VOLKSWAGEN PICKED Iceland as the place to launch the sixth incarnation of the Golf, a curious choice. The big island, close to the Arctic Circle, has little soil, virtually no trees and the rocky surface is covered with lichen and moss which soak up the almost continual rain. We were lucky; the weather was fine when we got there, but it had been raining for weeks beforehand. In the hilly parts, the scenery is breath-takingly beautiful and we drove to one point where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. All you see is a rift between two rock formations, but this is an area of great geological significance. Iceland is noted for its geysers, great spouts of steam issuing out of the rock. The steam from one which we visited is pumped to Reykjavik to provide central heating, a distance of some 20 or 30 miles along a pipeline. It must be well insulated and I presume that the pressure must be very high to preserve the heat.
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