Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Expedition

By Richard Roe | Posted: Thursday April 14, 2022

A group of our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award students spent the majority of their final week of term tramping the Greenstone Caples circuit near Glenorchy.

Walking a distance of 60 kilometres over 4 days carrying everything required on one’s back might not be everyones cup of milo, but a mission handled without complaint by our hardy group of year 11 and 12 students.

After the long drive to the road end near Glenorchy, Day 1 was our shortest walking day with just a 9km meander up the Caples Valley to Mid Caples hut. The weather clouded over on Day 2 and by the time we reached the best viewpoint on McKellar Saddle unfortunately there wasn’t much view remaining to be seen. Light drizzle followed us the remainder of the way to McKellar hut where the boys pitched camp. That night could best be described as eventful, with Mother Nature pulling out all the stops providing rain, strong wind gusts, thunder, and a few lightning bolts to liven things up. It was a damp start for the campers but conditions improved considerably during Day 3 and some even ventured in for a swim in the icy waters of the Greenstone River that night.

Our two long days completed (21km and 18km respectively), there was just 12km remaining for the final day. It was another challenging start for the campers however, waking to a crisp frost. This led to a beautiful Autumn day and an enjoyable wind-down following the Greenstone Valley back to the carpark.

Overall, this was another very successful trip with a great group. I am sure all the boys have learned a little more about their own abilities whilst picking up a few new skills for future trips.

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