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The Golden Circle, here we come!

Last updated: Jan 30th, 2019


Gulfoss 4

We set off from Hvergerdi in snow, and in true Icelandic winter style this wasn’t the last we saw of it. The glistening snow made the approach to Thingvellir National Park even more spectacular than I could have imagined – the flakes hanging from the trees and clinging to the fissures was a sight to behold!

As the students and staff from Bury C of E High School set off along the path to the top with their Rayburn field study tutor Cath, I Geysirtook a moment to stand and absorb the beauty of the park. Live geography all around…how lucky I was to be here!

Next stop, Geysir. I have only ever seen pictures of the erupting Strokkur Geysir set against a brilliant blue back drop with tourists looking up in awe at the 10m  high shooting water. Today however, we would see it in a slightly different light! The falling snow and white sky made the 7 minute wait between eruptions even more dramatic. Boom…shrieks of joy, gasps of amazement and a quick check to see if we all managed to time the photo right. I did!

As some of the year 11’s in the group are just about to start studying waterfalls and rivers, the next stop was a particular highlight for them. We spent about 30 minutes at Gullfoss and we saw it in two very different ways. As we arrived the sky was white and snow was falling, the sight of Gullfoss was limited but the sound was one of the most impressive we had come across so far on our Icelandic adventure. Ten minutes later and the brisk wind moved the snow clouds along, revealing the beautiful blue sky beneath. Wow… Now we were seeing Gullfoss in ALL its glory!Thingvellir

My Icelandic experience is getting better by the day and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds. Let’s see what the south coast has to show me.