Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.06.2004, Blaðsíða 29

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ISLAND LIFE
Geysir
by Robert jackson
“I’ve given all the good stuff to my
believers a little closer to the biblical
homelands” said the man with the
fluffy white beard, “See what you
can do with a few volcanoes, several
prairies of lava fields, a basket load
of geothermal activity and more rain
than you can handle.”
His one concession to this un-
promising cocktail of raw materi-
als was to lump some of the more
the interesting bits close together
and not too far away from where
Icelanders decided to set up their
capital city here in Reykjavik.
As a result, a good day out is to drive
round what is called in the brochures
‘The Golden Circle’. Now don’t be
put off by the overactive imagination
of whoever it was at the tourist board
who came up with this particular
misnomer; he was only doing his
job. The route takes the vistor to the
three main attractions to be found
close to Reykjavik: Þingvellir, Geysir
and Gullfoss. As I was travelling
with my two young sons, we decided
to forego the visit to Þingvellir and
focus instead on the natural attrac-
tions.
The drive to Geysir takes just over an
hour, most of it through some pretty
unpromising country which becomes
littered with summer houses the
closer you get. Arriving at the site
gives a sense of impending anti-cli-
max for although the visitor centre is
new and stuffed full of merchandise,
and the hotel’s flagstaffs are flutter-
ing with flags from several nations,
a notice board tells us that we´ve
come not to see The Geysir itself
erupt. Apparently this only kicks into
action during times of earthquakes,
state visits and other natural calami-
ties.We’ve come instead, we find out,
to see its poorer relative, Strokkur.
Containing our disappointment, we
plod our way up the path shrouded
in sulphorous steam to the roped off
area where Strokkur is building up
for its next display. What happens
next is utterly compelling.
You can see the water swelling up
inside the hole and then feel that you
are standing uncomfortably close to
several thousand litres of superheated
vapor which is about to be hurled
into the air. You know that it’s about
to blow, but you don´t know exactly
when, and then, just when you think
that nothing is going to happen, a
huge blister of water forms over the
entire opening which then is blasted
into the sky. Your only reaction is to
flinch and withdraw to safety. The
children yelled with pure pleasure
and excitement, as did their father.
We stayed spellbound for at least an-
other half hour´s worth of eruptions.
10 kilometers further on is Gull-
foss and something equally worth
seeing. Here the land cracked open
and created these falls. These are
not the highest in the world, but a
huge volume of water flows over the
precipices into a tight gorge. The
effect is thundrous, spray-laden air
which greets the visitor as he walks
beside them. I recommend driving to
the Visitor’s Centre and then walk-
ing down to the falls from above; it
is slightly longer but it gives a more
theatrical effect to the visit. We were
particularly fortunate because the sun
was shining as we walked over the
brow of the hill forming rainbows in
the spray.
The world can offer bigger falls and
geysirs, but there is something won-
derfully intimate about Iceland’s ver-
sions. More importantly, they aren’t
yet overrun with tourists and you
feel that real effort has been made to
maintain their natural splendour.
Iceland is often accused of having been dealt a poor hand by
whoever it was who handed out nature’s goodies all those years ago.
No oil, no mineral wealth, no forests, no sun. This was a country
that seemed to be sucking on the hind-teat of Genesis, a place
destined to receive Mother Nature’s nul-points for life.
Drunk man wields knife
A man in Ísafjörður was arrested
for waving knifes in the air during
an argument with another man late
Sunday evening. The man, who
was very drunk, was taken away by
police and locked up for the night.
No one was hurt, but police say they
are looking into the situation very
seriously.
Whales killed and examined
Húsavík. The Ministry of Fisher-
ies has announced that it will be
carrying out a scientific cull of
minke whales. A similar cull last
year created a storm of protest and
caused Greenpeace to send their ship
Rainbow Warrior to these shores.
This year 25 whales will be killed
and examined, less than half of last
year’s figure.
Sea eagle chicks hatched
Sea eagles have successful hatched
chicks in a secret location in the
north of Iceland. The species has in
the past suffered from predation of
habitat and persecution from eider
farmers. There are only 60 known
breeding pairs in Iceland.
Smaller cod
Concern is growing in the Icelandic
Fishing industry for the health of
cod stocks. Cod specimens are now
much smaller than they have been
in recent years. Whether the decline
is caused by overfishing, climate
changes or a mixture of the two is yet
to be discovered.
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