October Duke of Edinburgh Award Expeditions

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Expedition

From 13-15 October, students from Years 8-11, including Jeff Lynch (Bridge Award participant), Ainsley Godfrey, Cassandra Prior, Mackenzie Clarke, Luke Halberstadt, Gabrielle Cochrane, Calum Turpie, Ethan and Liam Godfrey, and teachers Mrs Kylie Potter and Mr Athol Henderson, dodged the rain drops, fought off leeches, and completed 32.3kms of Bushwalking through Lamington National Park, carrying all their gear on their backs.

Each participant had a chance to guide the group over the two days, completing the Box Forest Circuit on Friday (10.9kms), and camping overnight at Green Mountain. On Saturday, they started early to conquer the first stage of the Hinterland Great Walk, following the Border Track from O’Reilly’s to Binna Burra (21.4kms), just before the heavens opened at 4pm. Congratulations to the team who worked exceptionally well together. All students had to dig deep, both physically and emotionally, to find the strength to achieve their goal of successfully completing the Qualifying Journey for the Award. Thank you to the parents for meeting us at Binna Burra.

Mr Athol Henderson and Mrs Kylie Potter


Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedition
Hillcrest Students Yuto Suzuki, Jai Simmonds, Grace Preston, Paige Kruger and Zoe Espie, and teachers Mrs Catherine Baddeley and Mr Paul Wotton, braved the Gold Coast Broadwater and impending rain, to complete a kayaking expedition over the weekend. The group set off from a quiet beach at Coomera Waters, and made their way through to Jacob’s Well, where they camped overnight. On Saturday, the keen kayakers paddled (and pedalled) their way over to Tipper’s Resort and Campsite, where they spent the afternoon setting up tents, making campfires, fishing, relaxing, and being visited by hungry wallabies.

The drizzle turned to persistent rain and continued into the evening, so the group settled in under a permanent shelter, cooking dinner and toasting marshmallows over the faithful cookers. Sunday morning saw overcast skies and more rain threatening, so they took the smart alternative of packing up the wet tents and high-tailing it back to Coleman Road boat ramp, at the back of Coomera. With the wind at their backs and the skills of kayaking well on their way to being mastered, it only took an hour and half to get back to the mainland. And it was just as well, because as soon as the group were in their cars and heading home, the torrential rain came down.

“The students on the Silver Expedition did an awesome job! They worked together and encouraged each and were such a great bunch of kids to spend time with.”

Mr Paul Wotton and Mrs Catherine Baddeley