The Golden Circle, Iceland

We've come to Iceland to go ski touring, but before we drive over to the mountains of the Troll Peninsula, we wanted to see some of the classic tourist sights of Iceland. It's a long drive, but the so-called 'Golden Circle' can be done from Reykjavik in one big day out and takes you past some of Iceland's famous natural landmarks. In between, there is literally nothing except barren lands and snow-capped mountains.

Our first port of call was somewhat underwhelming - the geological fault line between the North American and European tectonic plates. The geology was impressive, but we were unprepared for suddenly finding ourselves herded into a track full of selfie-stick wielding people, which somewhat spoilt the ambience. The old Viking parliament was also situated there but requires a degree of imagination to be really impressed.

 

We drove on to where you simply can't help but be impressed by the natural wonder of a geysir. The ground was hot and steam was squeaking out of every hole and fissure. The streams and ponds were literally boiling hot.

 

We gathered around the main roped off pool, where water was sucking gentling in and out of a hole...

Then suddenly, the whole thing erupted!

 

A massive plume of water and steam shot into the air!

 

And then vanished, as it sucked back down into the depths of the earth. It really was extraordinary. Although the nearby original Geysir, has quietened down after an earthquake, this new little one blasts off about every five minutes, so we got to see it blow quite a few times. Amazing every time.

 

Some of the colours of the rocks and minerals were especially bright as we hiked around.

 

And some of the bubbling water in the various pools looked green and blue. It was all very 'other worldly'.

 

This time, even the coach loads of crowds couldn't dampen the spectacle. (although I suppose it is a bit more dramatic than a rocky tectonic ravine that's moving at a rate of almost 1mm every year or so).

Leaving the smoking grounds behind, we hit the road again for the furthest attraction...

The mega waterfall of Gulfoss.

No introductions needed really. The power of nature cutting through a weakness in the rock to create a beauty of a waterfall. It was really cold here too so we couldn't stay too long - see how the spray has frozen onto the cliff tops below.

  

We had hoped to find a little natural hot spring that our accommodation host had recommended, but we found that it involved driving on some non-tarmac roads. As we're not insured for this, we decided to play it safe and carried on to a hot river that some friends had been to.

 

The scenery here was much greener and the streams were indeed hot, but standing in the full brunt of an Arctic wind, there was, as Clare nicely put it, 'not a tiny piece of me that wants to take my clothes off right now'! I'm sure in the summer it's lovely, but we were both ready to head back for a rest rather than hike up to where the river widened and hop in. It had been a long day with an early start and we've seen much and driven far. This being a tourist lark is exhausting - I think we'd better stick to climbing mountains! Tomorrow we begin our journey north...