1. D.O.E Gold Expedition 2009
th th
Date: Wednesday 24 June to Sunday 28 June 2009
Location: Brecon Beacons.
Group members: Kenneth Cheng, Jake Jahmeerbacus, Harley Taylor, Kerri
Volans, Vitaly Arkulinskis, Zoe Wride.
Staff: Mr Tur and Mrs Reading.
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2. Index
Map __________________________ Page 3
Equipment _____________________Page 4
Food __________________________Page 5
Log Book _____________________ Page 6-13
Photos ____________________ __ Page 13- 14
Route Card ___________________(Attached)
Map
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3. Equipment
Equipments are very important as we need to protect ourselves and
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4. survive. Therefore before we depart to the campsite, we carried
out an equipment check. There are several equipments that I had
carried during this expedition, these included food, personal kit and group kit.
Personal kits that I had carried during the expedition.
Waterproof top Underwear Towel
Waterproof trousers Socks First Aid-Kit
Walking Boots Hat Knife, Fork, Spoon, Bowl
Rucksack Sleeping Mat Whistle
Emergency Rations Notebook and Pen Sleeping Bag
Camera Compass Swiss Army Knife
Watch Torch Spare String
Route Card Music Player Mobile Phone (Switched off)
Plastic Bag Water Bottle(s)
Group kits that our group had carried during the expedition.
Tents x 3 Stove x 3 Fuel
Detergent Matches and lighter Maps x 2
Plastic Bags (For rubbish) Money (For camping fees) Group First Aid Kit
Survival Bag x 5 Trowel
Food Menu
 Chocolate Bars
 Jellys
 Pasta
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5.  Pasta sauces
 Rice
 Instant Noodles
 Sweets
 Cereals Bars
 Emergency Rations
 Spreadable Cheeses
 Nan Breads
 Energy Drinks
 Tortillas
 Sausages
Log Book
Day 1
I will start at the day that I actually started walking, although I have been
departed a day earlier for briefing with the invigilator. As we woke up, we
started to pack our stuff and ready to depart as we have to take a 40mins
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6. journey towards our starting point. It is wide and open at the
starting point, after a group photo has been taken, we began to
move off.
It was a sunny day, there was wind blowing into my face, where we started
off is facing the quarry, walking towards the east. For about 30mins, I was
already sweating a lot since I was with my water-proof on.
This is Zoe standing in front of the quarry at the very beginning of the day.
Day 1 Continue
On our way towards the campsite, there are some streams that we passed
and took a little break at there is me and Harley posing with the background of
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7. the streams.
We had been walking since 9am, but we didn’t have our lunch till
12pm. There were Tortillas with cheese
for our lunch, also with some chocolate
bars throughout the walk.
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8. Just about couple of miles away from our campsite, we realized
that it was the campsite that we were living in yesterday, and we
were travelling 40mins to the starting point and now we spent 10 hours to
walk back to the same place. Some of
us were very frustrated. But as we knew
that we were close to the campsite, everybody keeps on moving without
hesitate. That campsite that we were staying was a farm, there were houses,
many sheep and midges. Many of us were bitten all over our body, as soon as
we finished our delicious pasta for our dinner, I rushed into the “toilet” which
has only a sink and a toilet; to clean my teeth can wash my face. The toilet
was dirty and smells. After all I went to sleep in the tent; there were Simon
and Vitaly in my tent. I went into deep sleep in about 5 mins with my iPod’s
music on.
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9. Our first day’s dinner: Pasta with sausage
Day 2
This morning when I woke up, I found out that I was bitten all over my body.
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It was rainy and foggy, visibility is low.

10. They were all so itchy, anyway we woke up at 7am and then we
departed at 8:30am. After few hours, it started to rain as we
climbed up the mountains; it gets heavier and heavier as we move up, also
the fog had reduced our visibility, I can only saw 10 meters in front of me, and
we had to walk in cautious as the road was getting wetter.
Something also happened within our group, while we were walking, Harley
and Vitaly started an argument. The reason was because Vitaly was walking
too fast on his own, leaving the rest of the group. And in fact he is hardly
walking with the whole group.
Not long after the rain had started, all of us were already wet and socked
with the rain, we even need to stand under the rain and had our lunch,
however due to these wet weather, while we were having lunch, many little
flies were surrounding us, this made many of us annoyed and had our lunch
quickly then quickly move off and start the walk again.
In the end we arrived the campsite at 8:45pm, just about 12 hours and it is
the longest walk I had ever had! All of us were tired and hungry, for me not
only these, I also desperate for a hot shower as I was wet and without taking
a shower for 3 days. That night we had rice for dinner, and again I went to
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11. sleep just after I had my meal.
Day 3
Today was a sunny day for us to walk, and it is the easiest walk among the 4
days walk, this is due to one of our group member – Jake, he had a bad ankle
and therefore the invigilator allow us to walk the foul weather route. What’s
more impressive was that he said he didn’t mind Jake not to carry his
rucksack with him and still allow him to pass the expedition.
The sun was very bright today, weather was generally hot, our group had
consumed a lot of water, and during the walk we able to refill our water bottle
as we met Mr. Tur and Mrs. Reading, but in the end, when we arrived the
campsite, we still manage to use up pretty much of the water.
The campsite is a piece of big farmland, however it has no toilet, through the
campsite there is only one water supply. And if we want to go to toilet, we
have to use the trowel and dig a hole, after we finished we have to fill it back
up with sand. That was an invaluable experience I have ever had. Beside, we
were not the only group in the campsite, there were a group of year 9
students camping.
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12. Again, there were many midges flying around, many of us got
rd
bitten. But as this is the 3 day, many of us already seems didn’t
care. But Harley and Keri went for a shower in the stream, the funny thing was
that as Harley finished cleaning, he found out that his towel was too small. At
the end, we have noodles as dinner, everyone had 3 packs of noodles each. It
was a very delicious meal indeed.
Day 4
The last day of our expedition, it was
sunny that day, which was a good day for us to walk. Although it is not the
longest walk, it seems to me that I was the longest day of all! All of us were
walking faster as we knew that this was the last day. So everyone is full of
excitement wishing to get back home quickly. For about 6 hours walk, around
3 pm in the afternoon, we though that we had completed our expedition as Mr.
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13. Tur and Mrs. Reading were waiting for us at a point which was
very close to the end. But in fact, they were only here to give us
water supply.
So we felt very depressed and keep on moving, the last section of the walk
was a forest, but it was flat and easy for us. By the time we reach the finish
point, it was around 5pm. And then we met the inspector again, he signed our
log book. By that time I was very happy but also feeling tired and desperate
for a snap.
We all went home will happiest, more
interesting was that on the way back
home we had Burger King!!! That was
very delicious for me as I hadn’t eaten
anything better than this for 4 days.
For us, it was the best expedition I had ever had.
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14. END
Photos
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