Harry Falshaw's photos. (From Day 4)

Day 4: Our guide Dave's photos.....they are pretty good you know!

Today's weather was absolutely incredible.  It is possible that some of us even got a little sun burn!!!!!  Our guide David has a good eye for photos and these are just some that he captured of the day.  The Northern Lights have been out to play tonight and the pupils have had a good experience of seeing them glow in the sky.  

After a long and activity packed day, they are now tucked up in bed.

AGJ

Day 4: Chloe Laverick

Another early start…for some! However not for me and Sophie, as we slept in because our alarm did not go off . We left the Hotel Laki at 9 and firstly we went for a walk to the dwarf cliffs. On our way to the walk we stopped off for photo opportunities and climbed some old iron by the side of the road that was destroyed by the floods in 1996. We then went for a long walk to see a glacier. The views were definitely worth the walk because they were amazing and it was a lovely chance to take spectacular photos. We saw some native birds used for Icelandic Christmas dinners called tarmagons, when we came back from the walk we had lunch.

We then went to a glacier lagoon and went for an amphibious boat ride round the lake. I found this quite interesting but was very cold. Afterwards we went to the black beach filled of ice bergs and slipped and slid on the icebergs. Lots of us fell and got very wet and cold feet!

Chloe Laverick

Day 4: Cameron Lewis

This morning after setting 3 alarms we eventually crawled out of bed and went to breakfast.  After breakfast we got on the bus and set off for the mythical dwarf cliffs, we claimed the rocks there and were told the stories of the invisible dwarves.

We were there for about 20 minutes before leaving, we drove for about 40 minutes in the middle of nowhere before stopping to take in the stunning scenery which consisted of the snouts of three glaciers! We left and carried on for about 5 minutes before pulling in to a national park. We went on a walk which lasted forever and seemed to be all up hill. I started to doubt what we were even getting anywhere but when we got to the top it was definitely worth it. You could see for miles over the glacier and it was probably the best view I have ever seen!!

When we got back to the visitors centre we had lunch and bought things from the shop (mainly chocolate)  before setting off once again. This time we headed for an ice lagoon at the bottom of a glacier. We got on a boat and went off into the lagoon it was interesting to see all the icebergs and we even saw one flip over! When we finished there we crossed over the nearby road to a black sand beach which had icebergs beached all around. We all climbed all over them and started playing in the waves. Most of us got soaked and we had to leave our boots in the boot of the bus.

Today was a great day and we are looking forward to seeing the northern lights tonight.

Day 4: Kaylee Walker

Today I woke up at 7am and went to breakfast to discover a large selection of choices. We ventured east to explore the subglacial erosion on the rocks and to visit Dverghamrar. Ljósmynd is a large rock at Dverghamrar and legend has it that trolls carved away at it to design it's unique features. The name originates from tales being told about supernatural beings. The geology aspect proves to convey the natural monument history. Basalt columns have formed by contraction and cooling of lava producing the rock formed vertically with abstract characteristics. 

We then drove along the longest bridge in Iceland currently reaching a length of 800 metres. The bridge was purposely built so that when volcanoes erupt and affect the water, it is expected to provide land to cater for the volcano's damage and to prevent floods and demolishing urban areas. When the Laki eruption occurred in 1783, it produced 138 craters and many gorges. Lava travelled 40km north and 60km towards the ocean. The initial eruption then caused bursts of activity, the rover was 1200 degrees lava and 1/4 of the Icelandic population died mainly by drastic intake of sulphur dioxide and fluorine gas. The 1783 daze effected temperature it was very hot preternaturally! Hot summers occurred every year. Then we visited a piece of a bridge that was called skeiðarárdur that sand-flats had washed away in a glacial flood caused by an eruption in the north. The bridge was 12 meters long,100-200 tonne and was completely demolished.

After our sightseeing on the bus, we went to Vatnajokulspjodgardur national park. The national park walk was extremely long and tiring. We walked up a mountain on a small singular dirt track. The sun was blazing and the sharp sun rays made the walk incredibly exhausting. The trek was worth it for when we reached the top the views were spectacular and it was a fantastic photo opportunity. We spectated over numerous icebergs and had a amazing view of Icelands biggest mountain which is over 2100 meters high. We took a route named svartifoss and walk was five and a half kilometres long and took us about two and a half hours! It was defiantly easy to say the walk down was substantially much simpler. When we reached the bottom, we paused the day for lunch.

