I suppose it all started at roughly 5:30am on Friday morning, when I got out of bed and nervously started to get ready. Got my lunch and the chicken from the fridge in the kitchen, and got my toothbrush, make up, and other things that I hadn't packed the night before. Straightened my hair, (with the optimistic hope that it wouldn't get too awful over the next four days) got dressed, and got into the little car with my mum. I'm pretty sure this was the first time ever that I was more nervous than my mum. And she was DRIVING.
Anyway, we got to Queen's Road at about.. 7:20? We were about 5 minutes late, which mum was a bit panicky about (she hates being late) but that was nothing compared to the nerves that were attacking me somewhere in my stomach. We packed up the last couple of things into our rucksacks, got into the minibus and settled down for a good long journey to Wales. There were three groups in the bus. The first group was Team Awesome, which consisted of me, Jess A, Jess M and Rachael. And then there were The Ultras who were Bianca, Ashley, Beth, Abi and Jack. Oh and the A Team were there too, but they aren't hugely important. The journey down was a good laugh, but we finally arrived in Wales and it was time to get a move on.
Soo day one with Team Awesome. Well, the was no exploration on Friday. It was just lots of walking with rucksacks. It was extremely tiring, and there was lots of rain and hail and general unpleasantness. It really felt like DofE though, but I was really feeling the difference without Patti or Helen. I mean no offence to the people I was walking with, but those two really were a lot better at walking in general. Was very proud of myself on day one though, I was having no difficulty with hills which is something I have always struggled with. It was all generally as I expected my Gold Expedition to be, but I was exhausted by the end of the day and was not at all impressed wen we got to our campsite. I knew we were going to be staying in big old empty field, but there's something remarkably depressing about putting up a tent in the rain, when your fingers are so numb that you can't even really help and have to just do the easy bits. And THEN when we actually got inside the tent, it was still freezing cold and we were completely incapable of keeping the mud off any of our belongings. So not only were we really, really tired, but we also couldn't get warm or dry or even completely convince ourselves that we could stay cheerful. Graham (our leader, who we call Lord Parsons) had told us that he'd be back in about an hour to take us to see an old carriage, which was in Betws y Coed I think, but he was half an hour late and we were already in bed by the time he arrived with the other group. Going to see that carriage thing was a good idea though, because not only did it mean we had some interaction with the other group (it's not hard to get sick of people when you spend all day in their presence) but we also had a good hour or so inside that wonderfully warm minibus. Then we went back to the campsite and had a tiny meal of two small sausages and a bit of bread, before getting into our sleeping bags and get zero sleep for the night.
In the morning, we realised that Jess M had actually managed to get some sleep and was lying awake and shivering in sleeping bag like the rest of us. In fact, she was so deeply asleep that Rachael couldn't get her to wake up by banging two pots together next to her head. We were up, dressed, making breakfast, and in my case, with make up and hair done before she even opened her eyes. I had another sausage (the fat spat in my eye while I was cooking them, lovely) and a cereal bar for my breakfast.. I know, I've got no idea how I managed to get through the day with such a lame breakfast. Day two was.. interesting. It was an exploration day, which meant that we walked all the way to Cwm Penmachno to meet Ioan (who was FIT and WELSH). The journey there was really difficult. We tried to go by the route we had planned, but the rain had made the fields too boggy and the wind was ridiculous. I couldn't stand up straight and we couldn't hear a word that we were saying to each other. Eventually we decided to cut through a farm (the people there were VERY nice, and didn't seem to mind that we were trespassing!) and we did the rest of the journey on the road. The weather was still awful, but at least we weren't actually sinking into the ground any time we stopped for a rest. When we finally got to Cwm Penmachno, Graham came by with the minibus and told us to follow him up to the quarry.
Now, I must warn you, we were tired, cold, miserable and expecting some old boring man to come and yatter on about slate. Sooo when some young attractive man drove past us in a big truck up to the place where the minibus had gone, we all seized the opportunity for a bit of happy nonsense and walked a little bit faster.. None of us actually commented on how attractive he was until long after he'd gone, but I doubt any old boring guy could've got us up that heifer of a hill.
