most definitely! Suffering from menopause at home and not taking it very well, believe me, I am welcoming those hot flushes here! Sooooo…happy to have them! Bu,  leaving our warm lodgings and staggering out to the car, we ventured onward to the first site-so bear with me today as this blog is a description of where we went….because it was all so fantastic.

Thingvellir:  This is the site of the first parliament in Iceland.
Now, when Marc said we would see this, I thought, ok, warm buildings, some written history, and the much-needed toilet. Wrong! It’s a rift in the ground where the continental plates are separating and getting further apart. If you stood in the middle of the rift, you could consider you had a foot on North America and on one Europe! Of course, we did!

History wise, Parliamentary meetings were held in the Thingvellir area starting in 930 A.D, during the time of the Vikings, with the last meeting held in 1798. Basically, it is where the original 39 chieftains met (before 1262) to assemble, make laws and deal out justice. We saw evidence of these original tent sites and tent markets (how can they be in tents in this weather!!!!!!). We observed areas where punishment was meted out, including the water area where women were tied in a sack and drowned – that was their punishment. Men were beheaded! (The only consolation if you were to drown is that you would freeze first…not that that is much of a consolation.) But this stony rift is huge! (We walked 1.35kms along the rift to the toilet! Then you had to pay 2.50 AUD to pee – I mean what else do you do when you are cold…you pee!). So, I had lots of history and natural phenomena, but no warm buildings, just rough ground walkways. But it was impressive, even if it was cold (Did I mention we were cold). But, OH MY, Tourist buses aplenty! We walked to the top and there were heaps!

Geysir: A highly active Geysir Hot Spring Area with boiling mud pits, exploding geysers which spouts water 30 – 60 metres into the air every few minutes!

Did you know that all the world’s spouting hot springs are named after Geysir in Iceland – in all languages other than Icelandic? Marc told me this and I did not realise that this is where the rest of the world stole the name from!  Yes, we espied steam coming out from holes everywhere! Explosions of steam filtering into the air, and of course being the tourist, along with everyone else we waiting for the eruption into the air.

Waiting, waiting, waiting, cameras poised, slowly freezing fingers on shutters, frozen fingers on mobile phones waiting (by the way I have learnt that when it is below 4 degrees my phone turns off…the battery cannot work. I have learnt I have to cuddle it to keep it warm!) …. numerous crowds of people bunched together, around the ground that clearly had warning signs ‘NO ENTER 100 DEGREES C’ –  more waiting ….anticipating the moment, and…and…here it comes. YES, Very impressive! Cameras snapping photos as it blows into the air, not once but twice, emitting steam and sulphur into the atmosphere.

Looking at our camera, we congratulate ourselves on some good photos, (you had to simply wait and not sure where it was going to erupt so you ‘got’ what you ‘got’.) However, both of us had to laugh as the first shot of steam looked like a phallic symbol…. (maybe we had too much of the penis museum…..see what you think.) And yes, more tourist buses! Obviously the lunch time rush as there were many buses. It was try and pick the native Icelander!

By this time, both of our hands have almost frozen solid from holding cameras and walking around the area…the air was so cold and so icy we needed to get back into the car and go. Did I mention at all we were cold…. mmmm icy now? Warmth here we come!

Gullfoss: translated means “Golden Falls”. It is one of Iceland’s most beautiful and without a doubt Iceland’s most popular waterfall. It is an iconic waterfall offering a spectacular view of the forces and beauty of untouched nature which is fed by Iceland´s second biggest glacier, the Langjökull. You stand there and watch the water plummet down 32 metres in two stages into a rugged narrow canyon 70 metres deep and 2.5 kilometres long which walls reach up to 70 metres in height. From the car park, there’s a footpath leading to a viewing platform where you can experience the waterfall in all its glory…and exciting for me, a part of  the waterfall was frozen in ice waves!

And all I could say when I walked to the platform was ‘wow..wow….wow…wow”

I simply cannot describe this beautiful natural beauty! It is too hard for words. Hopefully our photos will do it justice, but I doubt that too! To stand at Gullfoss and wallow in the beauty and the wonder of nature is an amazing experience. Even as cold as we were! I really wanted to see a frozen waterfall and it was breathtaking to see this beautiful natural wonder!  Indescribable! I am sure I am going to have to devote several pages in our photo books when we get home to describe this beautiful breathtaking scene.

But to view it, was worth all of it- the icy frozen fingers, the wet faces and hair from the sleety snow that fell when we were walking around and the overall freezing conditions which made every  joint in your hands and knees ache!  And yes…. hundreds of tourists and many, many, many tourist buses….! We have concluded after today that if you don’t know where the actual site is, just look for all the parked buses! And this is the middle of Winter!  I would really hate to be here in spring summer!

And then back to the Secret Lagoon to melt in the hot springs. What better way to finish our day of sightseeing relaxing once more in the pool’s warm water? (Interestingly, after my initial discomfort the day before, this time, the nudity did not worry me as all females walked around naked to shower, wash and change into swimwear, or back into clothes.) It was worth it just to soak once more in this beautiful natural oasis to wash away the coldness of the day!

And the other good part, the buses haven’t found the Secret Lagoon yet, or at least not in any numbers. SHHHH – don’t tell them! To escape from the buzzard of buses was extremely nice to find a place and not by looking for the tourist bus.

We found it first!

PS: Did I mention it was cold…freezing and icy all day??????