HUMANITIES

DUKE OF ED

Duke of Ed is a subject offered in Year 9 which gives students the opportunity to build on themselves by challenging them to complete activities from three areas consistently each week, as well as an overnight expedition. On Wednesday 31 August, with hiking packs brimming and smiles on all, the Semester Two Duke of Edinburgh students set off to complete their practice overnight journey. 

Starting at Eumeralla Scout Camp, located close to Anglesea, the hikers walked alongside the Great Ocean Road, taking in the panoramic views of native Australian flora and fauna. The plants were stunning and walking with friends whilst taking in the view of the shore below was such an amazing start to the day. 

Walking along the beach after lunch was the most grueling, and the bags started to bruise hips and tire out a lot of the hikers. I spent the beach walk jumping away from the occasional huge wave that would lap at my feet with my tent partner, which made the long hike interesting. 

The day flew by pretty quickly (and at times quite slowly!), but we arrived at the Big4 caravan park at Aireys Inlet just in time to set up camp and make dinner. For what is supposed to be a quick meal, the smells floating around the fire circle were all amazing, and people really tried to make a nutritious yet simple meal. I spent the rest of the evening in a tent with close friends, and we had a lot of fun playing chubby bunny with leftover marshmallows and relaxing from the hike. 

Overall, the Duke of Ed hike was an amazing experience that left all Duke of Ed students with awesome memories and looking forward to the next hike! 

Kayla Morgan

Year 9 Student

In Duke of Ed, as well as completing various achievements like learning a new skill, we also participated in two overnight hikes, one being a practice hike, and the other a (longer) qualifying hike that we must participate in to get the award. On Wednesday of Week 8, all three Duke of Ed classes departed for the first of the two journeys, a two-hour bus ride being the only thing between us and the start of the hike in Eumeralla Scout Camp, Anglesea. 

After getting off the bus, we soon started out 17 kilometers on relatively flat ground, but after 6 kilometers of that, and a quick lunch, we walked down a staircase in the cliff, and started the worst part, walking on the sand. After two very long hours of walking along the beach, most of our shoes got wet from being hit by the rising tide at some point in the four and a half kilometers we arrived at our next rest stop. The final 6-ish kilometers of the day was spent in thicker bush and mud, and as soon as we got to the Big4, we pitched our tents and started cooking dinner.

After dinner, we all split up. I hung out with some friends in their tent, recovering from the full day of walking we had all just done, but I didn’t sleep much in the night, as a tent with three of the four guys being above 6 feet tall gets pretty cramped. In the morning, after breakfast, we once again started our new journey to the lighthouse and the end of the hike near the lighthouse. 

Oscar Forbes

Year 9 Student