Iceland - The Golden (and soaking) Circle

June 21

Hello everyone!

Iceland is so much more than its capital of Reykjavik, which I will write about later in the trip. I had already signed up to spend a week circling the island and taking in many of its breathtaking sights.

Gullfoss

Reynisfjara

I hadn’t really looked into what was going on, which was to prove a bad mistake on the first day. Well, that and the weather. I hadn’t really planned what I was wearing and most of my gear was in my little case, which was unceremoniously shoved into a trailer and locked away when I was picked up 45 minutes late in the Reykjavik drizzle.

An ominous forecast

The Golden Circle covers many places of
interest in the southwest of Iceland

The first section of the day was to be spent exploring an area dubbed ‘The Golden Circle’, which has three popular and historically important sights. The first of these was þingvellir, pronounced thing-vellir (that P is a thorn, off of Viking runes).

It's been protected as a national park since 1930

The foundation of the current republic occurred here in 1944

It was here that, in the year 930, locals were a bit fed up of being told what to do by the Norwegian monarchy. They decided to establish the Alþingi, the world’s first democratic parliament. It was held annually and would often be the country’s largest drinking session until it was superseded more than 300 years later.

A visualisation of what the Alþingi looked like in its pomp

It was later used as a law court, sentencing cheating women to be
drowned in a nearby pond amongst other things

It was situated along a spectacular ‘wall’ where two of the Earth’s tectonic plates meet. The North American and Eurasian plates are slowly pulling apart (and I mean really slowly, up to 2cm a year). Walking along the imperious rift adds to the aura of the place.

Pingvellir is one of the most visible
examples of tectonic plates in action

The catchment area of the lake is about 1,300 sq km

The furthest point of significant interest in the Golden Circle is a truly mesmeric waterfall called Gullfoss. It’s supposed to be an even more spectacular experience in either sunshine (rainbows) or winter (icicles), but it was still a pretty panorama.

Foss translates as waterfall

I feel that I didn’t appreciate Gullfoss as much as I should have when looking at it in the flesh. This is possibly because I was busy shivering to my core and was desperately trying to find a dry place for my phone and camera.

There's a great story about the government giving permission to dam the
river in the 1920s, with the landowner's daughter then walking
barefoot to Reykjavik (over 100km) to protest

A combination of the heavens opening, a wind whipping the rain in a horizontal direction and the mist being swept up from the waterfall left me...wet. Very wet. This was where having my proper clothes, such as overtrousers, would have been immensely useful. Instead, they were sitting snugly in my suitcase. Silly boy. I had to resort to putting my phone in my glove and watching my unprotected hand turn white...and wet. At least I had my coat on - I probably wouldn’t have done if it hadn’t been drizzling in Reykjavik.

The woman's protest itself failed but the investors failed to finance
the project, leaving Gullfoss in its natural state

Apparently you get to see double rainbows on a sunny day

It also made the next stop, Geysir, a little less pleasurable than it ought to have been. This place is from where we derived ‘geyser’, so you can imagine what’s here. The particular spout that gave us the name doesn’t erupt anymore but it’s nearby neighbour, Strokkur, is happy to hog the limelight for now.

Rather warm water

It erupts every five to ten minutes, with water being sent soaring dozens of metres into the sky every fifteen to twenty minutes or so. We saw the ‘big one’ early, I missed it with my camera, and didn’t want to get any more soaked whilst waiting for the next surge.

Strokkur can fire up to 30m in the air

Of course, Icelanders are used to this ‘changeable’ weather. How do they keep warm? With soup. Lots of soup. Two large bowls of meat and fish soup warmed me up (and more importantly took long enough to eat that I started to dry out) that I was ready for our drive down south.

I was too busy eating the soup to take a picture
of it, so here's another one of Strokkur

Thor wouldn't have complained about getting wet

This took in two beautiful waterfalls, both made famous by...Justin Bieber. Yes. This first one is called Seljalandsfoss and apparently wasn’t frequently visited until the pop star came and stood under it in his underpants. With the water supposedly as brisk 2’C, it’s no wonder he can still hit some high notes.

The falls drop over 60 metres

You can also walk behind these falls, which was fun

The next one is called Skogafoss, a 62m-high fall which is rumoured to have a chest of gold hidden behind it. Maybe that’s why Bieber went to this one as well…

These falls are 62 metres high

A steep staircase takes you a little above the drop

The weather had once again worsened by this time, with fog rendering it impossible to see much of Iceland’s ridiculously photogenic landscape. At some point we passed Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano which caused a bit of an issue for European flights in 2010, but couldn’t even see its outline. 

It's over there somewhere...

On other days, there would be some brilliant scenery to stare at

Our last stop on this long and wet day was the black sand beach at Reynisfjara. The sand is black due to the basalt rock being eroded over time. I spent a lot of time looking at it, as it was challenging to look up with a gale slapping you with freezing North Atlantic air.

Waves are commonly strong here - our guide showed us a clip
of tourists being upended when facing away from the sea 

Basalt is the most common type of solidified lava

This is one of the best places to see puffins in Iceland. It was the perfect time of year to see them as well. Needless to say, we didn’t get close. I’d imagine they’d been blown away.

Not a bird in sight...

The beach does have these amazing hexagonal columns

Soaked doesn’t do it justice now. I was saturated. My trousers couldn’t take on any more water. My feet were squelching with each step. What would an Icelander do in this situation? Probably change into new clothes. As mine were locked in a suitcase I still couldn’t access, I opted for sitting on a radiator in a restaurant and toasting the day with the local shot: Brennevin.

I'm pointing to the original colour. The camera has lightened
the thigh part, they were also soaked through.

The shot has a bit of a carraway taste to it, and
wasn't 'disgusting' as suggested by the guide

It was quite the introduction to Iceland outside its cute capital. The weather made it more atmospheric, and was a reminder of what locals experience here for much of the year. Even in the rain, the Golden Circle and the south coast are full of spectacular sights.

Love you all,

Matt