Our silver expedition group was feeling a little run down: partially due to the weather and partially due to the fact we were getting a bit lost. Fog was accumulating around the hills and we were struggling to see anything to help us navigate. We knew that somewhere in front of us should be a lake which we were to walk towards and which would provide a good navigation point to help work out the route but as the fog was getting worse there was no such lake in sight. Just as we were getting a bit desperate a miracle occurred. It was as if a beam of light broke through the clouds and shot downwards towards the earth where upon it struck a lake - the very lake we were searching for. None of us are religious but it was the closest we have ever come to believing. That light cutting through the fog was known for the rest of the expedition as the Act of Jehovah - possibly the Welsh hill delirium had set in but it certainly seemed to us that someone at that moment was watching out for us and guiding us along the route.
I could recount so many stories from the expeditions and often do around the friends I did them with. We very rarely meet up and don't have a conversations about something hilarious that occurred during an expedition. No only did the Duke of Edinburgh's award provide some of the best times I have ever spent with friends, it has also helped me find some of my favourite hobbies through the physical and expedition element of the award, and really develop as a person through the volunteering and skill side of the award. I am so grateful that there was this opportunity available to me: its provided memories and experiences that will stay with me forever!