Iceland Expedition

29 April 2016

On the final day of term before the Easter holidays, 22 Stoics, Mrs Akam and Mr Elwell set off on an intrepid expedition to Iceland. As with many tours, our first stop was the famous blue lagoon, where we bathed in naturally heated water and spread natural volcanic mud on our faces. This was a great way to unwind after a busy term. From there it was on to Reykjavik, the small Capital of Iceland to engage in a little culture and test out the steep Scandinavian exchange rates.

On the second day of the trip we were to undertake the famous ‘golden circle’. Unfortunately, we were met by the more famous Icelandic weather! We visited Thingvetler National Park, where we witnessed the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates pulling apart. We also visited Geysir, seeing boiling hot water ejected 20 feet into the air. Here, the conditions really closed in and the horizontal sleet really tested the quality of our waterproof clothing. We moved on to the Gulfoss or Golden falls, which is the largest waterfall in Iceland and we were all impressed by the power on show. We returned to our hostel for a warm shower and hot food.

Day three was spent looking at the other large waterfalls in Iceland. We started with Seljandjafoss which is 40m high where we had the chance to walk behind it. We then went to Skogafoss and climbed all the way to the top of the 60m high waterfall to look down and witness how the landscape has been carved by hydraulic action. From here we travelled to Solheimajokkul and walked up to the edge of a glacier, being able to touch the ice. Having seen old photographs of previous locations of the glacier it was clear to see how quickly the ice is melting. After a quick visit to Vik, with a black sandy beach we headed home, stopping at Kerid crater on the way to climb an extinct volcano, with excellent views down into the crater.

On the final day of the trip we went to the base of Hekla, which is a large volcano overdue an eruption. We had a talk from a local business owner who wasn’t at all concerned about the potential for a large explosive eruption at the bottom of his road. After a short walk to gain better views of Hekla and the Icelandic landscape we went to climb another extinct Volcano called Storidimon. After a steep short climb we revelled in the panoramic views of dramatic landscapes almost untouched by humans. We then travelled to our local public swimming pool, which was of course naturally heated and outside. It was great to end the fieldtrip with a relaxing dip, Icelandic style.

Thomas Elwell, Geography Department