iceland expedition 2008

During October half-term the Geography Department ran an extremely successful week long visit to Iceland.
Twenty two sixth form students embarked on the ultimate geography field visit which took them to a breathtaking
range of natural landscapes. Here is a short diary of the highlights:

Day 1

At 5am on an October morning our journey began. We all sleepily but excitedly said our farewells, boarded our coach and headed off to Heathrow. On the plane we were getting even more excited and after three hours of flying a very snowy Keflavik was in sight! We passed through the unusually quiet Icelandic airport and boarded the coach where we met our guide for the week, Leena.

We continued our journey to Reyjavik where we made a quick stop at the “Pearl” museum which offered fantastic views over the city. After the long journey we continued to the Hotel Cabin where we bedded down for the night.

Day 2

We began the second day by travelling to Thingvellir, to visit the rift between the American and Eurasian plates—it was so big it took me a while to realise we were actually standing in it, after a long walk exploring the rift, we came to what would later seem like a tiny waterfall and it then began to snow and didn’t stop! We drove on to meet our caving guide Bob and got kitted out in our fetching orange boiler suits. After we eventually found the lava tube amongst all the snow, we clambered off the coach to be faced with the small crack which we were soon to be climbing into. Then it began, sliding, jumping, clambering across loose rocks with only our caving lamps to guide us. We eventually reached the middle, where we learnt about the tube’s formation and had three minutes of complete darkness and silence. At the end there was a brilliant film-like moment where snowflakes fell through the cracks – I COULD SEE THE LIGHT! We eventually reached the top and I had never seen so much snow in my entire life – it was crazy! Amongst all the excitement though we soon realised it was freezing and made a dash to the coach with much falling over on the way. Next were the geysers, which we watched hurl boiling jets of water into the air along with some eggy smells. We then drove on to my favourite moment of the week – the two-tiered waterfall at Gullfoss. The guide said it was a “small beautiful waterfall”; it was huge and the most phenomenal sight I’m sure I will ever see.

Day 3

The things we got up to on day three were out of this world! The first stop was the waterfall at Selandjafoss. The baby misty waterfall on the left was dwarfed by the main one but still got plenty of attention. The rock underfoot here had been frozen over by several inches of spray from the waterfall which made mobility
incredibly difficult, but we pressed on nevertheless to get a closer look. The grass here was definitely something to take note of. There are few words which can describe its brilliance.

The next waterfall to come was Skogarfoss. This waterfall had a nice story accompanying it. The gist of it is that behind it lie a chest with all the treasures of a very rich man lying within – the proof of this story is the magnificent chest handle that a hopeful man had pulled off in pursuit of its contents. The handle now lies in the Skogarfoss Folk Musuem. We all saw it!

Next came the most breath taking experience for most of our lives – glacier walking. Naturally most people would look up at the glacier and say, “no way am I walking up that”, but not the 2008 Iceland crew. We combated it in style. It was a major struggle putting the crampons on, but with the help of our two exceptionally amazing instructors we succeeded, and when we were up, we were up. The views were fantastic!!

Day 4

When we woke up on Sunday the sun was just rising. The whole sky was streaked with red along the horizon and it looked amazing.

The first stop on Day four was in Skaftafell National Park, where we walked up the side of a hill to see a waterfall. When we finally got there it was pretty amazing, as there were all these vertical columns of basalt to each side of the water with enormous icicles hanging from them. The path down to the waterfall was treacherous and icy, but we braved it anyway. To be honest though, I think we’re all glad we did, as it was so much more spectacular up close. Another highlight was walking along the side of a glacier, which made us feel incredibly tiny in comparison.

We stopped at the Ice Lagoon, where they filmed part of the James Bond film Die Another Day. It was blue and beautiful and filled with seals. The wind was unbelievably strong.

I think the drive that evening to the next hotel was the scariest part of the trip. We drove along the coast road, on the edge of the cliff, with the wind lashing and rocking the coach. The waves on the sea were huge—our Icelandic guide said she’d never seen them that big before. We were driving through the dark for hours, and finally reached our hotel. Our coach driver was a hero.

Day 5

The next day of our adventure was filled with surprises. We drove past many scenic fjords and a herd or two of reindeer (but sadly no Rudolph or Santa) when suddenly our coach decided to get stuck in the snow. Minor panic followed, with all of us thinking we’d have to get out and push, but we finally got free and went on our way.

We stopped off at an outlet of a geo-thermal power station, which was so loud you could barely hear the screams as the snowball fight started! We attempted to go for a walk but the snow was so deep it was hard to take a single step and more than one of us found ourselves flat on our faces. Even so, it was difficult to resist the temptation of sliding down a big hill, something that even the teachers succumbed to and we got it on video!

In the evening the area around our hotel quickly became a haven for snowmen of all shapes and sizes. After a quick game of football in what we originally thought was an ice rink, and still no Northern Lights, we trundled back, heads full of the thoughts of our luxurious double beds and the enticing promise that we would get dessert tomorrow night.

Day 6

We woke up, pleased not to have to pack, as we were staying at this hotel for two nights. Our coach was enormous and generally very reliable but without our extremely heavy suitcases, it was too light and we got stuck in a snow drift. While the coach driver was struggling to get the coach out of the snow, we went on an adventure through knee-high snow to a naturally heated spring.

Courtesy of a tow truck we were soon moving on the geothermal power station. Once the guide had successfully cleared the snow outside the door in order to let us in, we had a tour of the site and were given free T‑shirts and Frisbees.

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