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

After spending an hour out in the blistering morning sun, we decided to take a short cut back to the restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, I had left my iPhone back at the hotel, so we had no map. Some passers by gave us directions, and we set of, we later discovered, in entirely the wrong direction. We were now in the middle of the Hilton golf course residential villas complex, and yet the footpaths were entirely unshaded. Everyone else was travelling either in golf carts or in SUVs, as this was still the USA, after all. The path twisted and turned, and although we passed miles of sparkling time-share apartments, we could not find shade nor shelter for ourselves. After an hour of trudging under the blistering Hawaiian sun, we emerge back at the shops, and stepped into the bliss of air conditioning. I downed a great deal of water, and savoured the luxury of cool air, shade, and hydration.

That afternoon we ventured across the other side of the island to see Volcanoes National Park. We walked through an old lava tube, and emerged into the damp rich rainforest, filled with birds and towering trees. We spent sunset overlooking the caldera of the active volcano, and as it became dark, I could see the pale orange light illuminating the smoke from the vents, and listening to the restless magma rumble and grumble below the earth.

As we only had two nights in Hawaii, I wanted to make the most of it, so I decided to book us on a helicopter ride across the island. A few days beforehand, Adrian had a nightmare where I raised my arms while I was under the rotors, and lost both my hands. He had also seen quite a few movies where the people in the helicopter fare very badly. So he was quite worried about flying in a helicopter over the world’s most active volcano. As we entered the cockpit, Adrian made sure that my hands were firmly by my sides, even though the rotors were still. There were five of us in the helicopter, with Toshi as our pilot. I sat next to him as his co-pilot. We were all buckled in, with our noise-cancelling headphones and microphones for talking with the rest of the crew.

Toshi pointed out the landmarks, crops, and formations as we glided through the clouds to the other side of the island. We were staying on the dry side of the island, black and desolate apart from the fluorescent green of the irrigated resort townships with their McMansions and golf-courses. As we crossed to the other side of the mountains, the land suddenly became lush, filled with squares of eucalyptus and macadamia nut trees. Finally, we were flying over Volcanoes National Park. Most of the park is vast rainforest, but amongst this life we saw huge black gashes caused by recent lava flows. The most recent lava flow occurred a few months ago, and is still pouring out to the ocean through a lava tube. As the lava stream cools, it retreats from the surface and forms a red hot tube underground filled with fast flowing lava. I have walked through old and cold lava tubes, but I have never seen one in progress. As we flew over the top of the tube, we saw the white water vapour from recent rains, as well as the blue sulfur dioxide from the lava vents. Part of the roof of the tube had collapsed, and we were able to peer down and see a pool of red hot lava swirling below the crust. In other nearby spots, some of the lava was still on the surface, visible in intense red waves that contrasted the the blackness of the rest of the landscape.

We followed the lava tube for a few kilometers, until it reached the Pacific Ocean. There, it poured out into the water, with black eruptions emanating from the cliff, and a huge plume of white water vapour rising from the point of contact. Yellow sulphur formed a ring around the entry point, and the island of Hawai’i grew larger beneath us as we watched. We flew back to the helipad via some spectacular valleys and waterfalls, and we returned to our hotel safe and sound, with all our limbs intact, and our minds full of the images of lava swirling below us.