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An adventure of a lifetime
5 Dec 2022
Over the October half term, our Geography students from Years 8-13 visited Iceland for an adventure of a lifetime…
Sebastian Handley from Year 10 has recounted all of the memorable events from the trip.
After a long and tiring bus and plane journey, we finally arrived at Kefalivik International Airport in Iceland and hopped on the coach, on our way to the first tourist sight of the trip ‘The Bridge Between the Continents’, we were told about some of Iceland’s culture and beliefs, one of them being that 50% of Iceland’s residents believe in elves.
Elves, or ‘Houdafolk’ in Icelandic, are truly worshipped here with people building houses for them and offering food, drinks and other gifts to ensure the Houdafolks are happy with them. At Christmas, the people tell tales of the Twelve Yule-Tide Elves and how their mischief and tricks cause unusual problems like sausages being snatched and doorways being slammed and sniffed!
We were all told about how once there was a motorway being built in Iceland but trying to build the road near a certain rock was troubling the manufacturers, so they had an elf expert come and investigate the area, and when the constructors were told they had to rebuild much of the motorway to please an elf, they did it without question!
When we arrived at the Bridge between Continents we got off the bus and walked in the rift as well as on the bridge, the volcanic substrate within the rift felt just like kinetic sand and the minuscule details on the jagged sides looked dazzling.
After this, we travelled to the Bakkai Hostel in Eyribakkai, had dinner (lasagne), and settled in for the night.
We were woken up at around 6:30am to get dressed and have breakfast and departed for the Lava Centre. In this centre, we were surrounded by active and retired volcanoes, Eyjafjallajökull which is famous for creating a huge ash cloud in 2010 that much of air travel in the Northern hemisphere was halted. Many of the activities in the museum were very interesting including earthquake simulators, the replica of the ash cloud caused by the 2010 eruption, many volcanic rocks and a history of the volcanoes and the earthquakes caused by them over the last century.
We then travelled to Vik, the southernmost village in Iceland where we were told about how Vik is troubled by the neighbouring volcano, Katla. During our visit, we went souvenir shopping in the huge supermarket on the outskirts of the quaint village.
After this, we went to Reynishverfi beach, where the volcanic sand and cubic-shaped rocks caused much interest and awe in the group. The magnificent coastline was abundant in the iconic black sand and the overcasting rocky hill was the perfect place to stop and take a picture.
Finally we went to Solheimajokull glacier, here we strapped on our gear and hiked up the ice sheet. During our hike we were told about the devastating effects climate change and global warming have had on the quickly melting glacier, and these were explicit from the many streams of meltwater that could be seen on the glacier. The view from on top of the glacier was spectacular but when it was time to descend the glacier I managed to slip and smack my face on the ice so hard it was virtually stuck there!
We then travelled back to the hostel where we were served fish pie, and settled in yet again.
After waking up at 6:30am again, we set off for Kerid Crater where we were stunned by the depth and beauty of the volcanic crater. We travelled to Gullfoss Waterfall and witnessed the waterfall in action, the sound created was something you’d hear from a white noise machine and the size of the gorge that the forces of the river had created was simply amazing.
On our visit to the Ice Cream farm, we tasted skrg and the ice cream that was made by the residents of the farm. Although the taste of the foods were questionable, the history of the farm and culture behind the skrg was utterly fascinating, the Icelandic would make the original dish from animal genitalia, and it would be the only food they could have in Winter as the crops in Iceland would die due to the harsh climate, however, when they found they didn’t need to use the animals and they could use milk and other lactose rich ingredients instead, they instantly changed the recipe and made the skrg much tastier!
After the ice cream tasting, we went to geyser, and when the geyser erupted after around 8 minutes you could see the geothermal water bubble, bloat and blow, and the sheer height the water reached was unmatched. However, because of the high concentration of sulphur in the water, the geyser park had a very eggy sulphuric smell.
And finally, we travelled to Thingvellir National Park, which was the home of the Icelandic parliament and the oldest parliament in the world, the parliament had to move to Reykjavik due to the area being in a seismic and volcanically active zone. The view was simply spectacular from the deck at the front of the park, but it was only when you were immersed in the nature of the park that you could truly see the beauty.
We were also informed about how in the 1600s many women who were believed to be witches were tried and executed on these grounds! And after much of the group had settled in the bus, some of us went to see lava tubes, the lava, from the neighbouring volcano, had turned and created bubbles of air which then solidified and due to the tops eroding had filled with rainwater.
We arrived back at the hostel in time for a dinner of chicken and chips, and we had a quiz in the evening when we learnt some very interesting facts about our teachers.
After waking up at 7:00am and doing some last minute packing, we had breakfast and travelled to the capital city of Iceland, Reykjavik. In our tour of Reykjavik, we saw the building in which Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met to start peace talks to ease tensions between the then USSR and the USA in the 1980s, which helped bring about the end of the cold war. Hallgrimskirkja and Lief Ericson, the Rainbow Road, the tribute to the Icelandic Longboat and the valley in which much of Games of Thrones was filmed. As we were in Reykjavik, we were able to do some shopping and we got to immerse ourselves in one of the most culture-rich capitals of the world!
On our way to the mud puddles, we saw one of Iceland’s Geothermal Energy Centres, in which water is pumped deep into the ground and gets so hot that it turns to steam and that has the energy required to turn a turbine which produces electricity, heats water and homes and powers the surrounding areas.
When we arrived at the Krysuvik Mud Puddles, we were hit by not just a stench like no other (due to the high concentration of Hydrogen Sulphide), but also a sight like no other! It looked like we had landed in another planet, most of the soil was bleached, all the water was bubbling and the terrain was very uneven which caused the awesome effect.
After the mud puddles, we went to the Gunnuhver Hot Springs where there was a constant emission of steam from a huge spring. When we were there we were told about the history of the area, where a young woman’s ghost, named ‘Gunner’, was haunting the nearby areas until a pastor came and trapped her soul in the springs forever!
Our final activity was a visit to the Blue Lagoon, and it was fantastic. We all got a drink and a mud pack for our skin, the water was so silica rich that it significantly helps people who suffer from eczema and other skin conditions, however, the silica is awful for the hair.
Because we were staying in Reykjavik for the last night, we travelled back to where we started the day to the coastal hotel, ‘Hotel Cabin’. Here, we dropped our bags off and relaxed until dinner, which was lasagne and salad. The sixth Formers went out for dinner with Mrs Savage and Mr Lee.
However, the night did not end there, we were lucky enough to see the northern lights after waiting and checking for them for the first three nights. They danced across the sky and created an arch over the bay in Reykjavik, which was an amazing way to finish our stay in Iceland. And after this, we slept for the last time in Iceland.
In the morning, we woke up around 3:00am and had a very early breakfast. After we proceeded to board the coach and then the plane and waved goodbye to Iceland!
