Episode 28 The Travel Show

People have started to call this small Icelandic town

the Pompeii of the North.

In this week's programme, we find out why.

Coming up on the programme this week...

We're in Iceland to meet the people unearthing

the past from beneath lava and ash.

Some of them were melted because of the heat.

See, the building is all, like, boiled.

We're fighting our way through the final

leg of our journey along Canada's Northwest Passage.

And we take a 60-second stopover in Sydney.

# Check the bass Oh, oh, yeah

# Do me a favour. #

Welcome to The Travel Show with me, Henry Golding,

and this week I'm back in London and it's a place I know very well

but stay tuned as I'll be going on a tour which promises to

showcase this city in a whole new light. All I need is one of these.

First...

# Check it out, check it out... #

As we've seen recently,

Iceland is a country built on geological fault lines

and is prone to volcanic activity.

We send Joanne Whalley to the town of Heimaey,

which suffered the full impact of nature's force in 1973 and survived.

Well, just about.

It's about 2:30 in the morning, my mother is calling my name

and asking me, please, Helga, in a hurry get up, there is something

terrible going on on the island.

There is eruption.

There was a big, big...one column of fire from the earth into the sky

and it was really terrifying...

..because I'd never seen so much fire.

On 23rd January 1973, a volcano that hadn't

erupted for 5,000 years ripped open the island of Heimaey.

Ash and pieces of volcanic rock called tephra burst through

a 2km tear in the earth.

The call went up to evacuate the island.

Helga was 17 at the time and fled her house with her boyfriend.

I remember my boyfriend, he was holding his arms around me

and tried to take the tephra out of my hair because we were covered...

..our clothes were covered with that.

The fissure has not only gone up the island

and behind the old volcano, it was coming in, in the direction

to the harbour and we could see the glowing lava on the ocean floor.

At that moment we thought this is maybe it. This is our last moments.

Incredibly, the 5,000 inhabitants managed to escape on boats

and ships that had been docked in the harbour due to bad weather.

There was only one death, caused by a gas explosion.

All in all, the eruption lasted for five months.

This amazing field of rocks and boulders was once

a wall of molten lava headed right for Heimaey and you can just

see through the mist how it's reached right up to people's back

gardens but there were 400 unlucky homeowners

and their houses are buried deep beneath my feet.

It was a painful time for the people who had to go

and live on the mainland as refugees.

But now it's hoped the impact of that night can be used to

bring tourists to this tiny fishing community.

Archaeologists have been uncovering what's left of the houses,

giving the island the nickname Pompeii of the North.

Now an entire museum has been built around the remains of one of the homes.

Now we are coming to the television room. This is the sofa.

Gerda lived in this house.

She evacuated with her three small children.

The youngest was a newborn baby.

-This is your baby's jumper?

-Yes, yes. There's the sleeve.

-Aw!

And that's still all together.

-And how did you feel when you saw this tiny jumper?

-Difficult to see.

Now we are going to the kitchen.

Parts of the house were preserved by 50 metres of volcanic ash

but you can see the impact of the intense heat.

This metal spoon has melted away.

It's a fascinating snapshot of Gerda's life 40 years ago

but not all the island's inhabitants were as happy to dig up

the remnants of a traumatic past.

It's very difficult for some people.

They relive the night they had to leave their houses

and leave everything behind and... and just go on a fishing

boat on a five-hour trip in not too good weather.

Olafur manages the excavation project

and also has a personal connection to these houses.

I know from my parents, who had two boys,

three and five years old in a fairly new house

that they had spent a lot of time, a lot of money building,

and it went under the lava, it was not a good time.

They were actually at first not very happy about it

but now they are OK and my mother said to me it was about time

but you shouldn't have done it sooner.

It was not the right moment sooner but it's been 40 years so it's OK.

This picture was taken in March 1973 during the eruption.

Helga now runs the Memorial cafe commemorating the eruption.

But even she found it difficult to relive those experiences.

So, you've been to see the new exhibition, what was that like?

The first day when it opened

and I was running in tears, it was very emotional for me.

And I just decided, I will come back later.

THEY SING

For her, part of dealing with what happened that night is

inviting tourists to her house for a traditional Icelandic meal

and concert.

And to tell them the story of her and her boyfriend's escape.

THEY SING

Over 40 years later, they are still together.

