It was an early start for the a Sunday morning on  the Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik. On the way to the Geysir area of geothermal activity, we passed Reykjanes, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge comes ashore, the only point at which this extensive sub-Oceanic mountain range is visible on land. We then stopped at Fridheimar Tomato Farm. What’s surprising about Iceland is that it grows so many of its own vegetables so close to the Arctic Circle, using its naturally-occurring geothermal water to heat greenhouses and sterilise soil. Bumble bees are raised to pollinate the tomato flowers and it’s all terribly gentle and ecological. The farm’s output includes tomato-based IPA as well as soup and chutney.

A quarter of Iceland’s electricity is produced from its geothermal blessings and the rest from other renewable sources such as hydro and wind power but what still blows my mind is that that one of Iceland’s main industries is aluminium smelting and it makes economic sense for clients send bauxite to Iceland from as far away as Australia to take advantage of its low energy costs and lower Carbon Dioxide emissions.

I think I’d been fascinated by the geysers in Iceland since I saw a documentary about them as a child. That and pools of bubbling mud that emerged from the ground, plopping like the throats of exotic singing frogs. We did not see plopping mud pools on this “Golden Circle” tour, nor did we see the Geysir from which we get the word geyser. Having emerged in a plume from the depths of the earth every few minutes or hours for goodness knows how long, it suddenly stopped spurting in 1916 and then restarted in 2000. Geysir has been dormant since 2016 and it’s thought that this is due to the movement of the tectonic plates that meet underneath Iceland.

Strokkur, however does erupt at intervals of between 5 and 15 minutes and it is Strokkur that we saw. We were warned that the water comes out of the earth at boiling temperatures and not to go near but apparently some people have still tested this. I mean, it was a geyser and it was interesting but I admit to feeling a little underwhelmed as Strokkur doesn’t spurt as high as pictures I’ve seen of Geysir.

Our final stop on this tour was at Gullfoss Falls, where the water of the Hvitá river tumbles down from the Langjökull glacier into the canyon below. The conjunction of the Eurasian and the North American Tectonic Plates can be seen at Thingvellir. The plates move apart at a rate of about 2.5cm every year but volcanic matter filles the gulf between them. It’s really quite awe-inspiring to think about this happeneing as we stand here.

It was a long day but it’s a classic tour in this part of Iceland, and I’d recommend. Next time, though, I want to see bubbling mud please.