|
Arriving at London Heathrow at about 9.15 am we flew to Keflavik in Iceland. We spent three full but hectic days in Iceland visiting various geographical locations in order for a group of enthusiastic A-Level students to see at first hand the magic of Geography! Including one of the world's main geothermal locations (others include Wyoming, Kamchatka, New Zealand and Japan), we also visited several glaciers (jokull), volcanic crater lakes, the Blue Lagoon, a cucumber grower using heat from the ground and other amazing sites in this fantastic land of 'Ice and Fire'.
Day 1 - Friday 25th April
Day one shows our arrival in Iceland and a visit to the Blue Lagoon where waste waters from the geothermal power station are pumped into a 'waste' reservoir but which doubles as a rather unusual tourist destination. Watch to find out more....
Day 2 - Saturday 26th April Part 1
A visit to Stora Dimon, a 178 metre volcanic plug with views to the island of Heimaey and a nearby waterfall.
Part 2
A visit to Skogafoss and nearby Icelandic folk museum. The name foss is identified in Lakeland of course as the corrupted word force. The entire trip had subtle reference to Old Norse and thereby created a link to that other special place we all know far better. Watch out for the two faced lamb! A well and truly Lost Sheep! Part 3
The Black Glacier was next on the agenda. The glacier, turned black by volcanic lava was our first encounter with a glacier at close quarters. A drive further east then left us on the black beach at Dyrholaey followed by a dip in the geothermal pool at Petursey.
Day 3 - Sunday 27th April Part 1 A visit to the market gardener growing cucumbers by harnessing the heat from a geothermal heat source. We later visited a volcanic crater and ancient Parliament site at Thingvellir where North America meets Europe!
Part 2
A visit to the original Geyser called Geysir. The word now adopted in English originates from the Icelandic name for this particular superheated jet of water in Iceland. We didn't catch this geyser in action but the smaller but nontheless spectacular Strokka was in full flow. After the geothermals we visited the spectacular waterfall of Gulfoss - the Golden Waterfall. "It's water still flow."
Day 4 - Monday 28th April
Today we drove to the Norse sounding Skaftefell. Crossing the massive Sandur we arrived at one of Iceland's pristine National Parks to be guided by Ragnor to the massive Skaftafell Glacier where we walked on the ice. Taking to the fells we walked to the beautiful Svartifoss one of Iceland's national symbols. Ascending higher we braved the summit of Skaftafell with its gorgeous panorama over the glacier towards the heady heights of Iceland's highest peak Hvannadalshnukur. Day 5 - Tuesday 29th April
I will also be uploading my field diary from this most amazing visit. Coming Soon in pdf! |
Send Peter email 
