Gold Adventure in the South of France

Six members of the 1st Tewkesbury Company recently travelled to the South of France to complete their Gold DofE canoeing expedition on the river Ardeche, accompanied by staff.

The Company took their minibus and canoe trailer on this 7-day adventure, leaving Tewkesbury on the Saturday morning to travel to Folkestone for the train journey through the Eurotunnel and a campsite an hour outside of Calais. The long drive to some accommodation near the start point in Lanas, took all next day. An early start at 7am meant we arrived at the river in time to complete the pre expedition preparations in plenty of time and enjoy the early morning sunshine.

Water levels were a bit low in some parts so this initially delayed progress, but the team soon picked up the pace and found a suitable wild campsite for the first night of the 4 day expedition. The staff based themselves around 5 miles outside of Vallance, camping 600ft up from the Ardeche Gorge.

The scenery along the gorge was stunning and we were blessed with glorious sunshine for the 4 days of the expedition, the staff even managed to 'pinch' the lads canoes while they had lunch at the spectacular Pont-d'Arc and canoe under the rocky arch. The large number of weirs on the river provided some challenging, but also comedic moments, as the canoes launched themselves down the separate concrete channels and dropped off the end to land safely back in the river ....most of the time!

The lads met the challenge of unfamiliar territory, 3 nights of wild camping and keeping their kit dry with great teamwork and supporting each other all the way. An early start on the final day meant the 8 hours were due to be completed by 4pm, and as the assessor and staff team waited at Codelet on the river Rhone, a pair of binoculars confirmed they were in the distance and due to arrive as planned.

The elation of completing this new adventure soon gave way to finding the most comfortable way to sleep in a minibus seat for the overnight journey back to Calais. We finally arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal at just after 5am, ready for the debrief and the train back to England. Breakfast on the M25 was eagerly consumed and then a change of driver for the rest of the trip back to Tewkesbury.

This was something totally new for us as a Company, but the challenge (and stress at times) was more than worth it to see some fine young men complete their biggest adventure in their time in BB. Proud staff and parents are now waiting for the presentation of the trip and then the completion of their award and a visit to the palace to collect the Gold awards.

Andrew Baldwin
Captain