A group of Geography and Biology students, and members of staff, had an amazing trip to Iceland recently. It was dark when they arrived at the cosy 22 Hill Hotel, so the first exploration was the harbour area in the dark, with some great views of Imagine Peace Tower lighting up the night sky. Day one began with swimming at the stunning Secret Lagoon, Iceland’s oldest  geothermal swimming pool. From there they began the Golden Circle tour with stops at the most spectacular waterfall of Gullfoss, a vast multi level waterfall.

The next stop was the original Geysir to view Strokkur erupting every 10 minutes up to a height of 30 m. They they went onto visit Thingvellir National Park, a whistle stop viewing of the rift valley that has formed between the North American and Eusasion plates and location for Game of Thrones, Thor films and the site of the world’s oldest democratic parliament. 

The evening excursion was to Laugardalslaug public geothermal swimming pool. A perfect day was topped off by a spectacular light show from the Northern Lights, visible in the car park! One final trip to the harbour for an aurora photoshoot and that was day one complete.

Day 2 was a visit to the Lava Centre, and beautiful dawn with volcanoes just enhancing the views. The Lava Centre gave  them distant views of the infamous Hekla and Eyjafjallajokull volcanoes and interactive experiences of simulated volcanic eruptions. Their journey continued along the south coast to Skogafoss, Seljalandsfoss and the black basalt beach of Vik. 

The final day was an exploration of Reykjavik with a guided tour of the main sites including the oldest tree in Reykjavik and plenty of time for souvenir shopping.

A final thanks to all the staff (Mrs Harris, Dr. Bell, Ms. Eggett, and Dr. Fraser) and students who made this trip an absolute delight. All students were amazing ambassadors for Durham Sixth Form Centre and teachers enjoyed spending time together with them.