The Golden Circle

Literally booked this day trip last night about 8pm...but had received confirmation. The best thing bout this hostel is it is on the list of places the tours pick up from
I'd heard lots of talk about the golden circle in Iceland but no idea what it entailed.
I was 1st to be collected by the bus company
Turned out to be a hugely interesting day and a crash course in Geology, Geography Volcanoes 🌋 and geothermal energy
Iceland has 99% renewable energy from either geothermal or hydrotherapy
The guide seemed remarkably calm about the volcanoes unpredictability...and joked about the fact tv presenters could not pronounce the name of the volcano that stopped all the airlines back in 2010
Iceland grows its fruit and veg in greenhouses .The countryside has very few trees and those that are seen are imported, but don't do well in the volcanic soil apparently.
The country does not have any dangerous wild animals, they do have flies that bite but no mosquitoes
Our 1st stop a huge crater caused by lava..the ground all around is black and red gravel type substance.It was impressive
A 2nd stop to Gulfoss waterfall..which was awesome...I preferred it to Niagara I think as I could get Much closer to the point where the water tips over the edge...It is more powerful than Niagara Falls according to the information ....I am so lucky to have now seen both !
On the way to our next stop there was a chance to feed some Icelandic ponies..utterly gorgeous 😍 .
We moved on to a Geothermal area where one of the geysers blows every 7mins
Ultimately in watching it I saw it and it got me ,I was soaked!
The water is boiling away before it blows so I was suprised it didn't seem hot when it hit me though we had been warned it can burn
Our next stop was at a location where we were between the crack of 2 tectonic plates ,the American and the Eurasian which are parting at 2cm a year I think ,certainly 2cm ...ongoingly
Its also the location of the 1st Iceland parliament .
I got dropped off in the centre of Reykjavik and had a wander round to try to find the hotel I will be staying at with the cruise company....basically to make sure I had the right hotel and to see if they could accommodate me for 2extra nights ...no chance..full and the other hotels in striking distance were either full or wanted to charge £700+ for 2nights
I had a lovely meal in a restaurant in the centre and then caught a taxi to the Lava show.It was really interesting....demonstration of lava flowing, showing how it hardens really quickly, became glass like and brittle on the surface but still glowing and flowing underneath...which lasts for a really long time..
So much information today ...all fascinating
At the end of the show I caught a taxi back to my accommodation as I had no idea where it was in relation to where I was and it was late ...Read more