Thursday 29th. I drove to Oxford to collect Jackie and then on to Heathrow via Purple Parking. Here we easily found John & Margaret and also Paul & Nickie. The plane took off soon after 1.30 pm and it was a two and a half hour flight. We arrived at Keflavik and were driven in a minibus to Reykjavik the capital of Iceland. We made friends with the other six members of the party and walked down into the town admiring the lights to find a place to have supper. We found an excellent restaurant which had a cold fish buffet.

Friday 30th. After breakfast we left in the mini bus and drove out of Reykjavik to an area where they had set up the first parliament. Here we saw a fine lake and learned how we were in between the two earth's plates. On one side the North American plate and on the other the European plate. In between was an area that had filled up with lava as the plate had been drifting apart. They are still drifting apart but only by about a centimetre a year,

John, Raymond, Margaret, Paul, Jackie, Nicky

It had snowed quite hard the day before we arrived and it was very beautiful. Especially when the sun was shining. The temperature varied between zero and about minus 8 degrees, but in the wind it really felt quite cold.

Finally before returning again to Reykjavik we stopped at a geothermal area where there were geysers and boiling springs.

Our next stop was to see this very high waterfall which was most spectacular.

Our jeep then took us through a road that would be absolutely closed to normal vehicles. With its big wheels it was able to cross rivers and go through thick snow.

Eventually we arrived at the head of the valley and stopped to admire a glacier.

Sunday 1st. February. Our last day, but on the way to the airport we stopped off for a couple of hours at the Blue Lagoon. Here a large natural area is filled with hot water. Not the sulphur smelling hot water that comes from deep down in the bore holes, but lovely fresh water that has been heated by the natural hot water. A quick dash for the few yards from the changing rooms, through the freezing outside air and then you were in this wonderfully hot pool. At one end it was even hotter at the place where the hot water comes in. In fact so hot you couldn't stay there too long. Your head might be cold but provided you kept your shoulders under the water it was lovely.

These people are spreading a special white cream all over their faces to be washed off later when they get out. This is supposed to leave you with beautifully soft skin.