Duke of Edinburgh Expedition - Silver
On Friday 19 September, after months of volunteering, physical and skillful activities, 60 of my classmates and I trekked out of our busy, urban, Twickenham lives and into the beautiful rural landscape of the - very hilly - Ashdown Forest. For the next 3 days, we would be tasked with planning routes, navigating 60km of merciless terrain, putting up and taking down tents, cooking (exquisite) meals, and not losing our wits to this East Sussex countryside. This expedition would act as our practice, whereby we would learn the ways of the great compass and map, and be supported throughout our lengthy walk, before our assessed trip which would take place the following fortnight. The assessed trip was completed in the New Forest, a gorgeous heathland terrain that was kinder in altitude than its predecessor. We were split into 10 groups, and each allocated a highly skilled assessor that would teach us all the basics of survival in the countryside - they accompanied us on the first day’s walk, where we got to know the landscape, and could ease ourselves into the subsequent 7 hour day of walking that followed on Saturday and then Sunday. My group delegated a role for each person on the first day. We agreed that it was important for all of us to have a chance as lead navigator, pace-setter, safety officer, snack provider, morale- booster, and, most importantly, comedic relief/ lead singer. Once these were all decided, we were ready to walk on!
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