Geysers, waterfalls and walls

This is Strokkur , the most active geyser at Geysir in Iceland. The name of the place was given to the phenomenon in the 18th century but the great Geysir at the site only erupts infrequently and there can be years in between each manifestation.

Strokkur, on the other hand, blows every few minutes and reaches well over 60 feet. It sits within a landscape of bubbling pools and volcanic mud and is one of the stops on the "Golden Circle" tour which also takes in the amazing waterfall at Gulfoss, which is the first of my extra pictures today.

The trip ( there are a number of companies in the market and we went with the comparatively new "Your Day Tours" which were excellent) is very much worth taking even in the type of weather we had today which for much of the time consisted of heavy and penetrating showers though by mid afternoon at Thingvellir National Park the sun was starting to break through and we had a good walk up past the site of the oldest Parliament in the world which is also where the Icelandic Republic was proclaimed in June 1944.

My second extra picture of the flag at that point which has two other claims to fame. It is in the valley where the Eurasian and North American Tectonic Plates are slowly parting (by about 2cm a year) and it is the dramatic natural set for The Wall in "Game of Thrones" .