And as for Gerda, she has now come to terms with seeing her

belongings for the first time in decades

and is proud that people can learn about the island's

history by looking through the remains of her family's home.

-TRANSLATION:

-My husband said, "I am going to build a house once in my life.

"It's going to be good and strong, no matter the cost."

He was building it to be here for ever,

and in a way, he was right.

SINGING CONTINUES

Joanne Whalley reporting there, and if you're planning a trip

to Iceland, here's a Travel Show guide

to things to think about before you go.

Iceland is a beautiful country

but beware, travellers from most countries

will find things like eating and drinking out very expensive.

The good news is that most of the attractions in Iceland

are free of charge, with some notable exceptions

like the Blue Lagoon and some private museums.

So try to think before you go about how you can make your money

stretch further by self-catering or cheaper travel options.

For most travellers to Iceland,

the Northern Lights are an unmissable attraction.

The spectacular natural phenomenon is best seen between late September

and early April.

And if you're thinking of going next year,

you may be in for an especially impressive light show.

In 2015, the Northern Lights are expected to be some of

the most spectacular.

Despite what Iceland's name implies,

temperatures are often mild.

While they have been known to reach as low as minus 24 degrees

centigrade, it's far more typical for temperatures to range

from as low as minus 4 degrees in winter to 18 degrees in summer.

Here's this week's travel update.

First up this week, there's good news for travellers who want

to use their electronic devices on planes.

Australia's aviation authority has approved the use of smartphones,

tablets and e-readers, as long as they are in flight mode,

falling in line with similar decisions made in America

and Europe last year.

But not all flights will be covered by the new

guidelines so make sure you check what your airline

permits before you fly.

In Italy, one of Rome's major sightseeing hotspots has been

kept firmly on the tourist trail after some inventive building works.

The world-famous Trevi Fountain

has been undergoing restoration work

but a transparent suspended walkway means visitors will still be

able to see the masterpiece in all its glory.

The restorations are expected to be completed by autumn 2015.

And finally to Spain, where the

annual Tomatina Festival saw contestants painting the town red.

The festival, held annually at Bunol,

had 22,000 revellers throwing 125 tonnes of ripe tomatoes at one

another over one frenzied hour.

Still to come...

We'll be calling in the Canadian coastguard to help crack through

the ice as we continue our journey along one

of the world's most dangerous sea voyages.

We've seen a bear in the area, we're confident that bear doesn't pose any immediate threat.

But we want to be safe.

And I'll be getting a masterclass in smartphone photography

in London's East End.

-Moving down, for example, and taking it from upwards.

-Look at that.

Instantly artier.

Next up, we continue our journey through the Northwest Passage,

a shipping route that links the North Atlantic

and Arctic Oceans.

It's impassable for most of the year due to its thick Arctic ice,

and even when the ice melts during the summer, it's still

a difficult crossing to attempt, as Karen Bowerman is finding out.

It's another typical day in the Northwest Passage,

but this isn't a typical excursion.

We're calling at Devon Island, a place too bleak to sustain life.

Wearing wet-weather gear and PFDs or life jackets, we head to the beach.

But we are not the first visitors ashore.

We're going to keep our PFDs on today. For obvious reasons.

We've seen a bear in the area,

we're confident it doesn't pose an immediate threat.

But we want to be safe.

Devon Island tells a story of struggle and survival.

Back in the '20s, three Mounties,

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, were sent to

live here to guard the Passage.

It's probably the most isolated job in the world.

For the first two years the men here didn't even have a radio.

The only news they got of the outside world came from a government ship

bringing fuel and supplies.

And that only visited once a year.

# Oh, for just one time

# I would take the Northwest Passage... #

We tend to think of the Brits, they did it a lot,

arrived somewhere and planted a flag for King and country.

Or Queen and country.

At a time when many other nations were showing

interest in the North, Canada as a new nation was right to try

and settle some of these areas.

# ..To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea... #

Even before then charting the Passage was a matter of huge national pride.

As our own quest continues, we honour those who didn't make it,

including the 19th-century British explorer John Franklin and his crew.

If you can raise your glasses and drink to their health

and their memories, to Franklin and the Northwest Passage.

If you don't want to drink it, share it with these thirsty sailors!

# ..Through a land so wide and savage

# And make a Northwest Passage to the sea. #

A few days later it's a beautiful morning at sea.

But it soon clouds over and we hit ice.

