Flowers, River Rafting, Geothermal Power Plant

8/23/16 - Flowers, River Rafting, 
Geothermal Power Plant, Icelandic Theater

Our first stop was a local flower farm specializing in cut flowers for retail customers. It was very enlightening to see how this family (for many generations) took advantage of the geothermal energy to grow amazing lilies, roses, Gerbera daisies and other species.  They were also replacing the soil in each starter pot with pumice from the area volcanoes - pretty much eliminating the threat of invasive insects and bacterial infections to the plants.

The young manager/owner finally unlocked the mystery for us as to how the rose stems turned out so tall and straight for perfect floral arrangements. (They bend down any outside stems to slow down their growth, and that forces the inside stems in the interior to grow taller, stronger and straighter).

The undeniable highlight of the day was river rafting on the Hvita glacial river. (The biggest challenge, besides negotiating the rapids, was squeezing into the wet suits, booties and life vests). We split up into 2 groups, and our group of 6 was led by Helke, a young Icelandic guide.  About 4 people opted out of the adventure so we relied on them for any and all photos (mostly shot from an overhead bridge).

 Photos by Tom Divers...

 In full gear & loading the bus for the launch point.

 Tom thought it was funny how my spiked hair stuck out of my helmet.

 Helke, our fearless leader.  
I told him he had a nice smile, and, without missing a beat, 
he said, "Barb, are you hitting on me?"

 Both of our rafts tuck into an eddy to let the rafts with the young people get out in front (for their own safety)

 Our "cougar" raft - George was an honorary member.  I'm in the bow with Lynn.

 We actually look like we know what we were doing.  
Turns out we were much better going through the rapids backwards (ha ha).

Our other raft of seniors.

The first rapid was the most challenging, and Lynn and I - positioned at the front of the raft (the bow) dictated the pace after Helke gave the instruction. It didn't take long for us to be totally soaked.  It felt like the river came pouring through the holes in the top of our helmets, traveled down the length of our wet suit before finally settling in our booties.  What an adrenaline rush!

Negotiating the second rapids with an open mouth yelling "yeehaw!" resulted in a huge intake of sulphur water that almost made me vomit. (After that one, the rapids were calmer so my mouth was not as open).

Once we returned to Reykjavik about 8 of us took the bus to the Harpa, the beautiful downtown concert hall for the theater and symphony. After enjoying dinner in the Bistro on the first floor, we climbed the stairs to enter a small intimate theater to watch Icelandic Sagas - The Greatest Hits in 75 Minutes.  These 40 stories about the first settlers of Iceland were summarized and condensed by 2 actors with various costume and gender changes. It was hilarious and quite enjoyable.