The Blue Lagoon

We visited the village of Hveragerði which took the brunt of a 6.3 Richter earthquake on May 29, 2008. Here they had pictures of the scene, see the crack formed by the quake, and a short video of bottles falling in a store. We had the chance to feel what the earthquake felt like. Then Siggy treated us to cake with our group picture on it.

Cake with our Ice Cave Picture

Next stop was the Hellisheidi Geothermal plant. This plant uses the thermal features of this region to supply 303 MW of electricity and 130 MW of hot water, heating 40% of Reyjavik. One fourth of Iceland is volcanic and they experience an eruption about every four years.The wells here go down about 2 to 3 thousand meters. The water is to caustic to use directly so they use heat exchangers to create steam for the turbines and heat water. The hot water is piped through insulated pipes27 Km to Reyjavik only losing about 2 degrees Celsius. Iceland gets 30% of its power 23rdfrom geothermal and 70% from hydroelectric.

Hellisheidi Geothermal Plant

In the town of Grindavik, we rode ATVs along the Ocean shore to a lighthouse and several ship wrecks. Our guide was a member of the search and rescue team here. They have rescued over 250 sailors since 1931. The rescue in 1931 involved a ship which lost steering and crashed into the rocks. They used a gun to shoot a line to the ship, then rigged a double line to the ship so they could pull a chair out to the ship. They pulled the men in one at a time. Twenty minutes after pulling the Captain to shore the ship sank. 

Riding our ATVs along the coast

We finished our day at the Blue Lagoon bathing in the hot waters. I was expecting a natural lagoon, but it was created from a small natural lake filled with water from the nearby geothermal electric plant and the water was green. But we did enjoy the waters.

The Blue Lagoon

Summary of the trip: 

Despite the cold, windy weather, we really enjoyed this trip. Iceland is another country with huge variety of scenery in a small country: seasides, thermal areas, mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers. For lovers of nature this is an ideal place. The people were also delightful, everyone was friendly and most speak English. We also enjoyed our small group of travelers, especially happy hour every night. Our biggest complaint was the prices: $14 beers and $24 hamburgers. 

If you want more pictures, the narrated video for this trip is on youtube.