Blogs from Iceland, Europe - page 91

A leisurely breakfast, many slept in as we all had different departure plans. Raggi, having set everything up, departed for a camping trip on a secluded fjord island in the northwest. Wayne and I, joined by Joan and Milbrey, headed for a soak at the Blue Lagoon on the way to the Keflavik airport. The "lagoon" is a man made pool that captures the outlet water from the geothermal power plant for Reykjavik. It is well run, and many spend a spa day there. Met our driver for the transfer to Keflavik, and boarded the Seattle flight. A few hours later I was driving home. Ignored the yard that needed mowing, unpacked, and gathered info for the next day's start of a Materials Science class at UW. Back to reality(?)... read more

Skirting Odadahraun, a vast lava field so large that it is sometimes referred to as a lava desert, we followed the flow of Jokulsa a Fjollum crossing several of its tributaries. Our destination was the Askja caldera. After a couple of hours the landscape turned to pumice fields before we stopped at the trail head leading into the caldera. Shortly before our arrival we passed through the area where the NASA Apollo astronauts trained for the first moon landings. Our hike took us to the crater lakes of Oskjuvatn and Viti, another name for hell. After a walk along Viti's rim some headed off on side hikes while others, myself included, headed down to the shore of Viti's lake. Part of the climb down made me think of a mini lahar. We took a swim in ... read more

This was an ocean day, although Vatnajokull was ever present. After a short ride to Oraefi we boarded a tractor pulled hay ride. However, there was no hay on the trailer, and we headed out over a sandy plain that had once been farmland to the offshore landmass of Ingolfshofoi. This is near to where Ingolfur Arnarson, Iceland's first Nordic settler, first made his home. The area is a protected breeding ground for sea birds. Upon crossing the sand we climbed up a sandy hill to the ridge then walked across grass covered rock and stone to cliffs where we observed groups of puffin, the national bird. Along the way we observed skua guarding their nests and young. Skua fiercely guard their own nests but are notorious for robbing other species' nests. I did not see ... read more

Blue Lagoon is situated around 40 km from Reykjavik on the way to the airport Kevlavik.It s an outside swimmingpool, actually you only can sit and walk ,with warm water from the geysir system.Approx 35 degrees c. Next to the pool a kind of industrial complex to control everything.If the sun shines the blue is probably better than today with all the grey clouds. I visited the pool on my last day in Iceland. It s rather boring to sit and walk a bit in the warm water. Around the Blue Lagoon it looks like a moonlandscape. Yesterday evening I went on a tour to see the tear in the American/Eurasion tectonic plates, a waterfall fed by the glaciers and the Gulfoss geysirs.Now you realise how bad it is for your character when you see too ... read more

I am pretty certain we are the only people checking in at Moruya with a destination above the Arctic circle. But I may be wrong. For 30 years I have wanted to visit Iceland. Don't ask me why, it's hard to explain. Icelanders are a unique, insular people, confined to a windswept, barren island in the north Atlantic. beholden to the very visible and obvious power of mother nature. But instead of giving up and returning to the (relative) warmth and easier life in Denmark or Norway, they made it work, and built a modern vibrant culture, right on the doorstep of the Arctic. I think it started with a Desmond Bagley spy novel "Running Blind", which I would have read in the seventies. A non-native Icelandic speaker, does something cold war-esque in Iceland. I can't ... read more