Icelandic Adventures

A group of Thames pupils from Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 have just returned from an eventful and action packed adventure in Iceland. The trip included a day’s guided tour of the natural geographic highlights and local villages along the south shore of the island, covering; Seljalandsfoss, the famous waterfall, Skogar village and the Skogafoss waterfall, the black sand beach at Reynishverfi with impressive basalt columns, and the remote village of Vik. There was a whale watching boat tour where students were rewarded with sightings of both Humpback whales and a Minke whale.

Pupils visited the Sólheimajökull Glacier, the interactive LAVA Centre Volcano & Earthquake Exhibition, and took a day’s tour of the Golden Circle, which included Thingvellir National Park, Geysir Geothermal Area and Energy Exhibition, the Gullfoss waterfall, and a dip in the Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin), the oldest swimming pool fed by hot springs in Iceland.

On the first evening the group met Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who served as the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 - 2016. Grímsson talked about his life in Icelandic politics, and offered salient advice for future candidates; how important it was for politicians to not lose touch and to be aware of what the electorate is thinking. He shared how he used to visit his local bar to talk and listen to the views of the villagers.