Golden Circle, Gjábakkahellir, Silfra fissure, Blue Lagoon
Date(s): August 10-13, 2011. Album by David Clement. 1 - 40 of 40 Total. 88 Visits.
1 Tjörnin and the Reykjavík City Hall
2 looking east across Tjörnin - the Hallgrímskirkja tower is visible
3 Jón Sigurðsson, leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement
4 newly opened Harpa - concert hall and conference centre
5 on a Golden Circle tour - this is Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station
6 Þingvellir National Park
7 parliament (Alþingi) was established at Þingvellir in 930 and remained there until 1789
8 an elected official would yell against this wall and anyone in the country was free to come to the park and listen to their individual rights
9 Gullfoss
10 Hvítá flows through at an average summertime rate of 140 m³/s
11
12 Gullfoss has two stages, an 11m drop on top and 21m on the bottom
13
14 Strokkur geyser erupting about once every 4 minutes when I was there
15 Strokkur
16 Litli-Geysir
17
18 Strokkur going off
19 wide shot of the geothermal activity in the Geysir area; this area gave us the English word geyser
20 inside of Hallgrímskirkja
21 Perlan on Öskjuhlíð hill in the centre of Reykjavík - built on top of hot water storage tanks
22 eastern view from The Pearl
23 Gjábakkahellir
24 ceiling formed by cooling magma dripping
25 the exit of the cave up ahead
26 I'm ready for snorkeling in 2 degree water
27 snorkeling location was Silfra fissure - formed by the separation of the European and North American tectonic plates
28 this is what it looked like underwater; this photo is from Arctic Adventures, whose "Black and Blue" trip took us caving and snorkeling
29 and this is from Justin's underwater camera
30 we jumped in this water after the snorkeling
31 Hallgrímskirkja again, its design is said to be based on the basalt columns of Svartifoss
32 northwestern view from the Hallgrímskirkja tower
33 looking west; the city is powered by geothermal energy and is so clean that the Elliðaá, the largest river in the city, has some great salmon fishing
34 looking northeast, the bay is called Faxaflói, the mountain range is the Esja
35 dark blue roof in the middle is Loki 101 Guesthouse where I stayed for 3 nights
36 Bláa lónið (aka Blue Lagoon) geothermal spa
37 water temperature is about 38 degrees Celsius
38 Svartsengi Power Station in the background
39 the spa is located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula
