It's glacier walking time!

Very excited today - it's ice walking day!!!! We think we are more excited than the kids! After an alright night's sleep and a decent breakfast we were ready!

Before the glacier walk we visited the volcano that no one can say - Eyjafalljokull! The farm that was covered in ash at the foot of the volcano have built a visitors centre to cash in on the ash - good idea! The video they showed was good - showed you what they went through and in the shop you could buy no end of ash products!

Next stop the glacier - eeeek! We arrived at Solheimajokull Glacier and had lunch before meeting our guides and getting kitted up with crampons and ice axes. We looked the part. We definitely were far more excited than some of the kids! Off we went in smaller groups walking up the snout of the glacier. It's hard to describe but it was very exciting clambering around on the black glacier. Some parts looked like piles of dirt but when you chip into it it's actually ice underneath. We went through little tunnels in the ice - very coo.. The guide said he took groups out after the eruption and it was covered in ash and his friend when doing an ice caving type activity, dosed off due to the gases when they lowered him down into the ice hole! I could have stayed there longer but time flew and it was time for us to move on.

On the way back we stopped at Vik - a coastal town and apparently the wettest place in Iceland. There was not much there except a truck stop cafe where of course the kids loaded up on more junk food! We then hit the beach at Reynishverfi, black sands and it was hailing! The hail was being blown into our faces at extreme speed! It hurt! We made it to the cliff face and cave where it looked a little like the Giants Causeway with the stepping stone column look. There was also some needles out to sea which apparently as the legend goes was two trolls trying to drag a ship to land and when daylight broke they turned to stone!

Finally we headed back to the hotel for our final night and boy was it dramatic! After being moaned at about silly teenager pranks that our kids did, the annoying school in the corridor erupted like Eyjafalljokull into a full blown fight between two of their own pupils! How embarrassing! We did get an apology and they acknowledged their embarrassment, Finally the moral high ground and victory is ours! Lets hope it stays that way!