Iceland was really good. We did the Golden Circle and saw the geysers,waterfall and rift valley(photo below – we were standing in Europe, geologically, and looking over to America).
Because it was out of season, we had a minibus, with only about 10 of us in it, and a brilliant driver who was full of information and facts. A lot of it wasn’t “scripted”, it was just initiated by something that we passed. For example we passed a family with guns. Did you know that on 4 weekends a year Icelanders can hunt Ptarmigan for eating at Christmas? This led to a general talk about Icelandic Christmas customs. Did you know that there are 13 Father Christmases in Iceland? Whereas in most of Europe good children get a visit from Father Christmas on Christmas Eve, in Iceland naughty children get a visit from Mummy Troll who may take them away. Sounds like a discussion on alternative dog training techniques – reward or punishment?
We had hoped to go whale watching, but this is seasonal, and we didn’t want to spend a day getting cold and wet for nothing. So we went down a hole in the ground instead. We crawled/walked through a larva tube – suitably protected from the mud:
I quite enjoyed this – the party was predominantly 25 year old young ladies of various nationalities. Although £60 was quite expensive for an hour underground, we did get to see some very Icelandic inland countryside – larva rock, deep moss, and snow capped mountains.
We saw the Northern Lights as planned. These weren’t the Joanna Lumley style red yellow and green curtains. We had been warned that sun activity was low, and so we may not get to see the lights at all. But as were driving out of Reykjavik, still among street lights, the guide pointed out a green glow above the horizon. By the time that we reached a point away from the city where the bus could stop, the glow and had increased in size and intensity, and formed bands, with a separate band over our heads. Over the next couple of hours or so, we watched as vertical fingers grew up from the glow, together with faint green veils, and black vertical lines moved through the glowing area. Fascinating.
There was a bitterly cold wind, and after a while Chas decided to go and shelter by the bus. Eventually I decided to go and find her. It was pitch black. Twice I thought I’d found her, but twice it turned out to be someone else’s wife. After only four years of marriage (or is it three??) I’m not ready to trade Chas in yet, so I gave up, and returned to our friends. The two women in our party were wearing bright white coats, unlike Chas’s dark red coat, so I didn’t end up making new friends by mistake.
We “did” the Blue Lagoon on the way back to the airport (which I think you did too), which was a very relaxing way to finish the trip.
I put the white Blue Lagoon muddy stuff all over my face, but I don’t think that I’m any better looking as a result.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
