By Zoe D and Zara D, Year 11

Over the course of July, 4 groups of year 10 and 11 students headed off to Heathrow to depart for an exciting 11 days away in Norway. We arrived in Kristiansand Airport and took a coach to our base camp, TrollAktiv, where we stayed for the first two nights. Our first day consisted of a practice day trip as a team building exercise between students, staff and our World Challenge leader. We also had to purchase our food for the week, however our group found it quite difficult to cater for 21 people. We then set off on a four-day trek, averaging 11km each day, and wild camping each night. We had high spirits throughout, despite the weather being against us we powered on through to do a total 43km. After our final day of trekking, we met our canoeing instructors to continue our adventure along the fjords of Norway. Our favourite moment of this trip was playing tag in our canoes and listening to a range of music, from nursery rhymes to Norwegian folk music. 

The whole trip was a great experience and as we expected lots of fun memories were made however, we did have an unexpected delay as our return flight was cancelled. Although though it was a surprise, we did enjoy our few hours in a five-star hotel. It was a great experience to learn more about our peers and Norway and it will be a trip we will never forget. 

We would highly recommend this to any younger students thinking of taking part in outdoor adventures abroad. Top tip, always have snacks to keep energy high and bring lots of layered clothing as the weather can vary.