Countryside Code Conundrums During Silver Award Duke of Edinburgh Expedition



Hi it's been some time since I wrote a blog but I thought I would share my recent experiences whilst going through my Silver Award Expedition for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

This year it was really difficult as I was suffering from extreme pain throughout and had to resort to using painkillers and masses of antihistimine to cope with my severe hayfever too.

So as you can imagine I was lucid one moment and groggy the next.

Worse still on the first day of my expedition my sisters had been playing with my walking boots so I had to borrow my mothers, which was one size to small and caused me no end of pain for the first day.  Even though my father dropped my pair of boots at 11:30pm to one of the kind instructors it made little difference for the following two days as I had already formed blisters from the tight boots on the first day.  It was a really woeful start...

I was the only girl on a group of 7 and though it seemed intimidating at first I honestly believe I was with the nicest bunch of lads possible for the trip. They were courteous and helpful and mindful of the pain that they new I was going through.  These guys were amazing navigators and we completed the practice and the final expedition faster than any groups.  Though I often slowed them down they did not gripe but often offered to carry my bag, which I declined.

It was a time of new experiences and when we passed by a local brick kiln one of the owners excited by visitors from far afield gave us a free tour of her businesses. It was a generous offer of her time and it was truly amazing to be in a large factory of this type that I otherwise would never have had the opportunity to see.

A real sense of camaraderie developed in our group and we would often take breaks and share food. We had some pleasant conversations though it caused friction when I mentioned Liverpool's glory in Europe and recent attainment of their 6th European Champions League trophy - mainy because the boys all supported Tottenham, ha ha!

Sleeping in a tent at night was awful, I found it especially difficult on the last night when my tent was somehow placed over a large stone (set in the ground) which was directly under my sleeping bag meaning I had to sleep in uncomfortable positions to avoid it.

Our aims were to complete the 3 day expedition sucessfully and to learn the countryside code. The silver expedition was a lot longer than my bronze award expedition in that the six hour daily walks took place over three days instead of two and was over 50km rather than 32km. So completing it was a near miracle for me and I was shattered for days after having to take an additional day of school just to recover.

Learning the countryside code was very informative for me and I feel as if I can now travel in the stix in a manner that is respectful as well as fun. It makes a real difference to me and to others affected by me and that is important in a world where many people care to little about the impact of their lifestyles.

I realy loved this experience and can't wait to start my DofE Gold Award, though I may need to take some time out before I start as I am taking my GCSE examinations next year.



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