Day
Eight and Nine – Reykjavik, Iceland
The weather in Iceland was amazing and ideal for exploring a land of huge contrasts. Some of the landscape hasn’t changed for millions of years with snow capped mountains, whilst other areas have
dangerously active volcanos, natural hot geyzers and Tectonic Plates (mid-ocean) that are still opening up by ~3mm/year.
This, in turn,
leads to a sparsely populated country that is also one of the richest
and most highly developed in the world.
The whole Island has a population just over 300,000. For that reason, Reykjavik is one of the smallest
capital cities in the world. The name Reykjavik is translated as ‘Smoky
Bay’ after the columns of steam that rose from the hot springs in the
area.
The ship was anchored overnight so we had lots of time to
explore.
All that was missing, was a trip to see Santa and a chance to observe the Northern Lights. We will have to save that for another time…..
We did a golden circle tour visiting magnificent waterfalls,
areas of baron land due to lava rock from previous erupting volcanoes. We even saw the volcano that erupted in 2010 with the Ash cloud that brought Europe airspace to a standstill.
column of boiling water can reach as high as 30 meters.
The whole area is a geothermal park sitting on top of a vast boiling
cauldron.
We couldn’t Ieave without a trip to the Blue Lagoon. This is a geothermal spa where the water is a
lovely and warm 38 degrees and naturally changed every 36 hours. It is enriched with minerals and reputed for
its healing properties. It was just like getting into a very hot bath…
Day Ten – Day at Sea
Day
Eleven – Lerwick Shetland Isles
Capital of the Shetland Islands,
belonging to Scotland. We hired a car and travelled around the southern
part. We didn’t realise there were so many beautiful sandy beaches
 |
| Thousands of Puffins at the most southern part of the isle |
Fantastic views of one of the most scenic panoramas found anywhere. Snow covered mountain peaks, beautiful and wild waterfalls, lush green vegetation and deep blue waters of the fjord.
 |
| Seven sisters waterfall |
Gateway to the fjords with stunning views of the surroundings from the top of Mount Floien.
Day Fourteen – Day at Sea
Unfortunately this is where our holiday ended and we disembarked and made our journey home.
I previously said the scenery was stunning and beautiful and the trip
is highly recommended. We made some great friends and have some
wonderful memories.
I think I have enough
to keep me busy over the next few days with getting back into work mode….Planning future card classes and new catalogue launch party, and attend a craft fair at Stallingborough Village Hall on Saturday 10am – 3.00pm
Phewww I am exhausted just looking at all the photos Linda, didnt realise you had visited so many places, you have some fantastic photos, lots of inspiration for your project life ! xxx