Rainy Day in Iceland (6-28-12)

Hey Everybody!

Iceland gets harder and harder to comprehend. But the parts I understand I like....and the parts I don't yet understand are pretty cool too. One thing I like is that in some respects Iceland allows much more freedom of movement. Want to go to a geothermal power plant to look around or touch the insulated pipes? No problem; they aren't behind fences. Or maybe you want to play on some rocks and take a pic of the Gooafoss (waterfall of the gods) from the edge. No problem; there are no fences.

About this waterfall....the lava rocks are about 8,000 years old & this river (Skjalfandafljot) is the 4th largest in the country. It is said that when Iceland formally accepted Christianity in the year 1,000 the chieftain gathered all the statues of the pagan gods and threw them into the waterfall. I would love to see this place on a sunny day....might have to swing by again in the morning.

Tell me this little house at the base of the mountain doesn't put things in perspective...

And....there was so much lava today, but the rain interfered with some exploration. Hope to have better luck tomorrow. It reminded me of sink holes - only in reverse. In truth, there are much more dramatic examples, but I can't always stop to get them from the highway. Sometimes I do it anyway... because it's Iceland. There's not a lot of traffic & there's that whole freedom thing!

The name of this flower is purple nootka (or Alaska Alpine). And it really is everywhere. Turns out that it is an invasive species introduced to create soil. Ideally, if someone could make a hybrid (I guess) that would still make soil, but sheep would eat, then the spreading would be better controlled. I drove through a large restoration area today after taking this pic & it had lots of these flowers too.

These two photos were taken in Husavik, a small fishing village in the northern area.

Twice since arriving ( and once in the Arctic during a conversation about Iceland) I heard this joke:

Q: What should you do if you get lost in a forest in Iceland?

A: Stand up!

Here's that forest.....makes it easier to understand why ALL wood is salvaged or imported.

It's not a great pic, but it's the closest shot I've had of the water shooting out of the earth....

That's all for tonight. It's not even 11pm yet....I can't believe it; I might just go to bed right now!

Oh yeah....please tell Capt. Heidi that it took forever, but I finally found the man to go with the reindeer! This is not a joke; he is on Hwy 1.