Iceland holiday - Another of the major tourist sights is the
Geysir Hot Spring Area. Whilst we can see plenty of waterfalls here in Northern England (though none as dramatic as Gullfoss), hot springs are not found here so I was interested to visit these old
geezers geysers. Thankfully by this stage the rain had stopped and it was a lovely evening, with some nice golden light (in the Golden Circle after all). 'Little Geysir' (above) stopped erupting many years ago and is now a bubbling mud pool like a witches' cauldron. Its Icelandic name: 'Litli Geysir' sounds so sweet! The much larger 'Geysir' itself (which led to the English noun geyser) erupts very rarely nowadays but when it does it has been known to throw up a spout of over 120 metres. The one below, called 'Strokkur', erupts continually, a few times every hour. Sometimes it can spout up to 30m. Though the spouts I witnessed were much smaller, it is quite exciting watching the pressure building in the pool and each explosion still surprises.
The area was rather fun to explore, all free to wander round - and a very pleasant visitor centre too.
The wonderful thing about the photographs is that they not only capture the power of the natural forces at work but also the wonderful natural isolation of the place. A few weeks ago I was looking at similar geysers on Lanzarote, but there you were surrounded by tourist guides and souvenir shops and health and safety notices - and it made them look less awesome in a way.
ReplyDeleteThat's something I'd also enjoy seeing. I've only seen geysers in Yellowstone when I was a child. They made quite an impression.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen such a thing and can only imagine how thrilling it must be!
ReplyDeleteWonderful, jennyfreckles. I have seen Yellowstone geysers. They are a phenomenon worth seeing again and again.
ReplyDeleteAmazing sight.
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