Reykjavik Bus Station
A deeply unattractive building serves as Reykjavik’s main bus station with an equally bad attempt to creating a colourful looking diner alongside it, which was closed anyway!
An Icelandic pillarbox
So this is what Icelanders do to postboxes!
Hotel Loftleidir, Reykjavik
Sitting adjacent to the old Reykjavik Airport is, what sums up the worst in 60s architecture, the Hotel Loftleidir.
Lupins nearby the Perlan
Blue lupins along the trail from Hotel Loftleidir to the Perlan.
The Perlan, Reykjavik
A restaurant, cafe and shop sits over five giant water tanks overlooking the skyline of Reykjavik.
View of Reykjavik
View of Reykjavik from the Perlan.
Inside the Perlan
Cafe inside the Perlan where I had a good-sized portion of ice cream whilst nursing a sore foot from an incident in the Blue Lagoon.
Icelandic conveniences
Sounds incredibly silly in English.
4wd vehicles are popular
I did see even larger 4wd vehicles, but this was pretty good. Large tyres with low pressure are good for negotiating snow apparently.
Not quite new vehicle
This vehicle ain’t going nowhere. I wonder how long it has been parked on the side of the road?
Near Hallgrim’s Church, Reykjavik
Bright contrasting corrugated buildings against a dark sky.
Hallgrim’s Church
Looking up towards Hallgrim’s Church off Skolavoerthustigur Road. By the way, a ‘d’ with a line through it represents a ‘th’ in English.
Laugavegur Street, Reykjavik
Laugevegur is where it’s all happening in Reykjavik; especially in the evenings.
Weathered roof, Reykjavik
Yet another typical Reykjavik corrugated building.
Reykjavik
More buildings…
4wd up a hill
On the first leg of the Golden Circle Tour, we did a little four-wheel driving up this hill to get a good view of Reykjavik.
Overall view of Reykjavik
Trying to keep the camera still due to the high winds was not easy, but this is the view we had of Reykjavik from the top of this hill.
Geothermal steam pipes
Some of these pipes run 30 to 40 km and lose only a couple of degrees due to advanced insulation. The kinks in the pipes are present to offset expansion and contraction movements due to temperature or earth movements.
Geothermal steam pipes
Another view of the steam pipes looking towards Thingvallavatn Lake.
Summer cottage
Most Icelanders have summer cottages. This idyllic one is situated along the coast of Lake Thingvallavatn.
Lonely landscape
Part of Iceland’s lure is its almost untamed wild scenery with its vast open spaces.
Thingvellur
Thingvellur is the location of the world’s oldest parliament. This was taken from the rift between European and North American tectonic plates looking down at a small community with church.
Thingvellur
Walking through the rift.
Thingvellur
The flag of Iceland flutters wildly in the strong winds.
Thingvellur
Crystal clear water flows through the rift.
Strange clouds over the interior
Extremely high winds creates this strange pattern in the clouds. With a little imagination, a malevolent face can be seen in this picture in the clouds.
Gullfoss
The ‘Golden Waterfall’. To many, the most beautiful waterfall in Europe. The most powerful waterfall in Europe (Dettifoss) happened to be a little too far away in northeast Iceland.
Gullfoss
Icy-cold water just before going over Gullfoss’s precipice.
Gullfoss
Mist rising from the narrow valley at the base of Gullfoss.
Gullfoss
Vast power of water plunging into canyon.
Gullfoss with rainbow
This is what most people want to see here: a rainbow over Gullfoss!
Geysir
Although not nearly as large as Yellowstone, I was particularly impressed just how close you can get to these hot pools.
Geysir
Beautiful as this may be, I was somewhat concerned just how close you can wander next to these very hot and deep hot springs.
Geysir
This amazingly blue hot spring was, surprisingly, just the right temperature to swim in. Not that you’d want to though!
Geysir
Another view of the hot and deep pool where just a moment ago, some tourists were standing right near the edge by the deep bit.
Strokkur Geysir, Geysir
Got this geyser erupting just at the right moment. I was told to avoid getting any of the moisture on your camera lens.
Geysir
The Little Geyser. Must have suffered an inferiority complex!
Geysir
Many locations in Iceland are riddled with hot spring locations.
The bikers of Iceland
I was informed that there were no Hells Angels in Iceland as there are, apparently, in Sweden. But these did look the part!
Fishing in Iceland
Apparently, fishing licences are extremely expensive in Iceland.
Strange water-filled cirque
Apparently, Bjork did a concert here because of the unusually fine acoustics this place serves.
An Icelandic pony
No other pony or horse is allowed to be imported for fear of cross-breeding. Icelandic ponies are unique and well sought after.
House in countryside
A geothermal borehole sits close to an attractive Icelandic house.
A little geyser
One of many little geysers between Selfoss and Reykjavik.
Geothermal borehole
A thermal bore was being released of its pressure creating an extraordinarily powerful head of steam.
Geothermal borehole
The sense of power was awesome here.
Sunset just before midnight
Beautiful sunset behind a church in Reykjavik.