16/08

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Getting into hot water

It’s difficult not to get blase about the way in which Icelanders harness their geo-thermal energy. Everywhere we go are steaming vents or hissing rocks that stopped us in our tracks when we initially came across them.

However, a project like ours wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland’s most famous and well-documented uses of geo-thermal energy. Although it was perhaps the most miserable weather we’ve had so far, a quick dip and a silica mud mask and we were soon experiencing the benefits first hand:

However, a less well-known but perhaps more interesting example is the geo-thermal beach at Nautholsvik, just 10 mins or so from central Reykjavik. Here the freezing Atlantic ocean is heated by a hot spring that keeps parts of the water at a pleasant 20 degrees, and the sand is imported from Morocco. On a nice day it is packed.