18 days straight...

What a hectic 18 days but dear god they were so much fun. That's 2 days training down in the New Forest for a Silver DoE followed by the 3 day practice expedition, race back to Stoke via a pit stop in Bicester to see the parents and grandparents for Father's Day then a Gold expedition in the Dark Peak not before collecting my degree results (2:1) and then after ending a day early from an amazing group from Thatcham, I zoomed back to Stoke and back up to Buxton on the train to be a Team Leader for a residential with World Challenge all rounded off with another Gold expedition in the Yorkshire Dales!! And yes, I'm absolutely shattered, though still waking up at an instilled 6am :-(

The Gold expeditions were the usual, working with the British Gas apprentices, a group from Thatcham and 2 from the Leeds academy. All very determined lads and ladies that all passed with flying colours, well done guys. The Silver was a stretch for the minds as the whole Silver process from training to qualifying happened in less than 2 weeks. Again very determined youths that performed amazingly. The WC residential, which I was truely nervous about, was a real change to the usual work that I was used to. It was a 6am (or before) start setting up camp for the 14 year olds, going climbing, abseiling, raft building, a selection of high rope problems, cooking on trangias, continual team building games and reviews.... pretty full on that us leaders weren't going to bed until 11pm after being debriefed ourselves.

The residential was probably a setting stone for my life within the outdoor industry in terms of dealing with a situation that has never happened before but is likely to occur again sometime. I had to call for an ambulance in what turned out to be no more than a severe winding and cramping trapping some nerves after a slip on the raft. Thinking back to it I'm not really sure how I dealt with the situation but was later told that it was a 'text book reaction' which was very encouraging and reassuring as I was pretty shock up over it. Thankfully it was nothing too serious though could have been in another situation but now I know what to do and can be confident in my reactions to such an incident again. In a way I'm glad it has happened and my training through World Challenge was put into place. Let's hope that I don't have to deal with any emergency crews again though.

So it has come to the last 4 days of saying that I live in Stoke on Trent. I spent the most of today packing up my room ready for the parents to come and take it all away on Tuesday not before graduation on Monday at 11.30 at Trentham Gardens. I even decided to buy a new pair of smart trousers for the occasion, and if people are really lucky I might even wear a pair of heels (wait while people get a chair to sit down from shock!). It has been a defining part of my life, University, and it feels very strange that I'm now set for the big bad world and a life of working at last. It's going to be really sad moving away, though it will only be in Buxton. The next step of excitingness has commenced :-)

But not before heading out to Bolivia for 32 days with World Challenge Expeditions next Wednesday/Thursday! Oh my, I can't believe how quickly it has come around and as I pack away my room and house I now have a rather huge pile accumlating of kit to take out with me. Really going to have to try and hold the nerves until at least Tuesday evening so I can say a proper goodbye to Stoke. Thankfully some people are going to be still in Stoke so it's not like I'm being completely cut away from the area, especially with work being based only up the A500.

But for now, its graduation and travels before moving to Buxton and working the life of an outdoor instructor :-) I hope to update whilst in Bolivia. If not it's going to be some epic updating once back in Blighty.