MCS Geography: Iceland Fieldtrip blog

Day 1 – Weds 15th Feb: MCS – Hotel Vatnsholt, SW Iceland

An early start this morning – 4.30am outside the school gates! Feelings of eagerness, anticipation (and slight angst among the teachers) could be felt as we waited for the coach, which arrived 10 minutes behind schedule. However, a smooth journey got us to Heathrow promptly and we navigated check in and security without mishap. Pupils enjoyed airport breakfast while others partook in some plane-spotting. Our tour guide, Stephen, met us and introduced himself before we boarded the flight.

On arriving in Iceland, we were greeted with heavy snowfall and sharp, chilling winds – a true baptism to Icelandic conditions. Waiting for us was our rather stern and bus-proud driver, Bernstein, who oversaw a strict and well-rehearsed luggage-packing-protocol, before delivering the ‘ground rules of transit on Bernstein’s bus’. From Keflavik airport we drove across the lava fields of the south-west to the ‘bridge between the continents’ and walked over the fissure that has opened as the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates have split apart. Snowball fights ensued as we clambered down into the fault line.

Our next stop was Brimketill, an extraordinary geological feature on the coast near Staðarberg. Here the lava rock of the coastline has been rounded into what looks like a big man-made bath tub due to the constant beating of the Atlantic waves. A raised metal walkway led us to a coastal viewing platform where enormous waves crashed beneath us and covered us in spray. An unfortunate group of year 10 pupils had an early shower. Before re-boarding the coach Bernstein conducted a thorough boot inspection to prevent any sand being deposited on board.

From here we had a long drive to Hotel Vatnsholt. En route Stephen described recent volcanic activity in the area and pointed out new lava flows which had melted the thick snow from sections of some hillsides. We arrived at Hotel Vatnsholt at 7.30pm, all feeling very hungry and worn out from a long day of travel. Rooms were allocated before we shared spaghetti bolognese followed by ice cream for our evening meal. We invited Bernstein to join us, hoping to mellow him for the coming days. Before bed, pupils enjoyed the games room, some TV or followed the Swans in their 2-1 win victory against Blackpool.