By Brinda and Lily Yr12
“Our Gold practice expedition was completed in Brecon Beacons, Wales, throughout the Easter holidays, and there seems to be so many different opinions on the trip.
We walked for over eight hours per day, for four days and three nights, creating unforgettable memories. For most, the days were hard, trekking up with heavy rucksacks seemed demoralizing with the blazing sun tormenting us almost every second. The evenings, however, were relieving and fun when everyone came together to put up the tents and cook group dinners as we ate, laughed and learnt more about each other, along with a lovely hot chocolate, every night. Thankfully, there was no rain throughout the course of our expedition, and we all stayed as dry as we could while considering the mud and streams, we crossed on our route.
There was a constant sense of encouragement from both our instructors and peers, which I believe is the main reason we all made it through with wonderful memories. Our instructors stretched the truth by telling us, ‘You’re almost there just 30 more minutes down this valley’ when in reality it took us another hour to camp. Whenever someone was falling behind, the entire group would stop or hold hands in the form of support and encouragement. Running up the steep slopes and the endless laughter within our groups helped form so many precious bonds. We saw each other through the worst times, and despite hardly knowing each other before this experience, we’ve created a special bond that nothing can break.
The best part of the expedition was, in my opinion, coming down the sugar loaf on the final day. Our group, group C, were hyped up on almost completing the practice expedition. We were singing songs with bright moods, bringing a smile to everyone’s face. In the end, despite the beautiful views from the mountain range, seeing civilization again after 4 days was refreshing and gave us all a boost. Our group, even with our busted legs, ran to the Minivan when it came into sight. The sense of accomplishment was an addictive emotion and overall, it was a great experience, with lots of fun and we look forward to the qualifying expedition in June!”
