Our ‘bonus’ day

A good night’s sleep and we were all ready for a busy day.

Hotel Gullfoss is just five minutes drive from the waterfall after which it is named so that was our first stop. What a sight!

Having decided not to buy snacks for lunch we headed straight off to see the Geysirs. Not a huge photographic adventure but one that shouldn’t be driven past. For a number of us it was very reminiscent of New Zealand. The original geyser here is very unpredictable. Apparently visitors used to be encouraged to throw soap in to make it erupt and it stopped cooperating. There is another active geyser just a little further down the hill and the story is a good one. Once again the favoured spot was right in line of the wind but others were found:

This was my first attempt as we walked up to the viewing area: I love the fact that the eruption is contained within the darker colour of the treeline and doesn’t stray into the snow covered mountain above – though that meant it was a fairly meagre eruption! – and the colourful tourists avoiding the spray, staying safe from any damage caused by the minerals a little more successfully than a man we saw a bit later whose gloves were taken by the wind (or he just dropped) into the pool of water higher up the hillside. Someone suggesting he hook them out with a stick was met with a fair amount of derision as you can imagine.

We walked up to see the blue pool and then back down to view the active geyser from a different angle and suddenly the vast expanse of the area became obvious – and the geyser performed allowing me to show off the beauty of the area, with it’s gentle colours against the blue of the bubble which is the start of a new eruption.

All along the path and strewn along the mountainside are new small geysers developing. It will be interesting to see how much the area will have changed in 20 years, though I doubt if I’ll be around to know!!!

Just think, had BA not cancelled our original flights forcing us to add a day and fly yesterday with Icelandair, we would not have seen any of this. I’m so grateful for that extra day!

And the wind did have the benefit of creating quite interesting foregrounds!! The whole area was fascinating and strangely beautiful with its basalt formations of all sizes, rock-strewn lava fields and mounds of grass.

Initially, I had intended to walk to the other side of the plain but I was beaten by the wind and decided to focus on the area where we had parked. It was still bitingly cold in the wind and walking straight into it was not my idea of fun!! Our tour leader has been coming to Iceland for years and assures us these winds are exceptional: apparently last week the main road – along which we travel for most of the next week – was closed because of the conditions.

A little further on we stopped in a car park where we could see just the narrow top of a waterfall: I, for one, was not prepared for the enchanting view that greeted us as we got nearer to the bowl above which the car park had been built. Such a shame that, despite the sunshine, I was still not comfortable walking down a very steep, awkwardly paved path to play with water formations. In all honesty, the views from the top suited me well: such scale and variety in what, on the surface, seems like dead land!

We moved on knowing that we had a fair way to go before reaching the hotel and we were excited because the potential for seeing the Aurora tonight is high, so I don’t think anyone would have been too disappointed to have seen nothing else of any significance. I wonder if there will be any other days this week when we say that?!

Just along the bumpy track as we reached the main road we saw this lovely mountain landscape with the lava formations between the hills and us. Although the light was fairly flat, it was a spectacular sight and set us up nicely for the drive to Hotel Selja where we were to stay.

The hotel looks brand new, is in the middle of nowhere and is just being taken over by a local lady who gave us a very warm welcome on what is the last night of the season for her. It’s small but very comfortable and the food ( I had Atlantic char) amazing!!

Now to wait for those lights……