Is it that big a deal? Absolutely.

If you look at the historical expeditions through this area,

a lot of ships have been lost out here due to ice.

The ice brings bears and while the animals move freely,

we'll soon be stranded.

What's more, the ice is blocking the Bellot Strait,

our key to completing the Passage.

Time to bring in the big guys, the Canadian Coastguard.

'Good morning. Yes, sir.

'Want to make contact with you, what kind of weather...'

Luckily they happen to be close by and they are not short of tricks,

which is just as well since we're not the only ones in a bit of a mess.

'Roger that. Thank you very much. So we're standing by.'

20 hours later, at twilight, we see the last of the ice.

From then on it's plain sailing.

And as the sun sets on 12 dramatic days at sea,

we look back at an exhausting but exhilarating journey.

Somehow, against the odds, we've made it through the Passage.

Karen Bowerman reporting there from the Northwest Passage.

This week I'm in London.

Each year the city welcomes over 15 million people.

Lots of them will come armed with a camera to soak up those

iconic photo opportunities.

As most of them are already carrying smartphones maybe

they're missing a trick.

Does it really have to be that way?

Here in east London there is a tour with a difference

and I thought I'd go and try for myself.

East London has long held the crown as the hip part of town.

It's awash with street art.

So what better place to take a photography class?

The idea today is about using what we carry every day as a way of

seeing what's around us, a way of slowing down and looking at things.

There are no £1,000 cameras here.

Oh, no, we are using our smartphones.

It's a really powerful camera and we're

so used to seeing people use their phones all the time.

That kind of buys you a ticket to get into small spaces

full of lots of people, crowds,

or take images of people doing stuff that maybe

if you went in with a big camera that might not work in the same way.

It's through these little lenses that tour hosts are showing us

a new side of the city.

But first we had to learn how to get the best out of them.

The lights there...

What I think works really well is choosing a background

and waiting for something to break into that background.

Take it from a snapshot or a note-taking exercise,

to creating a feel of a place.

'A few more hints and tips later and we hit the streets.'

So, we've been unleashed onto the streets of London.

Not quite sure what I'm going to take photos of.

But everybody seems to be pointing in the direction of these walls.

I'm missing something.

You got some good lips there. I'm going to steal your...

'I think I need'

some personal tuition.

If only just to stop me stealing the shots of my fellow photographers.

One thing you can do, for example, is play around with angles.

-So you can try moving down and taking it from upwards.

-Ah!

So you get a bit of a... Look at that.

Instantly artier.

And we're not just training our sights on inanimate objects.

We're utilising one of the tips Jess gave us

and waiting for somebody to cross our path.

Go, go, go, go.

Whilst the others continue to get snap happy,

I caught up with one of the tour's founders.

It seems quite an obvious question but why smartphones?

It's taken photography from a point where it's not just to record

memories but it's how we communicate today.

And it's how we experience a lot of places.

We need the littlest member to go over just so I know how...

Our smartphone cameras were a great icebreaker, both when talking to the

others on tour...

You're good at this. You're like a professional.

'..or even persuading the locals to pose for a photo.'

Do you mind if I take a photo?

Three, two, one.

Are you in a band?

-You should be.

-Absolutely rugged band.

It should be said that, at £45, the tour is not that cheap

but you do get expert advice and a glass of wine at the end.

Are we comparing now?

Whilst I can't say I came away with much

insight into the history of east London, I certainly had a lot

of fun and took notice of things that would normally pass me by.

If you're one for facts and figures

and history behind things maybe it's not really the tour for you.

But if you want to capture the moment and are an artiste,

as such, then it's perfect.

And you can visit an exhibition of all my work at London's Tate Gallery.

OK, that is a bit of a lie

but I'm sure my mum will want some of the prints.

I'm afraid that's all the time we have for this week's Travel Show

but join us next week for this.

Christa travels to Bulgaria to join an archaeological dig that's

uncovering some of the secrets of one of the oldest cities in Europe.

It's a place where people used to make offerings to the gods

so they'd come here

and burn an offering to Hermes or Apollo or any of the ancient gods.

Kind of crazy to discover this in the middle of a modern city.

In the meantime, keep up to date with us and all of our travels by

jumping onto our website

or following one of our social media feeds.

All the details should be on your screen now.

But from me, Henry Golding,

and the rest of the Travel Show team here in London, it's goodbye.