Reykjavík Grapevine - sept 2019, Qupperneq 12

The Reykjavík G
rapevine
Best of Iceland 2019
12
The Green Circle
An eco-friendly road trip through
Árnessýsla County
Words & photos: John Rogers
Árnessýsla County begins just a
few kilometres east of the Rey-
kjavík city limits. Stretching from
the black beaches of the south deep
into the dusty Highlands, it’s an
8,287 km2 tract of land perhaps
best known as the region that con-
tains natural wonders like Geysir,
the majestic Gullfoss waterfall, the
stunning historic site of Þingvellir,
and the colourful Kerið crater—
known collectively as the Golden
Circle.
But there’s much more to Ár-
nessýsla than that. Those visiting
the main sightseeing spots might
also notice how people have put
this powerful nature to work. Vast
clouds of steam float upwards
from geothermal power stations;
ranks upon ranks of neat, bright-
ly lit greenhouses line the small,
well-kept towns, and various hand-
made signs beckon passers-by to
buy local produce and products at
tucked-away farmer’s markets. For
those who aren’t on a tight sched-
ule, there’s much to discover just
off the beaten track.
Steam resources
With this in mind, we set out from
Reykjavík under a cloud-studded
spring sky with a list of less-trav-
elled eco-friendly stops in mind.
The first is the Hellisheiðarvirkjun
Power Station, located just before
the Hellisheiði mountain pass over
the volcanic mountain of Hengill.
As well as powering much of Rey-
kjavík and the surrounding area,
it’s home to a Geothermal Power
Exhibition. We peel off route one
and glide towards the huge bulk of
the power station, passing under
power lines and past several geo-
desic domes that guard bore holes
down to the naturally boiling hot
water in the earth’s crust.
The entrance hall of the pow-
er station is huge, with huge glass
windows and a grand staircase
leading up to several floors of ex-
hibits. A timeline leads from the
early uses of geothermal resourc-
es by Icelanders—such as bathing
in the Sagas, growing potatoes in
warm fields, and washing clothes
in geothermal springs in the 18th
Century—through to today’s ex-
ploitation of natural warmth to
create electricity. Windows look
into the cavernous, clean, quietly
humming turbine halls, which pro-
duce 303MW of electricity, mak-
ing Hellisheiðarvirkjun one of the
largest single unit power plants in
the world.
Greenhouse mecca
Over the mountain pass, the road
circuitously winds down into
Hveragerði. This town is quite lit-
erally steaming, with a small geo-
thermal park in its centre, a beau-
tiful municipal pool with a steam
room built over a bubbling geo-
thermal vent, and the Ölverk bar
serving geothermally-brewed beer.
Jets of steam shoot up from the
surrounding mountains, and the
environmentally friendly resources
are put to work to power a village
of greenhouses growing fruits and
vegetables.
They also produce other kinds
of flora. Rósakaffi is a pleasant bis-
tro that serves cakes, soups and
www.babylon. is
kr ist inn@babylon. is
Ölverk
Logo
P I Z Z A & B R E W E R Y
H V E R A G E R Ð I - I C E L A N D
Where you find the real local beer and gourmet pizzas
Visit Ölverk - Iceland´s first geothermal powered
brewery. Perfect stopover while visiting south
Iceland and Golden Circle
Breiðamörk 2 / 810 Hveragerði / tel. 483-3030 / olverk.is
Brewery tours / Craft beer / Pizzeria / Great local experience
Distance from
Reykjavík:
103 km
How to get there:
Route One to Selfoss then Routes
35, 30, 31 & 36
Car provided by: gocarrental.is South