Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

past. It was very clear water into which people throw silver to see how long it
takes to reach the bottom; there must have been thousands of pounds worth in
there. We went on to Valhalla Hotel and stopped for a coffee. Tingvellir is the
site of the Althing - the world’s first parliament and the President's summer
house stands nearby.
Then we drove on across a lava plain and along the east shore of the lake. At
its southern end a foaming torrent flowed down into a lower lake through a rift
gorge. We came to a big hydro electric plant at Irafoss and were shown all over
it. It gave an amazing impression of controlled power with its massive, humming
turbo generators. As we were leaving, the man in charge - only one was needed
because of the nature of the controls - asked if we would like to see a waterfall.
He turned a handle and opened one of the sluice gates in the wall of the dam so
that a torrent of foaming white water rushed over the bare rocks beneath us as we
gazed from the observation window. It was an awe-inspiring sight with clouds of
spray rising high; then touching the control again he cut off the water and the
rocks appeared again. It was an impressive demonstration of man's power over
nature. However, an unfortunate fly fisherman below, was nearly swept away by
the flood!
Below another dam was being built and we inspected the huge tunnel, which
was to carry water to turbines below.
Then on through very lovely country clothed with dwarf willow and birch
trees, with the Icelanders' summer houses dotted about - several of them old turfwalled
and roofed dwellings. We went across a river and around a large craggy
mountain. Everywhere along our route the berry-pickers were at work. Then we
came to Reykir and halted to look at the geysirs. They are rather impressive -
coming out of the sandy-clayey ground all over the place; one small spring
emerged at the base of a telephone pole. Some of the geysirs are tapped for
heating; they have a boiler with a safety valve and a boxed, insulated pipe
leading away the hot water and steam. We were told that occasionally a geysir
appears in the middle of the drawing room of a nearby house and then they have
to rebuild it! We saw many greenhouses with carnations, tomatoes, lettuce, even
bananas - growing in them.
We travelled on through the village and up a hair-raising road along a
precipice with a thousand foot sheer drop to one side and a wonderful view out
over the plain, with the Westmann Islands over to the south east and the
mountains, including the volcano Hekla to the east.
Continuing over very rugged country, we passed many summer and winter
houses, ski jumps, and other signs of winter sports. From the south came long
tongues of lava, 20-30 feet high, frozen as they had cooled when they reached the
limit of their flow. We saw a glider in the air and another on the ground; rather a
hazardous sport in this country one would think. All along the road people
waited for the bus, and others were riding their powerful Icelandic ponies, laden
with baskets of berries - mouths and teeth quite blue from the juice. We got back
to the ship at 6.30 pm and that evening I developed toothache. Next day I found
a dentist, who removed the offending tooth. Probably I could have kept it if I had
404