A memorable and spectacular trip to Iceland… Bright and early on Friday 10 November, Normanhurst pupils and staff embarked on a trip to Iceland to explore the wide range of geographical and cultural topics that this unique country has to offer. With a very swift journey to Heathrow and a smooth flight, pupils were welcomed by our tour guide and our driver who stayed by our side until we returned. Karen was a very experienced tour guide and full of local knowledge and geographical insight.
Our first stop on the tour was Iceland’s iconic attraction, offering 360 degree panoramic views and was our first opportunity to see how stunning this country really is. Students enjoyed a homemade ice cream with many commenting that “this is the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted”. Later that evening, we enjoyed letting off some steam with board games. The students were enthused to learn new card games with their friends and to share different versions of games with each other.
The first stop on Day One included soaking up the beautiful scenery at Thingvellir National Park (a Unesco World Heritage Site). This National Park is where Iceland’s parliament was established in 930AD and has been significant for Icelanders since this time. Our next stop was the local dairy for an ice cream together. Some pupils even tried the famous local yoghurt, Skyr. The next stop took us to the spectacular Geysir, the world famous spouting hot spring that gave its name to all of the world’s geysers. Although Geysir hasn’t spouted for a number of years, we did get to see its neighbour Stokkur erupt a number of times, reaching a height of around 30 metres.
Later that afternoon, we visited the extremely impressive Gullfoss (‘Golden Falls’); an incredibly powerful waterfall and despite being very cold and windy at the viewing platform, the pupil’s remained full of energy and enthusiasm.
To end our day we visited the Frioheimar Tomato Farm, where we gained an insight into the processeses of greenhouse horticulture and learnt that it’s possible to grow vegetables in this cold climate, by creating warm Mediterranean conditions all year round.
On Day Two, after breakfast, the students embarked on a small hike to see the Solheimajoull Glacier. The glacier showed us some great examples of glacial deposits as well as giving us a good idea of the overall scale of glaciers, whilst reflecting on the amount of ice lost over time due to climate change.
Next on the itinerary was Black Sands beach, located on the South Coast near Vik, which was a marvellous example of coastal landforms and Karen gave the pupils an insight into the scale and processes involved in the formation of the landforms.
In the afternoon we visited the immensely powerful Skogafoss, which has a steep climb (527 steps to be precise) to get to the top viewing platforms, but we were rewarded with spectacular views of the landscape. To wrap up the day we also visited a secret waterfall, where we were soaked by the sheer strength of the water spray and, for many, this was the highlight of the day.
In the blink of an eye our final day had arrived. In the morning we visited the Lava Centre, an exhibition of volcanoes, where we learnt about the volcanology of Iceland, equipping us with valuable baseline knowledge on the current situation in Iceland. Students enjoyed some free time in the local area exploring the local bakery and supermarket before departing for the airport.
We didn’t get to see the Northern Lights, but we all returned home after having seen a whole range of spectacular and simply awesome geographical features! It was a privilege to travel with forty pupils and everywhere we went we received compliments on the politeness and positivity of the group; they were a true credit to Normanhurst.
