DofE Gold Trip Report!

On the week of the solstice, our five teams returned to Wales for our final and qualifying expedition, during which we spent four days hiking through the mountains, valleys and quarries of Snowdonia. While all of us faced a variety of challenges over the course of our visit, ranging from twisted ankles to insufferable hay fever, we all upheld strong and supportive teams, and everybody passed with flying colours!

Admittedly, we weren’t in the highest of spirits arriving at camp – while our coach was a morale boost in that (by an unprecedented breath of good fortune) it belonged to Ryan Reynolds’ football team and had furthermore hosted his godlike person, we still ended up with about 12 hours of travelling behind us and were weary from arrival. We started off our day gingerly, but it was a huge success: from watching the train go up Snowdon, to an armchair in the woods and spotting trespassers in the slate quarries, we certainly were confronted with an array of new sights! It also gave most of us the chance to get to know our new leaders – with the living legend John and Scott unable to return, we had Jo and Sally to work with, both of whom turned out to be incredible leaders and supportive assessors, with Jo’s four-legged companion Monty always ready to greet us at every checkpoint!

From leaving the frowning industrial Llanberis behind in her walls of fog, we really began to experience the raw beauty of the hills and crags of ancient Gwynedd, from the mountain lakes and gambolling streams to gruelling climbs and wet socks! Climbing out of Nant Peris and over the tops, we descended the infamous Tyll Di (Devil’s Kitchen) with spectacular views to marvel at as we wound our way down the face. From then on, we were cruising along valleys for the rest of the week, with clear skies and even a flyby of four F-15 jets! To think the end of day 2 marked our being out of the woods was premature, though...

We’d hit Conwy; that was it – we were off the mountains proper for good and had arrived at the Welsh version of what we might call ‘civilisation’. It’s no surprise we were all relaxed, our leaders were optimistic, and with the sun smiling down on us it seemed nothing could go awry.

To close, all of us were undoubtedly presented with our fair share of challenges, yet we overcame those we could, acquiesced in those we couldn’t, and came through anyway with the fantastic support of our leaders Connor, Jo and Sally and members of staff: Mrs Stavri, Mr. Alison, Miss Beveridge and Mr. Brady, whose help and encouragement was fantastic, and I personally want to thank my team for an incredibly fun week, and everyone else for their unwavering enthusiasm and strong spirits throughout the expedition!

Henry M