Fallout a London bonus for Kiwi students

A group of Kiwi high school students and their teachers on a history trip will have to spend a couple of extra days in London - but they're not complaining.

About 26 students from Wellington girls' high school St Mary's College and four teachers were expecting to fly back to Auckland at 8am today (9pm British time) but the Iceland volcano was likely to put a stop to their plan.

The group had travelled around Paris and Rome and have been in London for a week.

Speaking to the Herald from London, teacher Marion Myers said, "We're just trying to entertain the girls.

"We're not very hopeful of catching this flight but we're just trying to concentrate on the positive.

"We've got a great day planned, we're hoping to go to the British Museum."

Mrs Myers said the "nice little family hotel" the group was staying in in north London was happy to extend their stay.

Meanwhile, New Zealand rugby league player Robbie Paul - now playing for Leigh Centurions in Britain - said Iceland's volcanic eruption was a "pain in the butt".

His Challenge Cup championship side had been scheduled to take a simple 90-minute flight to the south of France before tomorrow's clash tie at Limoux.

But those plans were thrown into disarray when Britain's airspace was closed because of ash from the volcano in Iceland.

Now the team members are on a 24-hour, 1560km coach trip from hell to reach the match.

"A 24-hour journey?" was Paul's response.

"I can fly back to New Zealand in that time.

"We were meant to have a chilled evening, then train," he told the Sun newspaper in London.

"It's a real pain in the butt."