We did get to the top, after many breaks and sighs and "How much longer?"s. I don't know if it was really worth it, but when we got to the top we did some slate splitting, which means we sat in a tiny damp cave-like room and hammered a chisel into a bit of slate until a slice broke off. I held the big heavy mallet thing and Ioan risked his hand by holding the chisel, and I did actually manage to split it, so that was cool. We all had a go except Jess A who was very tired and not feeling very well. Then before we headed out again, me and Jess M went up a little bit further to a wall that past participants had signed their names in. We recognised a few, and added our own, although it took a while to find a bit of rock that we could actually scratch our names into.
Then we went back down and had to try and find somewhere in Cwm Penmachno to have lunch out of the ever-present rain. This is actually impossible, by the way. We were nearly going to separate into twos and all pile into the two phone boxes of the village, but Rachael found that the porch of an old abandoned-looking house opposite one of the phone boxes was enough to fit four people in at a squeeze. I was a bit of a God-send really, I don't think I've ever seen any other front door porches with seats on either side of them before. Here I mean British porches, not them big old American ones. At that point, everything began to look a teensy bit brighter. We had a filling lunch, so although I was still exhausted, freezing and downright miserable, at least I was hungry anymore. Unfortunately, nobody else really seemed to see things that way. Rachael and Jess A were both struggling to summon up the will to walk all the way back to Penmachno, and Jess M had firmly decided that as soon as she could get in touch with a relative that could drive, she was going home.
There was no signal in Cwm Penmachno though, and Ioan was long gone, so there was nothing to do but walk back to Penmachno. Jess M had hurt her ankle or her leg or something, so she was going quite slowly. However I was extremely conscious of the fact that I couldn't move my hands properly, and that the only way available for me to get warm was to walk as quickly as possible. I think walking up that long road was the defining moment of the whole practise for me. I was pretty much completely alone, because the other two were further back with Jess M. I think what was happening was an early stage of hypothermia that Graham was describing later. I checked online (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia), and I'd say that I was on about Stage 2. I couldn't walk straight, I couldn't breathe properly and I certainly couldn't think properly. All I could do was pray actually, and I nearly burst into tears when I couldn't remember the end of the Lord's Prayer. I prayed right the way down that long road. For anyone, everything. I think I even prayed for the A Team. I don't think I can really describe what I was going through, I only managed to pull through because my brain wasn't working well enough to react to it all the way I do now.
We finally got off the road and onto this little track thing, and by then we were all walking together as a group. My head was still a bit confused and messed up, and I was still freezing cold, and I was still exhausted but I think talking to people helped enough to get me walking normally again and we made it to the campsite.
We were sharing the campsite that night with The Ultras, who were setting up their tents when we got there. I went straight for our tent, to put my bag down and cleared some room for the rest of the group to come in and set their stuff down. The others had gone to help with The Ultras, and I went to join them as I'd begun to realise that sitting in the tent was no warmer than walking outside. However as soon as I got to the tent Graham sent me to go and get warm in the minibus. Apparently he'd been told how cold I was by Jess A, who is in fact amazing.
So I sat in that minibus thinking about how blessed I was - can you imagine? I still wasn't particularly hungry, and now I was starting to warm up a bit! I was still tired of course, but that was okay. The seats were so much more comfortable than my bed, so I shut my eyes for a bit, and was just drifting off to sleep when Bianca and Beth came to get their rucksacks out of the minibus. They decided to sit with me for a bit, so we chatted about all sorts which was awesome. Then Abi joined us as well and announced that she was going home with Jess M the next day. This was a surprise. I mean, there was always the idea in the back of my head that the McAlisters were going to be the ones to go.. I just never imagined that it would actually happen during the expedition. Before or after, perhaps. But not during. So that was weird and I wasn't really sure how to react.
