Iceland ‘95 (Part 2) – The Golden Circle Tour

Yay!! Part 2!

The Golden Circle Tour takes in, among other things, Gullfoss, Geysir and Þingvellir National Park. It’s a very long tour, taking a whole day but one I would recommend to anyone. If you go to Iceland – find time to see the Golden Circle.

Sheep!

The first stop on the tour was an unscheduled one, we were on our way to Hveragerði when the guide spotted that the annual round-up of sheep was taking place. He decided it would be a good chance to see something unique so… we made a stop. All the sheep were gathered together in the centre of a large circular pen which was also divided into segments for individual farms. The sheep were then sorted by the farmers and taken away. We were told this method was unique to Iceland and I believe it, all the farmers seemed to know their sheep by sight.

Hveragerði

About a mile from the site of the sheep gathering is Hveragerði which must have the most northerly banana tree in the world (Anyone know any different please let me know!). Geothermal power is used at Haveragerði to heat a large greenhouse with flourishing fruit, vegetables and exotic plants. Another feature of the greenhouse is that it contains several pieces of of sculpture which, although not really to my taste, were very interesting. These included a 5 foot Viking and a rather bizarre lady with a hollow chest. Hvergerði also provides a nice gift shop and a useful toilet!

Kerið

From Hveragerði we continued our journey to Kerið, an extinct volcanic crater which is now filled with amazing blue-green water. The picture here does not really give an indication of scale, the lake at the bottom is bigger than a soccer pitch and a couple of years ago there was an operatic concert where the singers where floated on a barge to the middle and over 40,000 (I think) people watched from the banks. In the picture you can just about make out two people slightly left of centre.

Gullfoss

Gullfoss, “The Golden Falls”, was our next port of call and this was one of the highlights of my visit to Iceland. Here, a glacial river cascades over the fault in a huge canyon.
The bus stops in the car park (which is just as well really!) and you can see the spray and hear the rumble, as you venture closer to the edge the size of the falls becomes apparent. They are very big indeed. There is a small footpath which, if you don’t mind getting wet, takes you down towards an outcrop of rock right at the falls. From the path you can see the canyon where all the water flows into and in the photo you can see the bus parked at the top which gives an indication of the size. You don’t really appreciate the power of the falls until you get down to within 5 yards and you can ‘feel’ the volume of water thundering past. There is also a viewpoint higher up on a hill which I believe offers breathtaking views but unfortunately our tight schedule on the bus prevented us taking the time to climb the steps to it. That would be my only complaint about the whole tour – not enough time spent here. Personally, I would rather have missed the sheep and spent longer at Gullfoss.

Geysir

The goethermal fields at Geysir were next and proved to be most interesting. Our well informed guide took us to the original Geysir and explained all about the area. We were then left to wander around the area with it’s hot springs and bubbling pools, waiting for “Strokkur” to erupt and we weren’t disappointed – it performs about every 5-10 mins. The tricky part was trying to take a photograph, you sit and wait with the camera at your eye for a while and as soon as you get fed up and move…there it goes! There are numerous other pools filled with crystal clear blue water, some warm, some actually boiling but all amazing when you think the heat is coming from the centre of the earth.

Þingvellir National Park

From Geysir the bus moves on to Þingvellir National Park which was the site of the ancient Parliament of Iceland – the Alþingi. The park is on the boundary between the North American and European tectonic plates which are moving apart (slowly!) and you can see where the land in the middle has sunk as a result. It’s only one of two places in the world where this can be seen on the earth’s surface. The path leading to the Alþingi takes you along the the edge of this sunken area and you can imagine the plates separating and the middle section falling in. In the edge, you can also see the numerous layers of volcanic rock which go to make up Iceland and it gives you an idea of how the country was formed.
At the Alþingi, we were told the some of the fascinating history of the oldest Parliament in the world. Formed in 930 A.D., the parliament met every year until 1798 and you can stand on the same spot the Lawspeakers did when they would recite all the laws from memory. Although the tour only takes in a small part of the park, there are some stunning views to be had and the history of the place is fascinating.