Day 12 Monday, May 22nd 2023 Iceland Interior

 Most of Iceland's population and most of the economic activity is concentrated on the coastal regions.  We have seen quite a lot of that but there is a lot of geological and geographic things going on in the interior and we decided to stay for a tour of some of these.  We booked for a tour called the "Golden Triangle" and the reason for this description will become self-evident.  It was an all day affair and we were picked up at 0930 after having breakfast.  We were soon on our way and stopping at the first venue.  It was still raining and there was a stiff breeze 

Pinvellir plain and the lake

when we arrived at Pingvellir, a historic site for Iceland.  There was a viewing platform looking out across a plain and Iceland's 

Pingvellir plain

largest lake.  It was here that Iceland first had a settlement and parliament in the 10th Century. It is also a dividing       position for two tectonic plates 

typical earthquake result

- we were standing on the North America plate and soon we would be on the Eurasia plate. There were plenty of fissures, large cracks, crevasses and sudden changes in ground level as a result of the many earthquakes which have taken place.  After a walk and some refreshment we were soon on our way to the Eurasia plate and we soon crossed onto Europe with again large ground cracks.  We didn't drive long before we could see spurts of water shooting into the air and we 

geothermal activity

were approaching Geysir.  We stopped and there was an area of hot springs, bubbling pools and unpredictable  shooting geyser activity.  We walked and watched for quite a long time but did not catch on film a geyser erupting but there was a lot of sulphurous steam.  It had stopped raining and after seeing all we wanted it was time to move to the third part of the triangle.

the spectacular falls

We  drove on and arrived at the Gullfoss (Golden) waterfalls which was the attraction we both wanted to see.  The weather was now very good and the falls 

Gullfoss waterfalls

were spectacular with the spray showing good rainbows.  We walked to various viewing points and took lots of pictures and videos.  There were some access areas we did not venture to because people were coming away soaked by all the heavy spray from the falling water hitting rocks.  Again caused by the unique geology of Iceland and the effects glaciers have had on its landscape.  Certainly a not to be missed venue on a visit to this special country. 

We were soon on our way back to Reykjavik passing through some farmland with cows and sheep in evidence. Increasingly use is being made of cheap thermal power to heat greenhouses for growing more exotic fruit in this hostile environment.  We were told tomatoes are abundant and even someone had grown bananas.  Who knows where this story will end as power becomes more  expensive elsewhere.  We soon approached Reykjavik and were dropped outside our hotel at 1720.  It had been a good day seeing aspects of the country we couldn't enjoy by going round the coast.  We had a freshen up and managed to get a table to dine in the restaurant.  We had a good meal, were feeling tired and retired early.