Day 5

Today's schedule afforded us a more leisurely morning to take breakfast at the Eldhestar and pack our bags ready to transfer to a hotel in Reykjavik later in the afternoon. An awesome sunrise signalled the start of a very cold but wonderfully sunny and clear day in Iceland. We drove initially to Thingvellir national park along a scenic route past an HEP power plant an the geothermal power plant producing all of Reykjaviks hot water. We also saw some very good examples of 'pillow lava' and a shield volcano clearly present in a rift valley between the North American and Eurasian plates.

A chance to walk through the Thingvellir fissure gave us a chance to walk between the earths plates and see excellent examples of ropey lava and layers of lava. We also saw the original Icelandic parliament said to be the birth place of democracy although this is debatable! The height of the land gave wonderful panoramas of the surrounding nature and it's volcanoes.

It was then on to Reykjavik for a chance to shop and see the sites of the city. We drove to a high point on top of the cities hot water storage to orientate ourselves and we then had some free time to pick up souvenirs and a worrying amount of fast food.

A stop at Reykjaviks huge geothermal swimming pool was a welcome refresher before dinner in our new hotel for the evening. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the slightly psychedelic flume and extremely hot hot pots.

The majority of the evening was spent at the volcano house cinema/cafe to watch a film on the Heimay and Eyafjallajokull eruptions followed by waffles, hot chocolate and an awards ceremony to close the trip. Our thanks was passed on to Ian Hardie for being such an informative tour guide for the 5 days and we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep before our 3.30am breakfast and early flight back to the UK. 

Photo of the day - Day 5

Day 5's winner of photo of the day goes to Tom Blakemore for his excellent panorama on a very clear, cold and sunny day looking out over Thingvellir national park.

Day 4 - Just when you thought things could not get any better.....

After another hearty breakfast we were back on Aumundi's magical tour bus heading for Seljandsfoss, which was 45 meters tall. The first thing that took our breath away was the sheer sound that echoed and thundered on our approach. As we walked behind the curtain of water, we were pleased to have packed our waterproofs as we got drenched in the spray. We then headed to Skogafoss which was literally a whole new mind blowing experience as we tried out our tour guide's (Ian Hardy) "klein theory". This entailed a group stare at the waterfall for 60 seconds followed by a look at the cliff to the left ; amazingly it danced in front of our eyes leaving us feeling dazed and transfixed. We then headed closer and got drenched - again. 

We then headed further south to Dyrholaey to see stunning coastal features and scenery. Below is a photo taken by Phillip Barnes 

                     

Although we were nearly blown away by the howling gale, it was incredible to witness such ferocious conditions with such a stunning backdrop.  Hopping back on to the magic school bus we headed to the town of Vik to sample some of the local delicacies. This turned out to be Icelandic Pilsur (aka hotdog with all the trimmings) with chips and coffee - just what the doctor ordered after all the wind and rain! Loaded with carbs and caffeine we donned crampons and picked up ice axes ready for our ice adventure on Solheimajokull. Stunning views and breathtaking scenery made the walking seem effortless and in no time at all we became expert ice walkers ( or at least we did not fall flat on our faces) Below is an awesome photo of the glacial snout 

Cold, tired yet exhilarated, we had just completed Day 4 of our incredible Icelandic escapade. 

By Mr Strachan and Miss Spyropoulos 

Photo(s) of the day - Day 4

Today's competition has 2 deserving winners.

The first to Philip Barnes for his photo of Bedford's geographers admiring Skogafoss waterfall.

The second to Ben Smith for his excellent panorama from on top of Solheimajokull glacier showing a moulin in the foreground, looking down on the glacial out wash plain in the background.

Day 3

Today started with ominous clouds, but as we drove to the ferry and some caught up on needed sleep, they cleared away. We were lucky to have calm winds for the crossing and upon arrival everyone was raring to go. The island of Heimaey itself was amazing; the stark contrast between fresh and old lava was breathtaking along with the views of the mainland. A brisk walk up the volcano led to the discovery of several hot gas vents, perfect for warming sandwiches or melting chocolate chip cookies. The swimming pool today was simply AWESOME, the flumes provided a lot of excitement and a couple of people impressed with their standing capabilities on one with a trampoline exit. The Surtsey centre was really interesting as well, showing how this new little island has attracted so much attention and interest. A special 40th shoutout to the last eruption of Heimaey in 1973.

James Winder

Photo of the day - day 3

Today's winner of the 'photo of the day' competition goes to Joe Holt for his excellent Moody photo from the top of Eldfell on the island of Heimay, looking towards Hekla on the mainland.

 

Photo of the day - day 2

Day 2's winner of the 'photo of the day' competition goes to Ben Garratt for his excellent black & white shot of Gulfoss.

Day 2

We started the day in relatively good spirits despite last night's disappointment of the northern lights not showing up, hopefully tonight will be better. We boarded the bus at 9 o'clock and went to visit the Hellishedi Geothermal power plant, which was fantastic. The cleanliness and relevant design of the plant made it all the more interesting, in fact this plant is so powerful it could nearly handle the whole of Iceland's domestic energy needs. However the most interesting observation of the day came from one of the staff; now you would expect a geography teacher to be in heaven in a power plant, learning how renewable energy is made, but no. The main item on our teachers mind was that the power plant would make a great party location! After sizing up the power plant for its party potential we moved onto the Geothermal areas. It was very interesting seeing warm mud seep up to the surface and learning how the soil and clay mix along with the usual dose of the smell of sulphur (wouldn't be Iceland without it!) After the mud springs  we moved onto the Kerid crater lake, this was amazing. The scenery was unbelievable, there was not a building insight, and as always the Icelandic's did a great job preserving the environment, they were completely unspoiled - fantastic! After a quick lunch we visited the Geysir, again it was fascinating, I'm sure someone will upload a video of it exploding at some point, words just can't describe it! We finished off the cultural day with a visit to the Gulfos waterfalls, these were beautiful and what made them even better was the quick and easy walk down! Finally we finished the day at a local pool, it was very good fun and more importantly warm (not a word you'll hear much on this trip). The pool was of course accompanied with traditional Icelandic culture - naked men in the shower!

All in all a great day!

Ben Thrasher

Blue Lagoon

After seeing and certainly smelling some wonderful fumeroles of different sizes and scales. Ian our knowledgable tour guide took us to our final stop for the day, the blue lagoon. This was a real highlight. Warm waters of 37 degrees, age defying facial rub made of silica and to top it off make shift waterfalls and steam rooms. It was spa treatment certainly for the Icelandic elite, but the boys and staff were certainly treated to an amazing once in a life time experience. 

Day 1

We were pleased to see the back of a grey, wet England and standstills on the motorways as we took off on WOW airways this morning. The airline did actually wow us with its comfort and efficiency. 3 hours later we landed in a sunny yet brisk Iceland to be greeted by Ian Hardy our tour guide and Amundy our coach driver. It was straight on the bus from the airport to see our first view of rifting between the continents and then on to see the impressive site of geothermally heated water pouring in to the Atlantic Ocean. Already impressed by the landscape we headed off to solfatara to see fumeroles emitting pungent sulphurous steam in to the air creating a wonderfully eerie atmosphere. It was then on to the Blue Lagoon for a relaxing evening spa.

A late evening meal of very fresh food in our comfortable hotel topped off an excellent first day. Although no Northern Lights thus far.

The weather for the week ahead

Looks like we will get a good mix of weather, but one thing is guaranteed....it will be cold

A message from Walks

Have a great trip. I expect a postcard. Walks