Page 57 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

We had collected all the equipment required for our expedition and had it stored in our lines for the last few days. This included our six kayaks. After making it through ‘the final Sovereign’s Parade that you have to do holding a rifle’ we headed straight down to 44sqn to collect our van
and car, followed by some gold standard packing. We left RMAS early on Saturday morning, taking the Eurotunnel, and arriving at our Airbnb 13 hours later!
First morning, everyone was up
bright and early and enjoyed the
compulsory French pastry to start
the day. We then got all the kit and equipment out of the van and adjusted it all to fit each of us and marked it up accordingly. We then re- packed and made our way to Vallon-Pont-d’Arc for our first look at the river.
OCdt Vincent
We had a couple of beginner paddlers with lit- tle experience, as well as some who had done kayaking for their Junior Term AT.
Exercise EAU-A-P CADET
We then spent a very enjoyable week improving and working on techniques. A real highlight was the long paddle that we did on the Wednesday. We covered 25km in total following a route through the Ardeche Gorge. It was incredibly beautiful, and apart from some strong headwinds, we had a great day of paddling. There were also lots of points where we could stop, and the boys could test OCdt Vincent’s risk assessment to its
limits by jumping off rocks...
Overall, we had a great week learning new skills and enhancing others. We also discovered some OCdts’ aptitudes for cooking. We can also highly recommend most of the area’s ice-cream shops!
We then spent a very enjoyable week improving and working on techniques.
Exercise ENJURANCE CADET
Between the 10th and 16th August, six Officer Cadets from CC191 completed a seven-day Adventurous Training exercise in
French Jura. Ex ENJURANCE CADET gave us an opportunity to develop our mountaineering skills and, as we walked, to drink in the beauty of the Franche-Comté country-
side. Despite a success- ful Intermediate Term, we were very glad of the fresh environment,
OCdt Hodsoll
though we still spent most of
the nine-hour journey down with a You- Tube playlist of regimental marches.
When we began organising the expedi- tion, the appeal of the Jura as a setting was that it offers both excellent country for gaining
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