Geographers spend time in Iceland

During the October half term 43 Aldenham pupils in years 10 and 11 and 5 staff enjoyed an exciting trip to Iceland, a perfect opportunity to build on their understanding of the GCSE Geography course, and have the chance to see plate tectonics, volcanoes, remote rural villages, coastal processes and geothermal energy first hand.

Greeted by freezing temperatures on arrival they jumped in at the deep end, quite literally, with a visit to the Blue Lagoon which is a famous attraction, popular with honeymooners…and 43 Aldenham pupils! The naturally heated geothermal waters are only slightly tempered with the smell of sulphur rising up as steam, but the natural mud pools made a good face pack for all in the group.

In a jam-packed trip the group enjoyed visits to Hellisheidi, an Icelandic geothermal power station, Skogafoss a waterfall with a wide, thundering curtain of water 60 metres high. Next was the glacier walk where they got the chance to walk over the glacier on top of Solheimajokull, avoiding the crevasses on the way – a truly scary but great experience. They also visited Vik, a small coastal town where they saw the black sand beaches and the power of the Atlantic Ocean in shaping this volcanic coastline. Another treat was the Golden Circle tour, starting with Geysir and Gulfoss. The Geysir site has hot springs that erupt every five to seven minutes, and Gulfoss is one of the 10 most beautiful waterfalls in the world, and it’s easy to see why. A visit to the site of Iceland’s first parliament – Thingvellir and a tour of some of the sights that Reykjavik has to offer and one final stop at the continental bridge between the North American and Eurasian plates rounded off the trip of a lifetime