Hella

We disembarked from Norwegian Prima in pouring rain, picked up a couple of hire cars and, with the Brickwoods, the Roffes and the Websters, set out to drive around the island.

First stop was a biggie, Thingvellir National Park. The site of Iceland’s first parliament, all the way back in 930 - a mere 1,094 years ago, and the site of its 1944 Declaration of Independence from Denmark.

It’s also on Iceland’s largest underground lake and the boundary between the North-American and Eurasian tectonic plates, meaning there is water aplenty and some fascinating landscapes caused by the bumping and grinding of the ground.

From there, Gullfoss. No need to worry about the light rain, the spray from the falls got us plenty wet anyway. There was lots of water and it was reminiscent of a small Victoria Falls in the way it fell into a narrow, diagonal ravine. It was quite incredible.

From there, Geysir. A bit more rain, this time concealed by the sulphuric-smelling steam rising from the ground, which was awash with near-boiling water. Geysir is the original for which all the rest in the world are named, but the original got blocked up because people kept filling it with rocks to see how high they would go. Not to worry, though, the current one is still one of the highest shooters in the world.

The rain was a bit set in by then, so are final stop, Kerid Crater, was a bit cursory, a 55-metre deep, 170 metre wide crater with water at its bottom that even in with the grey skies was an almost radiant blue.

Then a major disaster, we arrived in town after Vinbudin, the state-run liquor monopoly, had closed for the day. So a first alcohol-free day for the month of August!

We move on east tomorrow, destination an unpronounceable Icelandic name.Read more