Our time at the Blue Lagoon has been a blissful transition between flying & starting our travels. We were so glad that we invested in 2 nights instead of the 2 hours most visitors spend there.
However, we were here to see Iceland, not lounge around in hot pools all the time, so today we loaded up our hire car, got to know our GPS (we've named her Mary Lou... she's American) & ventured forth. We followed a surreal landscape of lava fields & high plateau for at least the first hour.
And then made our first appearance on the famous Ring Road & a stop in a small town called Hveragerdi. Geothermal activity is very evident here & these clever people started harnessing the warmth beneath the ground's surface & developed greenhouses for growing veges & flowers. We were here to wander through their geothermal park. It was bizarre to see so much steam rising from the stream. You'll note too, that for the time we were hear we not only had blue sky (the first since we arrived), but sun. The temperature rose from 9 to 11 degrees!
We tried a couple of new things whilst we were there, the first was a mud foot bath!! It was warm & slimy with a gritty base.
The second was boiling an egg in boiling water via a fishing pole!
Around the park were a few storyboards about ways that the geothermal energy had been used & abused by the locals over the years. The most amusing one, was that a pit opened up in the ground & the locals started throwing their rubbish in it. This went on for some time until one day the pit erupted & all the rotting refuse was spread all over town!!
Returning to the Ring Road, our next destination was to meet the first of Iceland stunning waterfalls. A visit to Seljalandsfoss was soon followed by a walk to discover...
...Gljufrabui, which was hidden behind this crack in the rock.
Another cruise further along the Ring Road, then the embodying of the spirit of the nimble footed Icelandic sheep, as we scrambled along a rubble track, crossed a stream & scrambled over rocks to get to Seljavallalaug, which is a remote swimming pool filled with water from a geothermal spring. It may not be a pretty looking swimming pool, but it is in a location to drop ones jaw over. At the foot of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull, which erupted in 2010, this is Iceland's oldest swimming pool & is surrounded by exquisite beauty. The water was tepid, green & slimy, but we were glad we'd made the effort to find it.
Further on, we passed Skogafoss waterfall on the way to the Skogar Folk Museum.
As we turned into the museum, a group of Icelandic Sheep walked out in front of us & so I finally got a decent shot of them!! Trying to take photos whilst the car is in motion has not Bourne many positive results.
The museum was fascinating & we were particularly fascinated by the turf houses. These were tiny! I had thought that descendants of Vikings would be tall & broad people, but I was clearly wrong. These were small & claustrophobic spaces with poor light & a close proximity to farm animals, who shared annexes to the houses in winter. I am in awe of the women who managed cooking, washing, cleaning & incredibly intricate knitting & needlework in these homes. Extraordinary.
On we went & our next stop was particularly exciting. On the cliffs of Dyrholaey we bravely looked over the edge & saw PUFFINS!!!!!!!! They are so cute! Admittedly they were quite far down & the ones on the water were little more than black dots, but some flew further up towards us with their manic flapping. It was from this vantage point too, that we could look along the coast of black sand. Stunning alongside the green land.
You'll notice that I have a puffin perched in my handbag. We felt we needed a guide to accompany us around the remainder of Iceland & Snorri (named after one of the great Saga authors) volunteered for the job! Expect to see a bit more of him as I share our adventures!!!
It has been a long & full day along the southern coast of Iceland & at last we rolled into our last stop, Vik. After a dinner that included smoked dried lamb & arctic Char, we took advantage of the midnight sun & went for a stroll along the black sand beach to look out over the stacks, which were once Trolls, who got caught in the sun!
What a day. Now to see if we have conquered jetlag & make it through the whole night without waking!
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