Written by Claudia, Year 13
On 16th August, we embarked on a journey to Iceland without realising what was awaiting us. Immediately after arrival, we went to visit a fissure where our tour guide — Karen — quickly introduced us to two different lava rock formations, the pahoehoe and ’a’ā lava. From then on, she shared a lot of geographical information about Iceland. As a non-geographer, I learnt about the formation of famous volcanoes like Katla and E15, as well as the sustainability of using geothermal plants in Iceland.
From visiting waterfalls, black sand beaches and fjords to walking on glaciers, relaxing in spas, and watching the lava show, we came across numerous once-in-a-lifetime experiences whilst soaking in the beautiful natural wonders of Iceland. Iceland possesses a wide variety of otherworldly and breathtaking landscapes: within an hour of a bus journey, the scenery could change from endless volcanic plains on both sides of the road to snowy mountains on one side and murky glacial rivers on the other. This explains why the Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Interstellar and other popular films were filmed in Iceland.
Personally, I found the Lava Show really interesting. This live lava show aims to recreate a volcanic eruption by heating real lava up to 1100C. When the lava entered the showroom, we instantly felt the rising temperature from the incredibly hot lava! It was the bright orange colour and the crackling sound of lava, not to mention a family story when Katla erupted in 1918, that amazed me.
I am really thankful to the teachers for making this trip happen. This trip was extraordinary and I couldn’t agree more with the poem that my friends and I wrote on the last night of our trip:
“With such memories to treasure,
Our smiles too big to measure,
We’ve had the trip of our dreams.”
