Geldingadalur
The last eruption in Iceland I was lucky enough to see - from a distance. A series of cones opened up to the north of the vast Vatnajokull glacier but along with record-breaking volumes of lava came toxic gas too. Very few people were allowed to get close. We instead drove over Vatnajokull and from a vantage point 25km away looked down on the eruption. We could see the colours of the sky against the green of northern lights, through binos I watched the lava thrown into the air as liquid solidify and fall like a wall of stones - but most memorable of all was the noise. Even from the distance of 25km there was a constant sound of breaking glass, like a heap of ceramics being constantly heaped up by a bulldozer.
This eruprion couldn’t be more different. The crack has opened up just 30km outside Reykjavik and is what the Icelanders call a ‘tourist eruption’ - easy to access, lots of lava, little toxic gas. The site is constantly monitored by the authorities but when everything is ok, visits are allowed. We walked in alongside many others to take a look. What struck me was that there was no sound. Perhaps the wind, the frequent helicopters flying overhead or the crowds hid the noise of the volcano. The second thing was the heat. It was a cold day and at first it was a relief to feel the wafts of warmth coming from the lava. But get too close and it was like hitting a wall of searing heat. It was impossible to withstand it for long. So our visit became a ‘Goldilocks’ mission - not too close, not too far, but find the spot that is just right…