By Community Correspondent Bethan Baxter It was a trip that the year 10 students of Surbiton High School would remember forever. In the half term they made the three hour plane journey North-West to the volcanic island of Iceland.

After arriving in Reykjavík, the three groups, including the ‘Icicles’, got in their separate minibuses and were introduced to their guide for the trip. The guide for the ‘Icicles’ was called Kalli and the girls and him got on like a house on fire from the word go. The team were heading west towards the Peninsula.

The first night was spent at cabins and was a taster for the experience we were going to have in Iceland. The sky was crystal clear and filled with millions of dazzling stars that could never be seen in the city. Each cabin was installed with a Jacuzzi, and once our bellies were filled with a wonderful, home-cooked, Icelandic dinner we were ready to hit the hot tub and gaze up at the stars. What we didn’t realise till the morning was that surrounding our cabins were towering mountains and the rough Atlantic ocean.

Sunday was set to be a very busy day. The first stop was looking for seals on the shore line, unfortunately, they hadn’t yet arrived. The day was spent driving around the edge of the entire peninsula. During the journey Kalli told enchanting tales of the trolls and elves living amongst the Icelandic landscape. The land was empty, quiet and calm. Only 390’000 people inhabit Iceland, the same population as Kingston! This was an alien land. Mountains and craters dominated the vast landscape, lava had engulfed the land, and no cars nor houses were anywhere to be seen. The day included a singing cave, a bellowing blowhole, an Icelandic sheep farm and a shark museum with tasters. It was then back to the cabins, but a storm was brewing so hot tubs were forbidden.

Monday brought a lot of travelling, but we did stop at the point where the Mid-Atlantic ridge occurs due to the Eurasian and North American Plate moving apart from each other, Þingvellir. This area is also famous for being the place where the Icelandic parliament first formed in 930. Hotel Selfoss was our home for the night and was very luxurious.

The next day we were given a choice. You could either go swimming in an Icelandic open air pool, or visit the local school. The ‘Icicles all went for the school option. It was a fantastic opportunity to speak to Icelandic students and find out about their school and more about they modern day culture. We were surprised to find they had no uniform, didn’t wear shoes inside and were allowed to use their ipods during school. The rest of the Golden Circle was also on the tour that day, starting with the Geyser and then to Gullfoss. Both were natural occurrences we don’t often see at home and were spectacular. That night we went to the Wendy houses, arguably, the best night of the trip. It started with karaoke in the bar, and ended with a heavy snowfall, lying in our pyjamas in the snow watching the Northern Lights and singing to our hearts content with our friends. A truly memorable and quite hilarious evening.

Then it was Wednesday, our last full day in Iceland. The morning was spent on a glacier, in funny looking red suits, enjoying the tranquil and flawless scenery and making the best of the thick snow. To celebrate the final evening we went out for a meal and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Sadly, it dawned on us, today was our final day. We weren’t going to spend it hanging around in an airport, we were off to the world famous Blue Lagoon. In one word it was bliss. When the time came to say goodbye to Kalli and the other tour guides who we’d grown so close too it was sad, but they’d shown us their culture and country for what it truly is, and it was an experience we will never ever forget.