Blowing hot and cold: Iceland

As I slowly inched towards the cliff's edge, daring myself to peer down to the fast-flowing river six metres below, my 13-year-old daughter darted past me, leaping in. With a piercing scream and arms flailing, Emelye plunged into the icy water. My heart stopped, waiting for her to surface. When she did, I held my breath as she frantically swam towards a couple of tour guides standing on the riverbank with their arms outstretched, ready to haul her out before she was swept downstream.

"So who's next?" our tour leader asked.

I didn't realise we were expected to jump off a cliff when I'd signed up for this half-day river-rafting trip from Reykjavik, Iceland's capital city. I brought Emelye and my 11-year-old son Luke to Iceland because we wanted an active holiday - something more exciting than a summer spent lying by a pool - but for me, leaping into a freezing cold river was never part of the deal.

However, Luke was game and so was my husband, although he squealed louder than our daughter before slamming into the water. For them, the cliff jump - and the fact that our young, enthusiastic guides from Arctic Adventures had deliberately capsized our rafts - turned what might have been a tame trip along the Hvítá River into a highlight of our holiday.

Another highlight was a misty morning spent racing quad bikes up Hafrafell Mountain on the outskirts of Reykjavik. Too young to drive themselves, the children had to be content riding pillion behind me and their father, and yelling at us to go faster.

"Am I going to die, Mummy?" Luke asked on the third day of our trip, when I explained that we were going to descend 122 metres into the heart of a sleeping volcano. As Thrihnukagigur is the only volcano in the world where you can enter the magma chamber, this was to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. At least, that's what I told Luke.