Our Sixth Formers went on a trip to Iceland over the half term break. They enjoyed an incredible trip exploring the sites across Iceland.
Lower Sixth student, Aliza, wrote this blog post for us, and we're also sharing some stunning photography from Amilly (Lower Sixth).
"The Iceland trip was filled with lots of exciting activities which made our short stay incredibly worthwhile. After spending a night in Iceland, the next day began by visiting the geothermal power plant, Hellisheidi, where we learnt how Iceland is powered with the use of only renewable resources.
After this, we visited the Secret Lagoon, the oldest swimming pool in Iceland, completely heated by natural hot springs. Despite Iceland being very cold, it was lovely to enjoy the warm water, and this was definitely the highlight of my day, as it was a once in a lifetime experience. I was amazed how warm it was despite the heating being completely natural, and it was a great opportunity to relax in the busy day.
We continued our day by visiting a huge waterfall as well as a geyser, which shot into the air around once every 5 minutes, and sometimes shot up to 10 meters high! To end the day, we visited the Pingvellir national park, where we learnt a little about Icelandic history, seeing where new laws would be read out once a year centuries ago and also Iceland’s history of drowning accused witches, which were interestingly, mostly men, which is very different to England, which accused mostly women of witchcraft.
After a good night’s rest, we visited the most dangerous beach in the world, the Black Sand Beach. The waves were absolutely huge here, with creeper waves every so often. It was absolutely amazing to see waves this huge, and as we looked out into the sea, it was crazy to think that the next piece of land was the South Pole.
Later on, we went to see a glacier and two waterfalls. Upon arriving at the first waterfall, Skogafoss, we were lucky enough to see a full rainbow (and at one point two!), creating a spectacular view. It was incredible how strong the spray from the waterfall was from far away, and how powerful it was closer up. The second wonderful was just as incredible, and we were even able to walk behind the waterfall, which was definitely a bucket-list moment, and without a doubt the highlight of my day. It was a mesmerising moment.
On our final day, we were given the opportunity to see the northern lights in the early hours, an incredible experience. I knew I couldn’t miss this incredible opportunity, and it was definitely worth it, as we got some amazing photos of them.
We spent the rest of the day exploring Reykjavik, seeing a view of more glaciers and a light house, as well as an architecturally unique church. After a quick final shopping spree, it was bittersweet to make our way to the airport after a very fulfilling trip, which would have only been made possible by the teachers involved: Mrs Crowley, Miss Wills, Miss Healey, Dr Whale and trip leader Dr Pascoe who deserves a special thanks. It is definitely one of my favourite school trips I have been on, so thank you to everyone involved in organising it for making it so memorable!"
