Strokkur

Friday we set out at around 10, driving like blissful idiots into a fucking hurricane. The remnants of Sandy, which ravaged the US east coast has hit Iceland, you see. And we have been driving and even walking in that weather all day. There have been periods when we've been the only car on the road for like 10-15 minutes at a time, especially down south... where they say the hurricane hit the worst.

We started out by going on Route 1, which as far as I can tell goes around the whole island (which, btw, is far bigger than it looks) and holds a fairly good standard. There's a section of road a bit east of Reykjavik where the road goes over a mountain and this was where we got our first taste of what was to endure the whole day - a huge trailer had blown off the road! Worse, it was still there when we drove back again 7 hours later. I don't know anything about the capacities of the Icelandic authorities but I guess they figured it was best to just leave it there till the wind quited down.

Anyway, today has been very, very windswept. I mentioned yesterday that our stop before Thingvallavatn was the coldest I've ever been when factoring in the wind chill. I still stand by that judgement, but the sheer force of some of the wind I've been subjected to today has been just horrific (though not that cold). Through verification with the wind warnings that the Icelandic traffic authorities have put up along some of the main roads, we confirmed that I'd actually been out walking in a hurricane, but more about that later.

The first proper tourist thingy we saw was a geysir called Strokkur, and as you can see from the pictures the wind was just incredible. I estimate it to be on the same level as the weather at the top of Great Orme in Wales, but quite a bit colder. We had to walk backwards or breathe through our gloves to manage the walk up to the geysir, and when we walked back down it was like having someone pushing us in the back all the way. There's an even bigger geysir a bit farther up, but it only blows 4-5 times a day, while Strokkur erupts about every five minutes.

All pics.

Vivek kept saying Siri and I were they worst Norwegians he'd ever met, and that we weren't allowed to complain.


I explained that the Vikings were long dead and that he could fuck off.


The visitor center made a brisk trade in t-shirts. Ehehehehehehehe.


The little geysir.


The big one, which did not erupt the whole time we were there.


Strokkur. Notice how the steam is flying with the wind. I have video fotage of the eruption, but I probably won't be able to put it up until I get back home.