During February half term, 44 students from Year 9 to 13 joined Mrs Stevens, Miss Hickman, Mr Gerrard and Mrs Parsons on a four-day tour of Iceland.

The country certainly lived up to its name! We arrived in blizzard conditions where the only road open was the road from Keflavik airport into the capital city, Reykjavik. Our coach driver, Eduardo said it was unprecedented weather, he hadn’t seen anything like it in the four years he had been driving in the country! This certainly made for an exciting albeit slightly stressful start to the trip as our original itinerary had to be quickly adapted.

After a rather chilly walking tour of the capital and a hearty meal in the hotel on our first evening, the students were excited to see what the next day held in store. The decision was made to leave Reykjavik before the next storm hit, which was due mid-morning. Unfortunately, the Golden Circle was closed and didn’t reopen for three days. We managed to detour to see the Geysir on the last day which was a bonus! The scenery heading south is simply stunning and the drive was combined with various stops at dramatic waterfalls.

The following days included visits to the black beaches of Reynisfjara where the storms had brought epic waves to the shore; the Eldhraun lava fields and a beautiful hike through Skaftafell National Park to see the Svartifoss waterfall. Our last day proved to be the most popular for the students with a hike onto the Sólheimajökull glacier and a visit to the Blue Lagoon at sunset – a truly magical ending to the trip.

The students were a pleasure to take to Iceland. The changing itinerary; extreme weather conditions, active days and fact that we changed accommodation every day did not faze the students – they were truly up to the challenge!

Also a special well done to Aimee, winner of our photography competition as judged by the Art department. 

Blackheath High School parents/guardians can read the daily blog that the students wrote on the trip on Firefly.