GCSE and A Level Geography students from Wallingford School spent three days in Iceland over half term, and Ms Walker, Teacher of Geography, kept a diary, posted daily on the school's Facebook page. Here it is altogether, with links to each day if you want to check out more photos of the breathtaking scenery!
Day 1
First day completed.
Wonderful scenery on the Reykjanes Peninsula! Lots of ice, thankfully no fire - just a fascinating relict landscape of previous eruptions.
Visits to Gunnuhver Hot Springs, Nesveger Crater, Bridge Between the Continents and an evening walk into Reykjavik centre - including Hallgrímskirkja Church.
An action packed first day and nearly 25,000 steps walked!
See more photos of Day 1 on Facebook.
Day 2
Another tremendous day.
Up and off early to make the most of the day. Visits to:
1) Pingvellir - the rift where the European and North American continents are being torn apart.
2) Geysir - all other geysers around the world are named for this Icelandic one
3) Gullfoss - an amazing double waterfall which has created an impressive gorge of recession. A fabulous sight of water and ice.
4) Secret Lagoon - a traditional Iceland hot springs. A really relaxing hour to rest weary legs after lots of hiking across ice and through snow.
5) Last stop of the day was Kerið crater. An extinct volcanic crater with a frozen lake.
‘Only’ 20,000 steps today!
See more photos of Day 2 on Facebook.
An addition…
6) We saw the Northern Lights. Yippee. What a treat. Absolutely wonderful. So mesmerising. A bucket list moment and a special memory.
See more photos of the Northern Lights on Facebook.
Day 3
A day exploring the physical geography of the south coast of Iceland
The scenery has been spectacular. I’m afraid these photos don’t do it justice because the scenery is just too vast, however they do give a sense of where we have been and what we have experienced.
1) The Hotel is right in front of Eyjafjallajokull - so a photo had to be taken.
2) First stop of the day - actually a stopping point to see Eyjafjallajokull and the farm that was most severely affected by the 2010 eruption.
3) Skogafoss - a stunning waterfall. Used in several movies including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - absolutely incredible.
4) Sólheimajökull - we walked to the snout of the glacier. Another amazing view, and made us feel incredibly small. It was fantastic to put the size and scale of a glacier in perspective.
5) Reynisfjara Beach - a magnificent black sand beach with spectacular black basaltic columns (referred to in day one when we visited Hallgrímskirkja church in the centre of Reykjavik)
6) Seljalandsfoss - another beautiful waterfall (secretly my favourite). So sad to be our last stop on a wonderful adventure along the southern shore.
Thank you Iceland you have been amazing.