My first class trip of the year was to Ullswater in the Lake District.  For those of you that have been, this may remind you of the stunning the scenery.  The hills are magnificent for hiking and there are a lot of interesting historical points of interest.  We stayed in a massive manor with room for 175 guests.  It was a very interesting place to sleep – some of the students even thought that it was haunted (they were certain they saw apparitions at night).

We spent 7 days kayaking, wet and dry gorge scrambling, orienteering; and even completed an overnight expedition to a mountain lodge.  I was lucky enough to have the chance to do some solo hiking through the district; stumbling across an amazing druid circle called “The Cockpit”.

Venturing into the towns of Penrith, Pooley Bridge and Glenridding via local transit were also cool side adventures.  Castle ruins, charity shops (which I’ve never experience before), and ancient abbeys were explored during these visits.

An interesting experience was having dinner at a licensed establishment that was the former residence of King Richard III, whose reign symbolized the end of the middle ages. The class trips we are lucky to experience here (like Spain, for our United Nations conference, and Greece for volleyball) are so unlike any class trips we’re used to in Ontario. Next school trip is to Athens, Greece.  Stay tuned for that!