Getting rescued with a new (and functional!) van did not solve our problems. Cyclone Dennis was still pummelling us with 100+ mph winds, topping 150mph in the passes—which meant it wasn’t safe for us to continue our journey. So our guide announced an impromptu visit to the Lava Centre, which offered a small and highly informative exhibition about Iceland’s highly active volcanoes.

My favourite room explained the concept of a hot spot. These are formed by magma flares emanating from the earth’s molten core. Where they reach the surface there is a “hot spot” of activity. Iceland sits on one. So do Hawaii, the Galápagos Islands, and Samoa.

The exhibition ended with a simulated video panorama room that showed us the volcanoes around us, and what they look like when erupting, which apparently happens really frequently!

Newly educated about the geological world around us, we riddled back out into the blustery frozen wind and on to our next adventure.