Woolly says – We’d headed down for breakfast to find a wonderful array of food on the buffet, I needed no encouragement to tuck in until the mean person that I have to travel with told me off, I mean I was only taking the cheese plate in case I got hungry later! With a belly fit to burst we stood outside waiting for our tour bus to arrive, yes, a tour, I know we never do those but Jo had pointed out that if we hired a car the likelihood would be us driving round and round the centre of Reykjavik and never actually getting anywhere, she had a point.

Having picked up a number of people and swapped onto a larger bus we headed out of the city and into the rural areas of Iceland. The guide told us lots about the country and how it had once come under the Kingdom of Denmark, how Vikings had settled here and that due to the geysers that hot water was cheap and plentiful in the whole of the country.

Iceland is a Nordic Island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean and is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Warmed by the Gulf Stream and it means chilly summers and a polar climate during the winter months. During the winter months residents will only see around four hours of daylight.

As we sat admiring the outlook and waving to the Icelandic ponies the guide told us about the tectonic plates that are ever moving in the country and our first stop was to see a rift.

Pingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological significance, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, as we got off the coach the guide warned us to stay on the paths as there were many small rifts where a foot could go down let along a small mammoth like myself.

We walked down into the rift itself looking up at the high cliffs that had been formed and admiring the moss that appeared to cover most places.

Cold looking icy pools lay below us and although the sun was out it was bitterly cold.

Having paused at one of the many viewing points we headed further along the rift, huge cracks cut across the rock. While holes leading to who knows where went through the craggy surfaces, I liked it a lot.

Climbing back on the bus we settled in as the guide told us about agriculture in the country, not much although due to the thermal performance of the geysers the farmers were now trapping the heat and using it in greenhouses to grow more and more. Crops like wheat and barley however would never grow in the temperatures of day light hours the country lived with so much was imported.

We headed into a geyser field; the English word geyser (a periodically spouting hot spring) derives from Geysir. Lots of erupting water sounded like something to be wary off but my human assured me that if we kept to the pathways, we would be safe and remain dry, I just hoped that was the case.

Having left the transport and crossed the road we stood starring at a small geyser which bubbled up and down whilst steam filled the air, we watched and watch some more but even though it looked as though something might happen it never actually did, I wasn’t impressed and having waited a while longer I suggested we move onto the larger geyser for a bit more action.

Strokkur is a fountain-type geyser located in a geothermal area beside the Hvítá River in Iceland in the southwest part of the country. It is known to erupt every 6 to10 minutes rising to a height of 15–20 metres (49–66 ft). Well, there was no waiting with this one as we followed the footpath round it went up right in front of us and someone didn’t get a picture!

With only minutes to wait we watched the water bubble and hiss, when Woosh it went into the sky with a blanket of steam and the nose numbing smell of rotten eggs. It was tremendous, I bounced up and down crying out for it to do it again, moments later it did.

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I was thrilled although I could have done without the eggy stench. Wanting to see it again, Jo checked the time and said that we still needed to get lunch before getting back onto the bus, my tummy gurgled in agreement.

A good portion of tasty fish and chips consumed, and we re-joined our fellow tourists for the next destination. This time the guide told us about schooling in the country and how small villages and towns grew up around the school in this country whereas in many countries the school would only be built once there were sufficient children to use it. With long summer holidays the schools were also used as hotels and were a lot swisher than those in the UK.

Pulling into another carpark I couldn’t see what we were going to see, climbing off the coach I followed Jo down some steps arriving at the most incredible sight. Gullfoss (Golden Falls) is a waterfall located in the canyon of the Hvítá river in southwest Iceland and it was beautiful.

As the icy water poured over the rocks, we could  see rainbows glittering away.

As we got closer the spray started to cover us and my carer found that her glasses were covered, I made the sensible decision to stay within the confines of her jacket to keep as dry as possible.

We stood admiring its force for a while before turning back and walking up to the highest viewing point where we could watch the river lazily arrive before gushing down in two stages (11 metres or 36 feet, and 21 metres or 69 feet) into a crevice 32 metres (105 ft) deep. It was spectacular.

Having spent as long as we could we wandered back towards the carpark looking at the surrounding mountains covered in ice and the volcanic landscape where nothing would ever grow.

As we headed back towards Reykjavik the guide told us small amounts about the power generated for the country and pointed out the volcano that had stopped many of the world’s planes with its ash not so long ago. Tired but raring to go we still had part two of the day to go.