9.00 Start. 2.00 Finish. 12 Kilometres versus 40 girls eager to participate in their Duke of Edinburgh experience. Saturday 24th of March: Trial Begin!
First we met at Boxhill and Westhumble station, some Year Tens at Croydon High School took either a 30 minute train ride or an hour car ride to get there. We assembled into our organised groups and headed off: each group had a different route to follow and with many hardships along the way we headed for the viewpoint. Routes included various navigating through cow fields and hills and even climbing a few hundred steps. Not to mention singing the entirety of the Sound of Music and dropping phones in the countryside. It was a learning process for all. One group also notably walked round in circles before realising some kind of familiarity to the route.
However reaching the top of the viewpoint was very rewarding. Getting to the top could not be achievable without teamwork within groups and without the patience and helpfulness of the staff that came along with us. One participant, Georgia said ‘It was a great activity o test our navigation skills and truly prepare us for the expedition.’ And another participant, Aashna commented that ‘The walk was a lot less tiring than expected and I feel like I can trust my team a lot more now.’ Overall, this walk was a learning curve for all of us, and was particularly useful for the upcoming practice expedition.