This meant that the two exploration groups would probably have to join together for the last two days, but Graham told us to take each step at a time and we didn't know for sure what was happening until a lot later. The next thing that happened was that we went to go and see the farmers baby lambs, which was awesome. First we went into this big barn and saw a load of pregnant sheep all huddled together. In the corner there was a sheep with two baby lambs that had been born only minutes before. Apparently something quite strange had happened because one of the lambs was a great deal larger than the other one. Then, after we learnt lots of stuff about sheep, we went to go and hold some lambs that were a little bit older. They were so cuddly! I know, that was ridiculously girlie thing to say, but they WERE. They were like little teddy bears that MOVED. It was way awesome. I think someone has a picture of me holding one of them. I must track that down.
Anyway, after that Graham said he was going to go and think about a couple of things and that we should make ourselves a hot drink while he was gone. So we made some hot chocolate (which was a VERY good idea) and were just about to start cooking our tea when Graham returned. Then he said something which made me happier than anything else ever has before in my memory.
We were going to spend the night in the village hall of Ysbyty Ifan! Now, if you aren't really sure what's so great about this, let me help you. A secure place which, unlike a tent, will probably not blow away in the wind while you are still inside. A room to sleep in with heating, so you won't freeze to death in your sleeping bag. Oh and a freaking KITCHEN! Hahaha. There was a mirror too, which was mainly used by me for my general appearance, and Ashley for his contact lenses.
So now, although the hunger was coming back, the depression had faded completely and the coldness was going too due to all the happy dancing around the field that was going on. We packed up fairly quickly and bundled into the minibus. From there onwards, it didn't really feel like DofE anymore and I don't really feel like achieved anything to be proud of in the last two days. It was brilliant fun though, especially not having Hypothermia. We still weren't entirely sure what was happening with the McAlisters, because if they left half way through the practise, they weren't going to be allowed back for the final and they'd have to do it all again next year.
We spent the evening all together in the kitchen, having a bit of a laugh and making food, et cetera. The mudlessness was wonderful. Stayed up a little bit later than I should've done, and was way too awake when I tried to go to bed. Anyway, when we got up in the morning, after a lot of confusion and unpleasant alternative ideas, it was finally decided that the seven remaining exploration participants would do the rest of the journey together.
Beth and Jess A were both having trouble with their knees, so it was decided that instead of having the extra full day of rucksack walking that Team Awesome hadn't done yet, we would have two more exploration days. So it was day three and in the morning we went to the national slate museum in Llanberis, which was quite interesting, actually. One of the things we did there was go to this workshop thing about slate (suprise, suprise), which I was filming with the camera that Ashley leant me. The guy running it decided that because I was filming I should be the one who had to volunteer to do the slate splitting. Fortunately for me, I'd already done this with Ioan at the quarry so I didn't look quite as ridiculous as I could've done (although I did look pretty bad). A bit later (once I'd stopped filming) he was showing us how they made those slate hearts, and it's probably a lot harder than he made it appear lol. He gave it to me afterwards, which I was pretty chuffed about until everyone said that he probably fancied me lol.
After looking around the museum we went to the old Quarry hospital, which Jess said resembled a torture chamber. It was generally unpleasant, and I would be hesitant to recommend it to squeamish people like myself. We signed the guest book though, and made good use of the lovely clean spider-free toilets.
Then we got in the minibus and went to Penmachno, where we cooked and ate our lunch in the bus shelter. Then we had a very massive hill to walk up and down again because we were walking over to Ty Mawr in the Wybrnant Valley, where we found the house of William Morgan who was the first man to translate the whole bible from the original Hebrew and Greek to Welsh. It was quite interesting, and the man who worked there seemed really thrilled that we were there - maybe there aren't many teenagers interested in William Morgan? I dunno. He had such a wonderful jolly laugh though, it made up for the fact that there was so little to see. Then we walked all the way back to Penmachno and met Graham part of the way back who wanted to hear all about how we were doing.
