Today we took a golden circle bus tour into the largest wilderness in Europe. We started at Pringvellir National park where rift caused the American and European tectonic plates separating has caused a large valley to form. It’s also where the Vikings established the worlds first democratic parliament. At the lookout Susan was almost blown off the cliff by the gale force artic winds.
After that we went on to visit Geysir. Not surprisingly the home of Geysers. The main big geyser called gusher only erupts twice times a day since 2000, but there was a regular geyser erupting every 8 minutes or so, called Strokkur. It was really interesting seeing these geysers and blue hot pools more because of the cold environment they are in. For instance seeing most of the water that sprays from Strokkur turn to steam is very eerily.
After thawing out a little we headed for the icy waterfall at Gullfoss. The most entertaining (and sometime worrying) part of this visit was watching Susan cling on for dear life as she walked down the ice covered path.
Iceland is a country rich in geothermal energy and natural Hot springs. It was interesting to learn about the ways they have harnessed this energy. In fact they produce more than 4 times the amount of electricity they need. They are busy trying to figure out how to transport this power because if it can get transported without degradation Iceland would be able to supply renewable electricity for most of mainland Europe.
Another way Iceland harnesses their natural recourses is to use natural hot water for heating. Most people don’t have hot water cylinders they just suck water straight out of the hot springs in the ground. They also use the hot springs to heat green houses using a radiator like system and then can produce all sorts of fruit and veggies and flowers that the Icelandic environment wouldn’t otherwise support.
Unfortunately with all these hot spring and geothermal activity there are loads of earthquakes. Our guide told us about a house to be swallowed up by a new created hot spring after an earthquake in the 70’s doh.