For an Australian,
there really isn't anywhere further away you could go than Iceland. It
has been a dream of mine to go to Iceland for many years - partially
because of escapism, but also because everything I had heard of
this place suggested that I may like it - forward thinking, a little
bit socialist, very clean (although ironically, because it only has
around 300 000 people and a large aluminium industry, it has one of the
largest carbon foot-prints per capita in the world), attractive and
reserved Nordic people, stunningly beautiful and interesting scenery,
as well as a bit of a science novelty. For me, I find it fascinating
that of the 103 000 square kilometres of land that makes up Iceland,
11% is covered in glaciers, 64% in wasteland (cooled lava flows mainly,
giving it a desolate "moon-like" appearance) and 2% by lakes, leaving
only around 23% for vegetation. This fact, and its isolation, mean that
there are relatively few people living in Iceland.