We had a quick look around Penmachno, and we did a little bit of searching for houses that used to be shops. But I was rather tired, and I'm sure other people were too, so we got back into the minibus and headed back to the Ysbyty Ifan village hall and spent another lovely warm night there. Jack's family came while we were eating, and they are all very lovely people. We got some chairs from our room and all ate in the kitchen which was really pleasant. Later on we decided that we wanted to have a church service of sorts, so Graham got a bible from his 'manor' and we all got into our sleeping bags and had a reflection on the past couple of days and some people remembered some bible verses that they wanted to read out to us. Then we all said the Lord's Prayer together (I could remember it this time!) and everyone went to their respective sleeping areas and to bed. I slept like a log all through the night! It was fantastic. I woke up warm and happy, and went to the kitchen where me and Ashley sorted out our general appearances and Bianca came to sort out the breakfast for everyone lol. It was so unlike camping, so you can probably see why it didn't really feel like DofE.
We packed up all of our stuff into our rucksacks and such, and we got ready to go horse riding! We had to go pretty much the same route that we did the day before, so we didn't need maps and we knew what to expect. It was still a tough climb, but we managed it a bit quicker heh. When we got to the stables of Wybrnant Valley, we had to fill in some forms about ourselves (nobody could remember their doctor's telephone number) and get ourselves a hat that fitted.
Then they brought out the horses for us. The first one was the massive one that we'd all been eyeing nervously. He was called Ted and they gave him to Bianca who was one of the more nervous people. That said, I'd say Jack, Ashley and I were the only ones who weren't on the verge of crying about the whole idea of horse-riding. One by one people started to get onto horses. When they brought out my horse, Carla, I was really rather worried that I might be a bit big for her. As soon as I sat down, she seemed to decide that standing still just wasn't cool, and that she'd much rather walk around all over the place for a while. That was rather hilarious, as my "Come ON Carla"s and my "Stand STILL horsie!"s were having no effect whatsoever. But when we actually started riding, she was pretty much fine, and was probably the best behaved horse of them all. Although apparently a horse acts according to how the rider is feeling. I was rather relaxed, and getting a bit bored by the end of the ride, which is probably why Carla just got on with it and didn't really fuss about much. Whereas in front of me Jess' horse, Stan, was quite restless at the beginning which was probably due to Jess being so nervous at the beginning and calming down a bit by the end.
And poor Rachael. Awh. It probably all began when she sat on the horse when the saddle wasn't on properly, so she immediately felt like she was about to fall off, which is scary enough for anyone on a horse the size that hers was. But then when she was on the horse properly she was still scared so the horse probably panicked as well and for the next couple of hours they really didn't get along very well at all. And now she claims that her greatest fear is horse riding. I think everyone else was alright though. Beth was a bit worried behind me, but I gave her little bits of advice and she seemed fine after that.
Overall we decided that my horse probably would have been better suited to Jess, and that I would've been a bit less bored on Stan. But it was still an entertaining morning and I'd love to go again sometime. We walked back to Penmachno again and we were ready to have our lunch in the bus stop again. After lunch we did a more thorough investigation of Penmachno, and people took photographs of the houses that used to be shops. Bianca was taking the photos with a video camera, and one lady (whose name was Julie) came out to ask why people were filming her house! We told her and she was very happy to tell us all about her house, which was very nice of her, and she's promised to show us the old shop sign that she has in her cellar when we go back in July. We were interested in what she was saying, but I think we were all ready for the minibus to come, so we went and squeezed onto a bench outside the bus shelter as we waited.
Then we saw the minibus in the distance and cheered happily. We all clambered in and I did a lot of eye-resting all the way back to Coventry. We stopped briefly for a quick meal in Burger King until the other two groups arrived, then my group all seemed to want to leave as quickly as possible lol. This may or may not have had something to do with the fact that I'd made them all promise to be nice and not get any fights with them about who had worked harder when they clearly did more than we did lol.
And that is where I'm going to end my post because I have been writing for FAR TOO LONG lol.
I love you all xxx
