Iceland 2015
Over the Easter holidays the Geography department ran a six day trip with 44 year 9+10 Alderbrook pupils to Iceland. The students represented the school admirably and the trip was a huge success. A big thank you to Nisha Palani Kumar (Y10) for writing the following article about the trip and also Aimee Burton (Y9), Josh Lewis-Handley (Y10) and Dylan Marriot (Y9) for their winning entries into the photo competition. The standard of photos was excellent with the three winning photos included in the article below. - Mr McLoughlin
The Iceland trip was absolutely amazing! From the time we got on the plane to Keflavik on the Monday to landing back in Birmingham on the Saturday, every moment will be treasured for the rest of my life. It was even better than I expected, as I could never have imagined it would be so much fun. Even though it was extremely cold, time flew like the speed of light!
On our first day we visited the new Geopark - the land bridge between the America and Eurasian plates - and we also climbed an explosion theatre! We then visited hot sinter pools and mud potsto view some Geo-thermal activity. The sulphur in the air made the air smell like rotten eggs!
We started our second day by touring the centre of Reykjavik. We went to a hall which had a massive map of Iceland, with small 3-D structures of the mountains and volcanoes in the country. We then went to see an awesome waterfall and walk beside the gorge it had created. It was a very beautiful landscape, and to view the rocks from a distance with snow covering them like a blanket was an extremely beautiful sight. Our tour guide, Thota, told us many stories on the coach about the country, and many ancient fairytales which the Icelanders still believe in. One of the stories that really fascinated me was that a majority of the inhabitants still believe in the existence of elves! We also saw an absolutely amazing geyser, which was really big and apparently boiling HOT! We then stayed at a very comfortable hotel that night, and recollected all the picturesque sceneries we saw that day.
On Wednesday our third day, we first visited a waterfall. The weather was so cold, that I almost froze to the ground! Even though I have seen many waterfalls before, this one was surely special because half of the water was frozen, and you could hear the icebergs dropping into the water from the top. We then went to watch a short film about a family who have managed to survive theEyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010! That evening, we went to a small field near our hotel, and we all had a snowball fight -including the teachers!!
I have to say, I had no idea that Thursday was going to be as tiring as it was, but I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day! We went to the black beach and searched for ice sculptures and seals. It was so beautiful to see the white snow and the contradicting black sand. We also had lunch at Svartifoss- spectacular black basalt columns. The waves crashing onto the beach were extremely high, it was actually quite scary! We also visited the Ice lagoon and walked towards the ice sheet. An interesting fact about the lagoon is that it was where the James Bond film ‘Die another day’ was filmed.
On Friday we went glacier walking which was a highlight of the trip. When we started to climb the glacier, I could almost hear the butterflies in my stomach. As we went higher and higher, it got colder, my legs were aching, but I was way too excited to stop. The view from the top of the glacier was absolutely spectacular! Everything seemed to stop for a minute when I got to the top, and saw the snow-covered mountains and glacier surrounding me. It was so beautiful- that it is one image I’m never going to forget in my life! On our way back down, we stopped at a place where you could see the different layers of the glacier, and how it had built up over the years. The funny thing was, it was fresh water, and we were all licking the walls to taste it! Coming back down was scarier than actually climbing it, because it was really icy! But once I got to the bottom, I wanted to climb again! We then walked back to our coach, which was where I noticed that I was completely soaking wet- top to bottom! Despite that, the glacier walking was the best experience of my life so far, I was absolutely speechless at the top! We then had ‘Eat all you want pizza’ that evening- which was really good too!
On our final day in Iceland we went to the Blue Lagoon which was anincredible experience!! The water was very blue, and the mud pack made my face look much fresher (although not ten years younger as promised!)Being the last day, we sadly had to say goodbye to our tour guide and our driver before flying back to Heathrow.
Overall, this trip was absolutely incredible and definitely something that I’m never going to forget! Mr McLoughlin, Mr Trahearn, Mrs Mills, Miss Egan and Miss Eberle were absolutely amazing, they made sure we had everything we needed and that we returned home safely. We were all very grateful to them for organising such a memorable trip!! Not forgetting Thota our guide, many of us really missed her after leaving Iceland because she was really friendly and treated us with lots of care!
Pakka per og Bless!! (Thanks and Bye in Icelandic!)
Written by Nisha Palani Kumar
Photos provided by Aimee Burton, Josh Lewis-Handley and Dylan Marriott. Winning photos from the Iceland photography competition