Fortunately the heat of the weekend ameliorated, making the temperatures more bearable for the 28 girls who set out on their 3 day expedition. Starting at Burley, six teams followed their own 17km routes to the campsite at Round Hill, adjacent to Brockenhurst. The requirement is to spend 7 hours walking and finding evidence for the aim of the expedition. Each team chose their own aim, varying from flowers to wildlife and specifically looking at the branding of New Forest ponies. The final group walked in at 21:30, after starting their walk at 13:00. Rising early, all teams had left Round Hill by 08:00 on the second day in preparation for their 16km walk, getting into Ashurst camp much earlier than on the previous day. The final day saw them return to Burley where all were greeted with the news that they had successfully completed the assessment. Hot and tired, they were all looking forward to a shower, food other than pasta and tomato sauce and the promise of not carrying a rucksack until next term!
