Download Maria – Clorinda LUCK – Durham High School

Maria – Clorinda LUCK – Durham High School for Girls
Trip to Iceland October 2011
Report
On the early morning of the 23rd of October, twenty-six girls and five staff met at school in
anticipation of the trip ahead. Although everyone was tired, excitement filled the bus on the trip to
Glasgow for our flight to Keflavik, Reykjavik’s airport.
Day One consisted of meeting our guide, Auscer Ericcson, and a trip to the fabulous Blue Lagoon, to
relax and enjoy the geothermal waters. We experienced trying the natural silica mineral mud masks
and I was surprised to find that its waters are actually salty. Afterwards, we checked in at our hotel
in Hveragerdi, called Hotel Ork.
Day Two was a full day tour to Porsmork, one of the top natural preserves in Iceland. We travelled
through the lovely rugged valley of Thor in a 4 x 4 coach. Our first stop was at Gigjokull to view an
outlet glacier. Amazingly, we were able to actually walk inside this glacier’s crevasses and touch the
icy waters of the glacier’s river. Our second stop was at Seljalandsfoss waterfall, which we climbed to
the top. Lunch was eaten on the famous South Shore Black Beach, home to its basalt columns and
black igneous rock beach. We then visited another spectacular waterfall in the rift canyon of
Stukkholtsgja. With this waterfall it was possible to walk behind it!
Day Three began by leaving the ferry port of Landayjahofn to the volcanic island of Heimaey. We
then had a coach tour of Heimaey including a stop at Eldfell where the lava is still warm to touch and
is still smoking, almost forty years on from its last eruption. The group had the opportunity to walk
to the top of this volcanic cone to learn about the history of its destructive eruption in 1973. Later on
we saw many excavated houses, which had been buried under the lava during the eruption. We
visited the Visitor Centre on the new volcanic island of Surtsaey and ate our lunch in a recreated
Viking wooden cabin. We drove past many fish factories which all smelled strongly.
Day Four was a tour of Iceland’s Golden Circle. Firstly the great geysers at Strokkur. This active hot
spring spouts up to twenty metres every ten minutes. I was amazed to find out this geyser was one
of only four in the world. These ‘geysirs’ have given the name geyser to hot springs all over the
world. We then travelled down to Pingvellir national park which has a beautiful canyon running
through the park. It is the meeting point of two of the earth’s tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and
the North American Plate on the mid-Atlantic ridge. We then travelled to the spectacular waterfall of
Gullfoss, a waterfall which is most impressive.
Wake up the next morning was at 4 am to travel to the airport in good time, back to Glasgow and
the return coach trip to Durham.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Iceland; it was an experience I will never forget and was full
of memories I will cherish forever. It was incredibly educational, worthwhile and will have long-term
benefits for the future.
I warmly thank the Ogden Trust for allowing me to go on the trip and for giving me this opportunity,
I am truly grateful.