What you can do in day... wake up, have breakfast, see the division of two plate boundaries, see waterfall number one, have lunch, see the geysirs with a bonus of seeing Mr Simmoms falling over (Sorry Sir, it had to be said), see waterfall number two, see a frozen crater, then see Eyjafallajökull (E15) the volcano which exploded in 2010, go to the coast, walk along the volcanic black beach and finally drive to another hotel which is located in the middle of no where! Yes, that is what we did in one whole day, pretty impressive fitting, what seems like, everything possible in one day. However there were still more to come to fill the next two days.
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| No mans land! |
We woke up bright and early, around half 6ish and Lucy and I packed our suitcases and got ready to go down for breakfast. We grabbed some breakfast and went back up to our room to check we had everything. By 9 oclock everyone was in the reception area ready to go. We all poppped into the shop across the road to get some drinks and snacks if you wanted them and then we were heading toward our first stop... Thingvellir. This is a national park where you can see the division of the two palte boundaries. The Eurasian and North American plate boundary which pull apart leaving a rigt valley of "no mans land". It was wet and drizzy when we got off here. We walked down into the valley to the other side where the coach was waiting for us. All around us was just empty land with a river, half flowing half frozen, that ran down the middle of this deserted landscape. It was oddly quiet as we walked from one side to the other, even though there was 44 of us it was still quiet. We left the silence of the landscape behind us and filled the coach again and went to our next point.
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| Gullfoss, the golden waterfall! |
Our next point on the map was Gullfoss, the golden waterfall. This is a stunning waterfall which looks completely different in the summer than in the winter. The water foam the water creates blends in with the light snow/ice in the background. The water plunges into the gorge below. It was a wide waterfall not a long thin one however it was still very beautiful. We all took photos by this waterfall and of the waterfall alone before moving on. Lunch was calling us so we had to say goodbye to amazing waterfall. We pulled up for lunch by this wooden shelter in the middle of no where. There were picnic benches around the edge, some of them wet some of them dry, so I decided just to stand because I would be sitting on the coach for a while. On the menu for lunch was: A cheese and ham sandwich or if you were a vegetarian (special needs as the lady called it) you had slices of egg, cucumber and pepper in your sandwich, a chocolate waffer, a banana and a carton of juice. Simples, but when when everyone got back onto the coach they got out their own snacks. Clearly lunch wasn't enough. After everyone was satisfied we headed to our next desitation.
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| The waterfall! |
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| The geysir sign! |
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This is what Mr Simmons looked
like when he slipped over! |
The closer we got the more it smelt of egg. Then we knew we were by the Geyers and hot springs. We got off the coach and walked to strokkur which is a geysir that explodes every 5-7 minutes. This geysir errupted 3 or 4 times when we where there, washing us with a steamy cload of this egg smell everytime it went off. You could see the water slowly bubbling, ready to spout out this hot water. It was great seeing it in action. That wasn't the only thing "in action" as we were waiting, in the distance a man on the other side of the geysir slipped over. No one realised who it was until he scrambled up and gave us the thumbs up that he was ok. It was Mr Simmons and when everyone realised and everyone burst out laughing. Maria didn't realise what had happen until on the bus when she watching the video of the geysir that was about to explode and in the background someone slipped over. And that was it we couldn't control our laughter. (Sorry Sir for embarrassing you, but it had to be said) Anyway moving on swiftly waterfall number 2 was awaiting us.
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| The water exploding! |
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| The little geysir! |
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| The second waterfall we saw! |
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| The visitor centre sign! |
This waterfall was slightly smaller than the beautiful Gullfoss however it was still stunning all the same! It was still a wide waterfall but it wasn't a double one like Gullfoss. We only stopped for a short amount of time here before going to Kerid, which is a frozen crater. Well, how can I describe a frozen crater? It's a crater which is frozen, simple as that really. It was surprisingly big, I did think at first it would be a small hole in the ground but standing next/above it, it was quite big. Again time was flying by and it was time to move on. Eyjafallajökull (which means for Island mountain glacier), in this case to make life easier for you dear readers, E15 was our next pin point. E15 is a volcano which is completely covered by an ice cap. This was the volcano which erupted in 2010 leaving a large scale of disrupted air travel across the world, which many people were unable to get home from other countries or fly out to other countries. It also had an impact on the farming in Iceland and ever since the eruption the land hasn't been the same again! Anyway we visited a little visitor centre near the volcano itself, on the edge by the farm which was in danger by this natural wonder. All 44 of us crammed ourselves into the little cinema room where they showed us the volcanic eruption and the impact it had on the people around us and especially to the farm located on the edge of the mountain. It was interesting to see what had actually happened when the volcano decided to erupt. By the time we got out, the sun had finally come out to say halló (hello in English). However it didn't stay for long. Whilst the sun was out we took photos of the landscape in front of us and then it was time to say goodbye.
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| The crater! |
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| E15! |
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| The beach! |
The rain had started again as we made our way to our next location. We were heading off to the coast. It was extremely windy as we stood by the coach to take pictures of the waves. We were there for about 5 minutes before jumping back onto the coach for a short trip to the volcanic black ash beach. It was still extremely windy as we all attempted to walk across the beach to the other side. The cold ripped through our coats and the wind blow in our ears. It was getting cold. Everyone was getting tired by the time we headed back to our second hotel. This hotel was in the middle of no where however it was still a nice warm hotel. The girls were down one corridor and the boys down another, a part from me and Lucy we were at the bottom of the boys corridor. Me and Lucy decided to do a bit of "bed diving" before getting ready for tea. Tea wasn't as good as the night before but it was warm so that was the main thing. After diner we had some chill time so me, Lucy, Lizzie, Elly, Martha and Maria sat with the teachers as they played some card games. Time went by and before we knew it it was time for bed. We all said a tired goodnight to each other before heading off to our beds. It was another amazing day in Iceland. Jam packed with some great activities, but we still had two more days left to fill with fun!
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| Me (on the right) and Lucy (on the left) bed diving! |
