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Iceland Trip Reflection
Delight in Learning
Iceland Trip Reflection
Stunning scenery, welcoming people and volcanic eruptions are a few aspects of what makes Iceland so special. In June 2017, a group of pupils from the College were lucky enough to experience this on the inaugural Iceland field trip. A short two and a half hour flight from Glasgow takes you to this land of ‘fire and ice’ where the landscape takes your breath away.
One of our pupils has written a fantastic extract of their time in Iceland.
"On arrival, we met our tour guide who took the group to our first destination known as Thingvellir where we were able to observe the effect of plate tectonics as the North American plate and Eurasian plate boundaries shift constantly. From there, the group visited Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station where we learned how the country's natural resources are converted to electricity that benefits the entire country. We travelled to our first hotel, where we had dinner and took advantage of Iceland's long days and short nights in the summer by spending many hours in the hotel’s hot tubs.
Day two was a busy day of sightseeing, starting with a short visit to Seljalandsfoss, where we were able to explore behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. The next stop on our tour was the volcanic black sand beaches of Reynishverfi where several scenes from the Star Wars franchise were filmed. After this, we strapped on our crampons and took part in a hike on the Solheimajokull glacier, where we learned about some glacial landscapes, the effects of Global Warming and how it has affected this glacier. After learning how to walk again properly without the crampons, we wound our way round to Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano that grounded Trans-Atlantic and European flights in April 2010. There, we spent some time in the visitor centre, where the group had a rarely seen screening of footage from the eruption. We heard the story of the family who stayed behind to record this event while others fled for safety. To conclude our second day we visited Skogafoss which is one of Iceland's largest waterfalls standing at 60 metres high and 25 metres across. The stairs from the bottom of the falls to the top were not for the faint-hearted however the view from the top was worth it! Back to the hotel for dinner and back into the hot tub to soothe our weary legs.
On Day three, we packed our bags and left the hotel to swim in the Secret Lagoon, which is a natural hot spring constantly heated to 40°C by volcanic rocks and one of the more enjoyable and relaxing aspects of the trip. We then went to visit the Golden Circle National Park, where we spent a few hours watching Geysir, which erupted regularly sending large volumes of hot water 15 to 30 metres into the air. Although known for its regular eruptions, nothing prepares you for its spontaneous spewing and the hissing noise it makes. We rounded off the day and trip with a sight-seeing walking tour around the heart of Reykjavik to work up an appetite. I was blown away by Hallgrímskirkja, a cathedral in the capital, which would not look out of place in Game of Thrones. Exhausted, we returned to our hotel for a well-earned rest and an early rise the next morning to catch our flight home."
View more photos- https://bit.ly/2Nkdq7X
