Prospectus
Iceland trip 2011
Student Account
Over the Easter holidays, a group of sixth formers and year 11s spent a week in Reykjavik, Iceland. The weather wasn’t in our favour; in fact we experienced a full scale Icelandic storm, snow, hail and a lot of rain.
On our first day we went to the Blue Lagoon, a hot spring heated by geothermal energy. The opportunity to cover our faces in mud was one that most students could not resist as well as trying the steam rooms and saunas.
Day 2
On the second day we visited the site of the world’s first parliament, Thingvellir National Park, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are moving apart. Whilst walking down one of the faults in the tectonic plate, we saw our first waterfall – nothing compared to the ones we saw later that week. We also saw the famous Icelandic geysers – Mr. Rudge’s favourite being Litli Geyser. The geyser museum was also very interesting with some spectacular videos of recent eruptions. We were lucky enough to see a geyser erupt whilst we were there, but few people caught it on camera. After putting our fingers in boiling mud puddles, it was back to the hotel.
Day 3
We drove northwards through and around a fjord, stopping to see an iron ore smelting plant – an industry created to boost Iceland’s economy. We caught a glimpse of some whale bones at a whaling station nearby, and carried on towards a string of waterfalls. The largest of these was Gullfoss, stretching for half a kilometre and formed by glacial melt waters. That evening, we went swimming in a local outdoor pool as it hailed and snowed. Swimming pools in Iceland do not use chlorine to purify the water; instead guests are asked to shower thoroughly before entering. It was a good way to relax after a long day of walking.
Day 4
The following day we drove to see the Black Glacier, so called because of the dark sediment it is composed of. We noted the glacial striations on surrounding rocks showing the glacier had retreated in recent years. We also saw the volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, which erupted last year and caused a lot of disruption to air travel. This was useful for the A2 students as who are currently studying the volcano as part of their course. We stopped off in the shadow of the volcano and some people took the opportunity to collect some of the ash rather than pay the equivalent of £6 in krona. Another popular gift shop item we saw again and again was ‘canned Iceland air’…
Day 5
Our last day in Iceland was spent in the capital city of Reykjavik shopping and spending the last of our krona. Some people tried the local delicacies of puffin and whale meat; just having been informed by our tour guide that we had already experienced over a hundred small earthquakes. We arrived back in England late at night, tired out from our amazing week away in a unique country.
Some more pictures from the trip