After having lunch and revitalising ourselves we set of to the ice lagoon called Sveitarfelagid hornafjordur. We took a duck (bus) boat and drove into the ice lagoon. The water was significantly freezing and the man gave us some ice to eat, it tasted very fresh. We spectated an iceberg flipping. After our eventful boat journey we went to the beach to discover more icebergs that were extremely enjoyable to climb however they were also very slippy. The sand was black and came from the volcano therefore mostly consisted of ash. The waves were very unpredictable and came in at a rapid pace and caught many people out causing there feet and legs to be very wet. After we climbed most of the ice burgs and took photos we went back to the bus and took off our shoes and socks and got on the bus to travel back to the same hotel as last night (hotel Laki). 

Day 4: Will Harwood

We started off the day with yet another early start, and made our way up to breakfast at 7:30 on the dot. Almost everyone made it to breakfast today, excluding Chloe and Sophie. There was plenty on offer, with the usual yogurt and cereal as well as bacon, beans and sausages. When everyone had filled themselves up with the hearty meal, lunch was prepared, with ham, cheese, biscuits, fruit juice and choices of brown or white bread.

At exactly 9:00 everyone was out and waiting in the lobby to see what the day had in store for us and we all knew that the day was going to be long with a lot of travelling in the bus.

We made an unexpected stop at the "Dwarf Cliffs" where all of the boys made the short but steep climb to the top so that we could all take photos at the top. Though we didn't stay long it was great fun and a good surprise.

After that we made our way to the National Park where we were to make a very difficult and not to mention, long, walk. The amount of complaint from some people was almost funny at times but the view at the top was more than worth the effort. With a clear view of the glacier tongue and and even clearer view of the icecap. Some ventured down to the top of the cliff while others remained in the safety of the cliff, a little further inwards.

Following this, we made our way to the ice lagoon where a boat was waiting for us, ready to take us on our trip of the lagoon. Everyone was exilirated as the boat made its way around with its passengers, us, looking round in excitement, trying to spot something out of the ordinary. This continued to occur until someone managed to spot an iceberg flipping as it was breaking down into smaller parts. Not much happened afterwards and all were unhappy as our journey on the boat came to an end.

Finally, we drove over to the beach on the other side of the road. Everyone tore down the beach, running towards the grounded icebergs and the sea. Many climbed on the icebergs whilst others took photos of them posing on top of them. To end the day, many played a game where the players had to sprint and touch icebergs which were being touched by the waves and get away before the waves caught up. As you can probably guess, this just ended up with everyone soaking wet and ready to get back on the bus and travel home.

It was a brilliant day and I am ready for another early start and whatever tomorrow has in store for us!

            

Will Harwood

Day 4: Daisy Oliver

This morning after waking up at 7 o'clock and reluctantly getting out of bed, we went to breakfast which had a variety of yummy food. We then got on the bus and headed for Dverghamrar it took a quick 5 min walk from the road to get to the  stone columns (Dverghamrar). Deverghamrar means dwarf cliffs and our guide Dave told us that in Iceland the people believe in folk law and that the columns housed elves, dwarfs and other supernatural being.

After Dave told us about the folk law and stories we were allowed to climb up to the top we got some great pictures. We then got back on the bus and went to this place where a broken bit of bridge from a really big flood was placed ,the flood took place on the 5th November 1996. The flood took out most of the bridge and destroyed many more buildings and land. From there we went to a national park and went for a really long walk, it took ages to get to the top but once we were there we had a spectacular view well worth the wait we could see a glacier and many mountains in the distance. Once all the pictures had been taken we had the long walk down. The highlight of the day for me was the boat trip to the ice lagoon it was so cool, we even got to see a iceberg flip. The guide on board had a small iceberg which we all got to hold, he told us that it was over 100 years old.

It was amazing there were a variety of different sizes some were huge but others were tiny. After that we had a short trip to the beach there we icebergs all over the black sandy beach it was so strange unlike any of the beaches back home, we got so many pictures sitting on the freezing icebergs, soon the waves strand coming in and we all ended up getting our shoes soaking wet. After an enjoyable day we all got on the bus and head for hotel Laki.