Driving the Golden Ring in Iceland

So the car rental folks picked us up at 9 am and took us to the office to fill out forms and get the car. This was our ride for the next 24 hours.

Surprisingly it worked out great for us and Ernie was comfortable in the front seat. It was a standard transmission and I drove. No problem since we had a stick shift in Spain and Portugal. When we returned the car, the guy at the rental company was quite surprised that we were American since they hardly ever gave an American who can drive a stick. Shame on them and the parents that never taught them to drive a standard. It should be required!

The roads here are very easy to drive. Very similar to New Zealand except on the correct side of the road. The roads are basically two lane with a turn lane every now and then. There are some over lane sections but we had that in NZ also.

Oh those are bluebonnets on the side of the road. They are line the lumpiness that grow in West Texas.

We first went to Thingvellir Lake and National Park (yes another World Heritage site).

That's mist on one section of the lake

The Iceland General Assembly came together for the first time in this location shortly before 930 A.D. (About 770 years before England's first general assembly). The other thing that is so important about this area is that the junction of the American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet here. Thingvellir is located at the western end of a rift valley which extends from the mountains in the northeast down to Thingvellir Lake. Over the last 10,000 years, the earth's crust has been subsiding and diverging here. Readings indicate that the divergence over 10,000 years amounts to 80 meters. Over the same period, the valley floor has subsided by 40 meters.

This is the American rift

Walking down through the American rift

The photo below is taken from the American rift side and the dark area across the land is the Eurasian rift.

You read about this kind of stuff but to stand here and see it just takes your breath away. The power of our world is amazing.

From here, we drove to Geysir, home of the grand-daddy of all geysers. Unfortunately we didn't get to see that one since it only goes off following an earthquake so we were happy to just read about it. But, we did get to see the smaller geyser (the name escapes me) which releases about every 10 minutes. Again we were so reminded of New Zealand. We could have been walking around Rotorua on te North Island (Brian and Heather will remember that).

This was just walking along the toad to get to the geothermal area

Notice that is C not F on the temperature

This is know as the little geyser

This te bigger one after it released. I was too slow with the camera

I waited for this video and found out that it was a little too close for comfort. As I was videoing this, the winds shifted in our direction and we wound up having to run away from the fallout but oh what a great video!!!

This te bigger one after it released. I was too slow with the camera

As if this wasn't enough amazing stuff to see already, we went on to Gulfoss falls. You've hit yo see these photos:

Yes we were that close

While we were walking to the falls, there was an Asian fellow picking a dandelion puff ball. We are so used to seeing them that one forgets that they are beautiful in their own right.

Next we were on to the crater Kerio. This crater was formed about 6500 years ago. It is oval, about 280 meters long, 170 meters wide and 55 meters deep. The depth of the water at the bottom caries between 7 and 14 meters. It was originally thought this was an explosion crater but further research determined that it was probably formed bya small magma chamber beneath the crater being emptied towards the end of the eruption, resulting in a collapse. Whether it was formed by an explosion or a collapsed roof, it's pretty impressive.

Oh on the way to Kerio, we stopped for a photo of the glacier.

These little flowers were growing all over the kava rock.

Of course it is now getting close to tine fir lunch. Ernie would provably say it was past tine but we were having so much fun the tine just flew by. We were headed for Stokkseyri, on the southern coast. This town has a restaurant that is famous for its Icelandic lobster, Fjöruborethieth (translate to "at the seashore"). We were concerned about finding the restaurant because we didn't have the Icelandic name of it. We were just told to go the the lobster house. As we got closer to the town, we realized we would not have a problem finding it as there was only one road through town and turns out there was only one restaurant! This is a small former fishing village and trading center.

Here's the menu and yes the lobster feast is about $77 and worth every penny! Ernie got the lamb and it was fantastic. Most of you know that I hate lamb! That's and understatement. Oh my goodness, I would eat this lamb every day!

More bluebonnets along the road.

 

So you are probably saying to yourself what a great day. But wait, there's more! We have a 7 p.m. Appointment at the Blue Lagoon. This place has now been sited by National Geographic as one of the yop 25 places, in the world, to visit. Google blue lagoon.com and look at the 360 degree view. I've got a few photos but they just don't do justice. The geothermal water originates 2000 meters below the surface where fresh water and seawater combine at extreme temperatures. It is then harnessed via drilling holes at a nearby geothermal power plant. Blue Lagoon was originally an accidental byproduct of this process. On its way to the surface, the water picks up silica and minerals before emerging at 38 degrees C. The blue color cones from the silica and the way it reflects the sunlight. Actually the water is white but the sun makes it look blue. Get ready to be wowed!

We had to walk through the lava rocks to get to the lagoon

You can see the flow lines of the lava

Great place for wedding photos!

Passed this volcano on the way back to Reykjavik from the lagoon.

So I'll end with some random shots from our walks through Reykjavik.

This was taken from our room at almost 10 in the evening.

Not sure what he was celebrating, but there you are.

These trolls were outside a shop. Don't know about the hairy guys without gates!

This was a shot of some Icelandic liquor which was basically salty licorice.

Oldest timber house in Reykjavik

Most of the houses here were corrugated siding and roofs.

This is not a space shuttle. It is the Lutheran Church.

Tomorrow we return to the U.S. We will spend a great week with our friends in Barnegat New a jersey, Blaz and Annie. Plan to visit Philadelphia since we've never been there. More to come!

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