Monday-Golden Circle Tour

Bleary eyes at breakfast stayed bleary as it is dark in Iceland until 10am.  Sunrise was spectacular as the rays bounced off the freshly fallen snow and sparkled in the sea.

We met our guide Gooka at 9am and headed to Pingvellir about an hour from our hotel. We had come to see the meeting of the Eurasia and North American tectonic plates.  We were able to walk between them and saw how the North American plate has raised up.  We learnt about how clean the Icelandic water was due to the filtration from the volcanic rock and we witnessed this because we could see 21 metres to the bottom of the wishing well in which we all made a wish.  Another interesting event in this part of the trip was the fact the one male member of the party committed a school boy error of being tempted to lick the ice from a metal pole in -10^oC!  Needless to say he was very surprised when his tongue stuck to the ice! There were apparently a number of suggestions as to how to remove his tongue from the ice but in the end he decided that a sharp tug was the only solution!  He retired slightly bloody but fully recovered and it certainly has not restricted his capacity to communicate constantly and at a high decibel level!

Next we went to Gullfoss waterfalls which were spectacular and at times with a rainbow over the top.  We were able to walk along the viewing platform and go towards the edge of the cliff. They were truly breath taking and awe inspiring.  For lunch we were both treated and warmed by a traditional Icelandic lamb soup and bread rolls.

For our third and final instalment we went to the Geyser.  This is naturally occurring hot spring which blows every 7-10 minutes.  In fact it took a few of our pupils by surprise as it blew after 3.5 minutes the front row of our spectating pupils fell over like skittles as they were standing on the ice created by previous sprays.  It was difficult to walk around the Geyser path as most of it was solid ice.  So much so that Abbie's waterproof pants didn't surprise the last tumble!

We are now back at the hotel having a rest before we head out to Ruby Tuesdays for tea!  We hope to post some videos and pictures very soon.