Glaciers, waterfalls, geysers and skyr

Over the last couple of days we headed out of the city on two different day tours. We headed east with our guide Mat and visited Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and walked inside giant cracks in the earth then on to a local greenhouse, Friðheimar for lunch and learnt about how Iceland is using greenhouses and geothermal energy to grow produce. The magnificent Gullfoss waterfall was next on the agenda and the great Geysir geothermal area, where the reliable Strokkur geyser spouts hot water up to 30 m. With more food in mind, it was on to the small dairy farm Efstidalur where we tried skyr and some of their ice cream. Our last stop before dinner was the geothermal spa Fontana. I took up the challenge of taking a dip in the freezing lake (yes, the temperature of the water was 0 C)in between the hot pools. It really was an experience with everything going numb within a matter of seconds. After dinner we tried unsuccessfully to spot the Northern Lights on way back to the city. Our trip yesterday took us south to view the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, then the Skógafoss waterfal before heading to the Sólheimajökull glacier, walking up onto the ice field. The challenging weather made for an interesting walk with conditions changing every 5 minutes. It really does make you appreciate the mild weather we have most of the year at home.Read more