Page 52 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

Exercise AMPHIBIOUS CADET
OCdt Butt
We departed on our 12-hour drive to France early on the Sunday morning, in eager anticipation of the week of well earnt Adventure Training ahead.
confidence and tackled some more demanding water fairly early (a couple of the group members did go swimming), culminating in 25km paddled
Our expedition was a 5-day kay- aking excursion along the Dor- dogne River, as well as segments of the Vézère River.
A typical days’ paddling was 15km of waterway of varying difficulty...
on at the end of the first day.
In subsequent days we continued our journey down the Dordogne. A typical days’ paddling was 15km of waterway of varying difficulty, with the group often stopping to scale the cliffs along the riverbank with the water underneath acting as our
We awoke on the Monday morn-
ing with a breakfast consisting
of bread and a selection of jams
homemade by our French host, fuelling us for our foray onto the Dordogne river, commencing at Argentat.
safety net. We also played a series of competi- tive kayak-based games along the route; every- thing from tag to chariot racing.
Once the group was feeling confident on the water, we travelled north to a segment of the Vézère River where the 2019 International Canoeing World Cup was held. Here we tack- led white water that was much more demand- ing than what we had experienced earlier in the week. It was challenging but the perfect way to cap off a thoroughly enjoyable exped.
On behalf of the group, I’d like to express my gratitude to the Sandhurst Trust for helping to fund this memorable expedition.
With the majority of the group being novices, progress downstream at first was somewhat sluggish. A particular highlight was one of the less waterborne-proficient members of the group taking some time to master the delicate art of moving forwards. However, after
a short while the group gained
50 SANDHURST