Twice Mice

The lands of northern Iceland are the most desolate through which I have ever walked. The population is so sparse that each individual farm is marked on the national touring map, and even then we could drive for hundreds of kilometers with no sign of habitation. In some places, there were barely even any signs of vegetation apart from moss and a few tiny determined wildflowers. It was like walking on the moon. Black soil would crunch beneath our feet, dust rising slowly from our footsteps. The dark ground would stretch out to the distant volcanic mountains. The pale and dusky sky spread out above us, the dim northern sun a constant companion in the sky. There is a primitive wilderness here that somehow seems to nurture and uplift with its vast expanse of eternity.

On our last full day in Iceland we were given a choice between swimming in 4^oC water or 40^oC water. Adrian chose the former, and headed out to swim in the glacial melt between two tectonic plates in a scuba drysuit. I chose the later, and spent the day in the thermal waters of the Blue Lagoon Spa. Only in Iceland would they think of converting the effluent from a geothermal power plant into a place of relaxation and luxury.

Photo from bartpogoda

As Iceland straddles two tectonic plates, a mixture of sea water and glacial melt comes into contact with volcanic magma, which is then heated and quickly rises towards the surface. The Hitaveita Suðurnesja geothermal power plant opened in 1976, when they drilled 2000 meters to reach 243^oC fluid. Some of this fluid is passed underneath homes and roads to provide heading for 17 000 people. The rest of the fluid is used to drive steam turbines to provide electricity for 45 000 people.

This fluid is then cooled to 37-39^oC water and pumped into a 6 000 000 litre lagoon that is renewed every 40 hours. This fluid contains dissolved primary rocks from the interior mantel of the Earth. It contains 251 mg/kg silica, 7.643 mg/kg sodium, as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, carbon dioxide, sulphate, chlorine, and fluorine. There are also unique filamentous and coccoid blue green algae that flourish in the warm salty water, giving the lagoon its eerie blue appearance.

The end result is extraordinary - pale blue milky water within jagged jet black lava rocks. The silica in the water coats all the rocks to smooth everything with a while glassy surface. They have buckets of silica mud for DIY facials, as well as a hot waterfall, steam rooms set into a lava cave and a white silica room, a sauna, and shallow areas filled with mud. One can also take a break from the baths and enjoy a light snack while wrapped up in a white robe looking out across the steaming water. I spent the day moving from one thermal activity to another, and left the Blue Lagoon warm to the core, completely relaxed and with glowing skin.

Photo from gudmunda

We are in Oslo airport, waiting for our plane to Reykyavick. For the next ten days, we shall be driving through Iceland.

Yesterday was a big day. We met in Ghent to sign the final deeds on our mortgage and the deeds for our apartment. We were there with our notary, the seller was there with his notary, there was a representative from the bank, and a legal secretary. They really like conducting business in person here in Belgium. The documents were in French, but verbally translated to us by our notary. The seller and his notary could read French but held their discussions in Flemish. It took two hours for the notary to go through every article and ensure that we understood and agreed to what we were signing. They were very thorough. He even gave us the document that we would need to submit to the government to protect €900/month of our income if the rest was seized by the bank for non-payment of the loan. Each page had a lovely big red stamp that read “Belgische Notaris - Notaire belgique - Belgische Notar”, and was initialed by all parties present. Finally, with a handshake an exchange of the keys, the home was ours.

After that we went to Ikea to order a dining table, chairs, bed, mattress, sofas, desk, and coffee table. It is a big deal to get things delivered to our apartment. The elevator is too small for most items. Thus, we need to register with the police to block off part of the road, and then hire a 15th floor external crane/lift to move everything through the windows. So we need to get everything delivered from our old place and from Ikea on the same day - July 10th.

Finally, it was time to walk through our very own apartment. Adrian hadn’t seen the place for four months, so I hoped that he still liked it. You can see the entrance to the metro from the front door of the apartment complex:

Eleven stories later, we saw our front door:

And our entrance, with a bucket of paint to redo the outside windowsills, if we wish:

The guest bedroom:

The day was glorious, we opened up the windows, and Adrian discovered that we can see six of the Atomium atoms from the lounge-room if we stick our heads out. We could also see people picnicking in the park below: