August 25 - Geysir and Gullfoss

Our first real driving day today, though only about three hours total. (The distances around Iceland aren't very big for those of us used to travelling around western Canada.) First stop was Geysir to see the eponymous water spout.

That's actually a geyser called Strokkur (insert your own immature joke here), not Geysir itself. Geysir is only a few dozen meters away but doesn't erupt very reliably any more, partially due to an earthquake a few decades ago, and partially thanks to some tourists who decided to push boulders down it in the 1950s. (I'm not normally in favor of the death penalty, but I might reconsider for jackholes like this who dedicate their lives to ruining things for the rest of us.) Luckily Strokkur is dubbed "the most reliable geyser in the world" and erupts every three to four minutes so it's not too difficult to time your photos.

Then it was on to nearby Gullfoss, our first "foss" (waterfall) of many in the coming weeks.

A few more hours of driving and we made it to our hotel, a restored cow barn in the shadow of Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that halted air traffic in 2010.