Venture Force Practice Expedition

On the 15th March we visited the New Forest, Hampshire to take part in a 3-day camping trip with Venture Force; in the summer we are going on a 3-week trip to Vietnam.

“This trip was based around gaining experience and learning new leadership skills like how to put up tents, cook our meals and wash out utensils.”

When we arrived we made ourselves familiar with each other and constructed our tents. We later had a talk about different aspects of the Vietnam trip before it was time to make dinner. After eating, we went to bed as we had an early start of 6:30am in the morning to prepare for out 6-7-hour hike. This was tiring but fun as we learnt to use a map to navigate our way through the forest. We left at 9:00am and got back around 16:00pm where we rested for a while. After another chat about the culture and communication we made dinner.

“Making the food was the easiest part!”

On the first night we had pasta, the next morning it was porridge for breakfast, wraps for lunch and korma with rice for dinner. After dinner we discussed our code of conduct then went to bed for another early start the next morning.

After making bacon, eggs and baked beans for breakfast we packed up the tents and our bags. Tom and Antony, our team leaders for the weekend, ran through the process of crossing a river and the safest way to do so. It was very interesting coming out of our comfort zones and working as a team to get things done. Once finished with the river crossing, we made sandwiches, boarded the minibus and made our way back home. It was a fun experience even though it was very cold during the night. A big thank you to Mr Smee, Miss McLuckie, Antony and Tom for this weekend trip.