Duke of Edinburgh's Third Bronze Level Camp

Despite the wettest week of the year in the leadup to the third Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award Adventurous Journey, nine excited and determined senior school students and one cautiously optimistic teacher headed off into the wilderness via canoes and kayaks with me (Mr Ross McIvor) and Mr Ricko Levinson. Within minutes of getting on the water, the challenging wind conditions were testing the steering abilities of some of the boat teams. Eventually, everyone was headed in the right direction and managing to stay upright. The only victim of the conditions was the spare canoe, being towed by me, which didn't cope well with the rolling waves and started taking on water. Thankfully, everything was tied down well (except for one water jerry, which made an escape and is yet to be located...) and I was back on my way again soon enough, thanks to the rescue efforts of two of the canoe teams.

With that issue resolved, the journey was fully underway and the whole group loved everything that it had to offer - the adventurous activities, escaping from the busyness of daily life, sleeping in tents, eating delicious camp food and playing games together after dark until the staff couldn't stay awake any longer and sent the students off to their tents to sleep! Mrs Bonnie Doherty took on the challenges of the camp with gusto too and set a fantastic example for the students with her tenacity and commitment to push through when things were getting tough (like on the seemingly unending climb on the way up to Mt Joyce on Day 2). 

Sadly, the camp was over all too soon and the students found themselves all wanting to come back and do it all again in the near future. For those that choose to progress to the Silver Award after they complete the other aspects of their Bronze level, even more incredible experiences and adventures lay ahead. The skills they've developed will come in very handy as the difficulty and duration of their Silver Adventurous Journeys ramp up even more. Great work from all involved and Mr Ricko and I look forward to more exciting times ahead!