We toured a cut flower production center that is geothermally heated and has hydro-electric-powered artificial lighting.
I was impressed with the Alstrumeria plants which can last almost forever. The ones at the greenhouse were 25 or 26 years old. Might be an interesting plant to try at home, but you need to make sure they don’t get away as weeds. When you pull the stalk with the flower, the root of the plant just continues to grow and produce a new one.
Then we went on a short river rafting trip on the “white river”. The name refers to the glacial “rock flour” that colors the water. There were only a few Class 2 rapids, but the biggest one was right after we put in, so the trip started with a bang.
We stopped for a bit at some cliffs where the adventurous could jump off and into the very cold river. Of course I had to try it – even with the drysuit on it was shockingly cold!
We stopped for lunch at a geothermal area in a small town, Hverager∂i. First we stopped at a grocery store and mini-mall where we picked up picnic provisions, then drove a few blocks to a little hot-springs park where we ate outside. You could have an egg hard-boiled in a steam vent for an extra dollar added to the three dollar admission fee.
They also sometimes make bread in one of the steam vents as well.
We made more progress toward Reykjavik, but stopped for a presentation at Hellisheidi, one of the biggest geothermal plants in the world, which supplies both electricity and hot water to a large fraction of Reykjavik.
After the presentation we returned to Reykjavik where we checked in to the Hilton again. For dinner we wandered a kilometer or so to Ginger, a sort of gourmet/healthy/fast food fusion restaurant.