Anna’s Norwegian Expedition 2025

After some difficult times growing up, this expedition was a chance to gain confidence, push myself out of my comfort zone, make some friends, experience a new country, learn to work in a team, and to challenge myself. I didn’t know anyone, so preparation started with team-building events like bake-sales for school staff and making crafts to sell at the Christmas fair. I hand-painted stones and made crafts with my mum and granny.

Arriving in Norway, we had a three-hour lay-over, during which we planned meals and got to know each other over lots of games of Uno. Looking past the twin-engine propellers, I saw snow-topped mountains, and it was exciting to fly over the area we were about to be trekking through.

We warmed up with a gentle day’s walk on flat ground. I felt it was not long or challenging enough, to prepare us for the real deal. The first two days of the trek-proper were very steep, hilly, and difficult terrain. We set off from base camp at around 1pm and did not get to the place we had found to camp until 22:30, in the midsummer dusk – we still had to cook tea and pitch tents. We had trekked 12 hours (approximately 5km) and I was exhausted and definitely ready for bed. My shoulders, feet, and back were all sore. 

Each day, a different pupil-leader was in charge of getting everyone up, making sure the campsite was all tidy before we set off for the day, planning the route and taking charge of the map. We had teams responsible for cooking for each meal: porridge for breakfast, tuna wraps for lunch, and pasta or rice for tea.

On day two, two participants had to pull out, as they found the first day too tough. Our expedition-leader had to escort them and one of our teachers back to base camp, before returning to the main group. This caused a delay in starting our walk for the day. Today, we climbed up a mountain, whose top was quite windy, but the views were stunning.

Descending from the mountain, the trail was extremely steep, and tough on the ankles and legs. Having started the day late, we didn’t reach our intended campsite, but found an alternative, already quite late, around 21:30.

The following 13km-day was easier on our bodies as we found a road, although we had to make up 3km from day-two. We met a herd of goats, with some cute little kids. The views on the third day were far better than the first two days, making it more enjoyable. This camping spot was the best: here we saw an elk and an amazing sunset.

Day-four was, by far, the easiest day of the trek, even though the pupil-leader for the day led us on a massive detour. Before starting our descent to meet the bus back to base-camp, we stopped at a view-point, with the most beautiful views of the whole trek. I felt proud of myself for completing the trek, even though at some points I had felt like giving up, but I didn’t. 

The canoeing section was two days long, with an island camp in between. At the beginning, we were struggling to paddle, as canoeing wasn’t something we had tried before, but we got the knack soon enough. The water was choppy and there were a lot of waves. The wind was mostly behind us, helping us to move through the water. The strong wind made paddling quite hard. As we approached the island, the wind swung head-on, meaning we had to paddle even harder. The current also became stronger as we got close to the island. When we arrived, we pitched camp and made pasta for tea. Whilst on the water, we could see the view-point where we had stopped on the trek. The second day of canoeing was a lot easier, because the water was completely flat and there was barely any wind. As we neared the end-point of our canoe trip, we stopped at a shop to re-supply food for the last few days, which we put in our canoes, then had heavy loads to carry a fair distance back to base camp. The views during the canoe trip were beautiful and amazing.

The best part of the whole expedition was the white-water rafting. Going down the rapids was fun and thrilling. We got to do the rapids twice. One of the teachers fell in, which we all thought was extremely funny. Afterwards the teacher said “I’m glad it was me who fell in the water, and not one of you”. On the last day of the expedition we tried some high-adrenaline high-ropes and zip-lining. I was concentrating so hard that my mum barely recognised me in the photo!

Our evenings at base camp, the first and last two days, were filled with card games, especially chase the ace, go fish, dominos, and a quiz night. It was a fun way to relax after the hard work and physical activity.

Through taking part in this expedition, I have grown in confidence and feel more comfortable working in a team. I have tried things that I haven’t been sure about, trusted other people around me, spoken up, and worked things out between us. I have learnt to not give up and to just keep going even when things are tough. I hope this confidence carries into my final year at school, helps me speak up for myself, so that I lift my horizons and take any opportunities life throws at me. I would like to thank The Neil Mackenzie Trust for making my expedition to Norway possible. It was an amazing experience for me.