Page 37 - Cadet Review Spring 2023

RYEDALE TEAM DOFE EXPEDITION
By Cadet Charley Bruce
To kick start your DofE you need to complete a training weekend, which usually lasts two days and one night. During this time you will learn or check understanding on many skills such as cooking for yourself and putting up your own tent etc. For the two days the majority of time is spent walking and learning how to read maps and to use a compass. One of the most important skills I learnt whilst training was to never overpack and to only pack what is on your kit list for the weekend, nothing more and nothing less.
My qualifying expedition took place starting on a camp at Driffield which was an awesome weekend. We arrived on the Friday night, checked our kit to make sure we had all the essential pieces of kit e.g., first aid kit, waterproofs etc. After this we checked understanding with how to put up your own tent which was fairly successful. Saturday morning we woke up and had breakfast, which for some was porridge but for others was beans. The next step was to take down the tents and share them between groups to carry throughout the day.
The first day of the expedition for my group was a 15.1 km walk which we already had planned on our route cards. After half a day of walking the spirit was still high with some members singing, whilst others just cracked on with the walking. Halfway through the walk we stopped for dinner and had a rest before continuing our journey back to our final checkpoint. After successfully walking the whole 15.1km walk we set up our tents and made ready for tea. Cooking
The morale did start
to drop throughout the walk, but we managed asateamto boost each other on with a constant reminder of the fact we were almost done
tea was a good chance to have a laugh and a catch up with the rest of the team. A popular meal that was easy for everyone was pasta with sauce and some sort of protein (we used pepperoni) which we successfully cooked and after that we went to bed and got some rest for the walk again the next day.
The second day was pretty much a repeat of the first, waking up at 06:30, making breakfast which again was mostly porridge but for some was beans then setting off for our 15.2km walk. The morale did start to drop throughout the walk, but we managed as a team to boost each other on with a constant reminder of the fact we were almost done. Halfway through the day we stopped for dinner which was something small but full of energy like pork pies and sandwiches. Through the other half of the day we walked on through various environments e.g., fields, farmers tracks, etc. At the finish we got picked up
at a café where we stopped and had a drink or ice cream. This was the end of our expedition.
Throughout the whole weekend the moment
I enjoyed the most had to be camping out, even though some complained of the cold, I quite enjoyed the quietness. One of the most important pieces of equipment I would suggest taking with you would
be car sponges because if your hips happen to
hurt from the bag straps or other reasons you can layer the bag with sponges to stop the bag from irritating or digging in and prevent discomfort during your journey. My next step together with the other members of the team is Silver which is a step up from Bronze but something to enjoy like I did my Bronze.
Cadets Charley Bruce, Oliver Reeder, Angel Downie and Julia Addison of Ryedale Squadron
CADET REVIEW SPRING 2023 37