Well as promise my blog following minions, I am ready to tell you about the fascinating world of Pingvalla. The wild and mysterious Golden Circle. Here in the mountains where the ground moves and steams and every 7 mins spews boiling water into the air. This is the land of elves and trolls.

We were picked up from the horse farm for the afternoon leg of the Golden Circle Tour. The bus was already almost full with the morning crowd from the Blue Lagoon. A nice guy moved seats to sit with his friend so Chris and I could sit together. Later this would prove to be an act of extreme kindness when the seat war breaks out at the waterfall. But I digress.....

We were on the bus getting an English guided talk about the history of Iceland and the ancient world and volcanoes and sheep and horses etc. Trouble was, there were 2 English girls behind us that would not shut up and had to talk loud. Chavy world meets Vicky Pollard and Kimmy look at me look at meeeeee. I now understand why the guy so quickly gave up his seat. But we switched off from both and enjoyed the view as we climbing into the Iceland Mountains well into the snow line.

Our first stop was the Rift Valley where the fault line between the American and Eurasian continental tectonic plates meet. One side of this tissue is 70 metres high and the other is 30 as Eurasia is dropping and America is climbing. So we walked from America to Europe is about 10 mins and took a few happy snaps. There were some breath taking view over the lakes down the rift. This tissue is what makes Iceland, literally the bubble pools and dramatic snow capped mountains rising up from vast lava fields are created because the country is slowly ripping in half down the middle.

From the fissure we drove for 1 1/2 hours to Gulfoss. This is the magnificent waterfall that cascades down into the rift from the glacial melt high on the Icelandic plateau. Chris and I spend time walking around and taking lots of photos and video, which will be loaded at our next computer stop. The volume of water coming over the falls in the summer turns the 2 falls we saw into 1 massive flow. There is snow clinging to the surrounding walls and sheets of ice cover the settle pools and lakes around the river itself. This was worth the bus ride.

Back on the bus, however, things got messy. One person moved seats causing a cascade of seat changing which ultimately lead to a fiery Scottish lady sitting in one of the chavy girls from east London. Then it became a free for all in who took who's seat on the bus. The b****ing and arguing took long to settle than the 10 min ride back to the Geyser. Lots of "look at the hand uh hmmmmm" and head wobble and the exasperated guide rolled her eyes trying to settle the seating. This is why I don't do bus trips and cruises.

10 mins back down the road to the Geyser and the tour guide asking everyone to remain in the seat they had now to avoid another disaster. This was not going to happen.

The thermal area was small and had that sulphar smell, though not as bad as I remember Rotorua to be. We were last off the bus to put our jackets etc on the seats in an attempt to keep them when everyone poured back in. We followed the path and saw the bubbling springs. The main geyser erupts about every 7 mins and as we saw it go off from the bus we took our time strolling up to the safer viewing area. The guide warned us that the water is very hot and don't put your fingers in. But like a "wet paint" sign, some people can't be told. And yes 120 degrees C will burn. We got some great footage of the geyser exploding and Chris took the brilliant video we shall load on the site.

We strolled back from the geyser to the gift shop. The usual array of puffin fridge magnets and woolen jumpers and geyser key rings. We got a couple of sandwiches and a block of chocolate with a geyser picture so we knew where we were eating it. Then back to ....... The bus seat saga dah dah daaaaah

Written by Rod