Golden Circle

7-28-10    Today we did things every tourist in Iceland does. We travelled around the "Golden Circle" in southeast Iceland. Our first stop was Lake Þingvallavatn, Iceland's largest lake. Þingvallavatn is an important site for both nesting and migrating birds. We saw Purple Sandpipers, Redshanks, Red-Necked Phalarope, Arctic Terns, various Gulls, and lots of midges too... they attract the birds. We drove away from the lake to an historical Viking site, the Þingvellir Assembly Place. This is where in AD 930 the country's first government was formed. The center of government was ultimately moved to Reykjavik in 1843.

Viking meeting place

A meeting place with running water

There is a Redwing on the path behind the keep out sign

   From Þingvellir we drove to the Geysir ( pronunciation GAY-sear ), the original geyser from which all are now named. There were several hydrothermal vents that look like bubbling cauldrons. The whole place smelled like sulphur. Only one of the geysers burst forth regularly with an explosion of hyper-heated steam every six minutes.

Getting ready

Geyser blowing its top

Thermophilic algae and bacteria in the water make this one blue

   Ten kilometers from the Geyser site is the magnificent waterfall, Gullfoss ("Golden Falls"). This spectacular waterfall starts with melted ice from a glacier forming a river. The water then cascades down the first falls. Immediately it veers to its right and tumbles down another falls. There, the whole water system dumps into a deep ravine some 150 feet below the top.

Berry at Gullfoss Falls

   We ended up back in Reykjavik, where we had dinner and toured the city. We saw the house of the richest man in Iceland next to Tjörnin Lake. His father went bankrupt in the IceSave scandal. Tomorrow is our last full day in Iceland. We will be birding the coastal Reykjanes wildlife area. Then we'll choose a hotel near the airport.

-Berry

( Þ is an Icelandic letter pronounced like the diphthong th in our word "think" or "path" - Robert)