Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition

On Saturday the 6th of April, on a very cold morning, five Year 11 students and fourteen Year 12 students accompanied by Ms Flynn arrived at various times at both Central and Strathfield station. Armed with the 18kg packs on their backs, we boarded the westbound train on our way towards the Blue Mountains for our Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s expedition. We travelled a few hours to Wentworth Falls station where as a hearty goodbye to civilisation, we all purchased some food from the few local shops.

After borrowing most of the instructors’ equipment, we dived straight into planning our 4 day route, taking into account elevation, fatigue, walking speed, and most importantly, breaks. Over the next four days, the group’s determination, patience and cohesion was tested. The gruelling walks of up to 11 hours a day was challenging. Our lovely guides from Outdoor Education group took it upon themselves to plan our routes, later informing us that they decided to unnecessarily add 30kms because, why not right?

The 4 days were jam-packed with groans, laughs and quite a few rounds of 20 questions. Ms Flynn’s shoe broke, which was eventful, a fellow adventurer lost his car keys and tried to break his car open with a rock and a Year 11 student dropped his toothbrush into a river. Thankfully we didn’t require the use of our “poop-tubes,” so to speak. The only way to describe this experience is, unforgettable. While the Year 12’s may have finished both expeditions, the Year 11s are extremely excited as for what comes next.

Bhuvan Senthil and Edmund Derwent