A Golden Day

We toured part of The Golden Circle (a common tourist route) in a minibus with an excellent tour guide and enjoyed every moment, except for the mosquitoes at Thingveller National Park. Apparently these have arrived in recent years as a result of global warming! Gullfoss was wonderful with its roaring waterfalls and wild flowers covering the damp slopes alongside (main). We joined quite a number of other visitors to watch in awe as Strokkur geyser spouted forth every 8-10 minutes (first extra) to accompanying ooohs and aahs from the audience! Our last stop was at the Secret Lagoon near Fludir where we bathed in a warm pool at a very comfortable 40 degrees fed by surrounding hot springs (second extra). It was sublime!
Amongst other things as we drove through the countryside, I was captivated by the swathes of wild blue lupins along the roadsides and across the hillsides, the rubbly lava fields being colonised by mosses, the beautiful Iceland horses (third extra), and the steam spouts rising from the ground in areas which are geothermal hot spots (fourth extra).