Geysers, waterfalls and the first parliament

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Just back from a fish dinner in downtown Reykjavik which we will depart in the morning, as we begin to circumnavigate Island (as they call Iceland here). Fish was good and the beer okay.

We had a lovely day, picking up our hire car this morning and battling reflexes to switch on windscreen wipers instead of indicators, turn onto the wrong side of roads and all the other automatic things when you haven´t driven on the wrong side for years. But we made it, and can only get better.

Reading the books, I was aware about Iceland being in the middle of shifting tectonic plates and hence very volcanic, but even a day here really emphasises that. For a start, most of the hot water is heated by geothermal power, so just turn on the hot tap to wash dirty socks or have a shower and a sulphur smell is everywhere. They warn you about avoiding silver jewellery in the shower, unless you want instant tarnish. Presume that applies to body piercings also!

We did three of the classic sites near Reykjavik today including Pingvellir, the site of the world´s first parliament about 1100 years ago, Geyser (pronounced gayseer not geezer) where there is a big spout of hot water and steam giving rise to the common name, and Gullfoss, the waterfall in Europe that carries the most water. It was all good, and even better was free! None of that annoying custom of putting up a fence and a gateway and extracting large amounts of money from those who want to see a country´s natural wonders. Wonderful scenery along the way to and from these places also, although the roads are often very narrow.

Currently, we are a bit confused. Greenland was mainly ice, but Iceland is so green! Apparently you blame the super salesman Eric the Red for naming Greenland to try and con more settlers to head in that direction, and Iceland does have some massive icecaps in its centre, but at this time of year it is lovely -- if very expensive. We were expecting that, but it doesn´t bear converting prices to Oz dollars. Even petrol is about $2.50 per litre, but our little Suzuki Swift is hardly a petrol guzzler.

Tomorrow we head for Akureyri (wrong spelling, but my map is not handy) in the north, so hope internet is available there also.

Cheers

Georgie

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Comments

[Chloe]

Polar Bears named Bundy?
Hey, sounds like you're having a great time! Any chance of more photos? Love to check out more of the scenery. Chloe

[Georgiana]

Lack of pics
Sadly, the pics may have to wait until I get to a place where I can download images from my camera. Managed to do it in Reykjavik thanks to the computer in the guest house with a DVD drive, but in most internet cafes, there is no chance to download. I live in hope, each time, but it also needs time.