Last weekend saw the first Duke of Edinburgh’s Award practice expedition of the year. The students escaped the rain and had a very sunny and warm weekend.

Starting in Eberbach, the groups walked carrying their backpacks and had a lunch stop at an old ruin. They then continued with their selected routes all the way to the campsite near Neuenkirchen. After their arrival at the campsite, setting up tents and cooking themselves dinner, they spent a glorious sunny afternoon just chilling, playing volleyball and making a campfire.

The following morning, after a good warm breakfast, the students packed up their trangias and tents. They then walked towards their final destination for the weekend. Luckily it was a warm, dry weekend. It was only when the students were on their way home that the heavens opened up to some major thunderstorms!

The students arrived exhausted, not only due to the walking but also the heat.  They should all be proud of their achievements over the two days.  More importantly, there were no phones in sight all weekend and one student commented on their arrival that they had just spent 28 hours without using phones or any other devices.

All in all, it was a great start for the groups. We are looking forward to a further practice expedition over two nights at the beginning of June and the final assessed two-night three-day expedition at the end of June.

SAB