Day 4

Black Sand Beach & Volcano

I have truly never seen a country with the natural beauty and diversity of Iceland. So far, most of our time has been spent in the part of the country surrounded by lava fields but yesterday was our first opportunity to see more of the rolling green hills (filled with sheep and horses), waterfalls, cliffs and ocean. The pictures through the bus window don’t begin to do it justice.

It was a 3 hour drive so we left at 9am and arrived around noon. We got the participants set up for lunch while Ellie, Jenn (florist) and I went to the Black Sand Beach to scout and set up. I love the role of helping to make game plans that will best support our participants. For example, when we arrived there was a HUGE crowd by the basalt structures and we knew that would feel stressful to them. So we found a quiet spot on the beach where Ellie could give them a pep talk before they began, they could begin working with the models with plenty of space, and then venture into the big crowd.

Our professional models were *stunning* and flown in from Spain! They blew us away and are literally on the cover of British Vogue this month! We also had another professional model from the US who was friends with one of the participants and happened to be in Iceland at the same time. The participants were in heaven! My role was helping to ensure everyone got fair turns and time as well as supporting the models with whatever they needed.

We made our way back to the hotel, stopping for pizza on the way home for dinner. I fell asleep on the ride home, thinking as soon as we got back I would go to bed for the night. But I woke up and to my surprise a group had figured out how we could get a view of the active volcano. I was sooo sleepy and the thought of hiking 6 miles in the cold sounded miserable BUT Jenn convinced me not to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity! I rallied and boy am I grateful for Jenn’s push. It was incredible!!! It was cold, insanely windy and exhausting because it was so late (we left at 10:30pm and got back at 2am) but magical. I feel exhausted today but it was totally worth it. The last photo is from one of the participants drone!Baca lagi