The countdown starts here!

With just over three months left before he head for Iceland, I will now start to post regularly on the blog. This will provide us with an extra layer of communication but should also whet appetites for all the amazing things we are going to do and places we are going to visit in August.

So, let's start with a few photos which were sent to me in January by a friend who lives part of the year in Iceland. He is the Rayburn Tours educational manager but he used to a be a Geography teacher in Stonehaven. These beautiful photos were all taken in the part of Iceland we will be visiting in August though hopefully we'll be seeing the landscape without a covering of snow.

If you look back to the photos of our last trip to Iceland, you should certainly be able to spot this stretch of coastline.

I am hoping that if you are reading this posting, it means you have received the letter which I sent out last week requesting final payments and details of participants for my 'passenger list'. In case you have mislaid it or require an extra copy of the form which was attached, you can download it from here.

At the meeting I held with pupils on Tuesday at lunchtime, I asked them to check that their passports have at least 6 months to run beyond the date of our tour. Icelandic immigration rules require this. I also asked them to ensure that they have a valid EHIC card. This guarantees medical care under reciprocal agreements between Iceland and the UK.

Finally, as you will be aware from my letter, we are organising a 'hooded sweatshirt' for participants in the tour. It will be navy with a pouch pocket at the front and will carry a small Icelandic flag and the wording 'HSD Iceland 2008' printed on the upper left side of the front. We have managed to negotiate the excellent price of £17 for these and pupils can order one using this order form.