Page 49 - 2000 ICELAND

before. First, you walk through level grassy areas filled with arctic terns
screeching at you, then you reach rubbly stones and cross that terrain, then

you come to grassy tussocks that you must simultaneously hop top to top
while avoiding falling into holes where there are hidden nests both occupied

and abandoned, then you reach flat lava pavers pocked with holes full of
seawater, but finally you realize that you are never going to reach the

ocean’s edge. There are deep tidal pools between you and the apparent

shoreline and though the lava looks like paving stones, the “sheets” of lava
are discontinuous and you cannot make straight enough progress to ever

reach the sea before a big pool interrupts. The lava is as sharp as coral so
you have to be very careful in your footing. So you content yourself with

looking in the direction of the white foam spray in the distance.

The shore was interesting also because of all the bird life we saw; many
babies were still in their nests, especially the fat arctic tern chicks who look

bigger than their parents because of all their down. They are raucous and

demanding constantly but ever so cute and appealing. No wonder their
parents can’t resist them. There were also different flowers and plants

along the seafront as well—different from what we had seen in the interior
and in the mountainous areas. We fossicked along and picked up shells and

driftwood. What a beautiful day we had too. No clouds in these skies and
the water sparkled and danced tantalizingly before our eyes. The sea color

was a deep cobalt blue and it looked cold!

GREENHOUSES

Back on the bus, we were taken to “Herdy-Gerdy,” as close I can come to

the name of the greenhouse center for Iceland. This is a lovely, fairly
temperate part of the coast, and there are many greenhouses heated with

the thermal waters to grow some vegetables for the country; tomatoes,
cucumbers, houseplants, and cabbages are the main products of this area.

The greenhouses can lengthen the growing season somewhat but it’s hard

to overcome 6 months of darkness. According to Oskar, despite the