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Borneo Expedition

Borneo Training Week-End

Peak District  (23-25 September)

The 26 girls who are signed up for our next expedition in 2012 to Borneo travelled to Thornbridge Outdoor Centre in the Peak District, for a week end of training to see what we are really going to experience next year.

We arrived after our journey, to be immediately thrown in to team building games that kept everyone on their toes or bottoms depending on what activity they were experiencing. The activities were followed by a series of talks explaining what the conditions would be like in the jungle and how we would have to cope with them. We had a further talk on altitude conditions and how to deal with the changes we would be experiencing on our trek to the summit of Mt. Kinabalo.

Continued below ...

Saturday took us on a 4 hours trek starting at the car park in Edale at the beginning of the  Pennine Way and lunch at the top of Grinsbrook with stunning views. The walk up took us over boulders and a winding river, great practice for the real thing. Arriving back at the centre the afternoon was spent practicing how to put up our hammocks, basha and mosquito nets, our mode of sleeping whilst in the jungle. Great fun was had by all and we will all be making sure we pitch them high enough from the ground to avoid being prodded by night hunters (wild boars) in the jungle!  During the evening we were given advice on kit for our trip, very informative.
Sunday was the highlight of the weekend, with the girls up and ready to go at 8 am, it was their fund raising opportunity, abseiling from the bridge at Millers Dale on the Monsal Trail (80ft drop). The girls were working in their two expedition groups, one walking into the abseil along the Monsal Trail (this took us about an hour), whilst the second group travelled by minibus to do their abseil first. Sponsors had been very generous so the girls were determined to achieve their goal. One pupil has raised £500 in sponsorship which has helped tremendously with her individual fundraising efforts.

Everyone should be congratulated on an excellent weekend. We arrived back to school at 4pm tired but exhilarated and I know that they are all even more enthusiastic than ever about their trip and looking forward the trip in July.

Janet Saddler