Adventurous Journey
Get Wild and Explore | Haerenga Mātātoa - Kia Rikarika me te Hōpara
What is required?
For the Adventurous Journey section you'll need a sense of adventure and discovery as you go on a team expedition or exploration in our big Kiwi backyard.
You'll have the opportunity to learn more about the wider environment, as well as learn teamwork skills, make real decisions and accept real consequences, and gain self-confidence. You'll probably end up outside your comfort zone at times, but you'll be kept safe with training and supervision. The result will be experiences you'll remember forever—you won't regret a minute of it!
There are two types of Adventurous Journey - Expedition and Exploration.
Expedition - an Expedition is a journey with a purpose. In an Expedition, the primary focus is on the journeying, where around two thirds of the purposeful effort must be spent journeying.
Exploration - an Exploration is a purpose with a journey. In an Exploration, the primary focus is to observe and collect information relevant to the purpose. More time and effort is spent on this, with less time getting from one place to another. The journey aspect is still important, around one third of the purposeful effort should be spent on journeying, depending on local circumstances and the medical or physical restrictions that the participant(s) are living with.
For ALL levels of the Award, the Adventurous Journey must include the following:
Must be undertaken in groups of 4 - 7 young people
All young people must all be involved in the planning and preparation.
All Adventurous Journey groups must be supervised by a suitable adult shadow party (determined by the Award Units Safety Management System) at all Award Levels for both Practice and Qualifying Journeys.
Please note that parents cannot be assessors for their own children.
Information for adults wanting to support an Adventurous Journey:
Please contact the school before beginning to plan any Duke of Ed related trip with your children.
Please read the doc linked above "Adventurous Journey Criteria"
Safety is important - all trips must follow school safety procedures and be approved by the school prior to taking place.
The role of the adults is to shadow the students for safety purposes. The students should be self-sufficient including planning, navigation, food and shelter (huts are ok).
Adults should be within shouting distance at all times - this is a safety guideline specific to NZ due to the challenging weather and terrain and lack of cell phone reception in many locations.
The process
1. Preparation and Training:
You must have adequate structured learning in bush craft before undertaking your Practice Journey as there are some critical skills you need to learn. This is training on topics such as leadership, trip planning, map reading and survival skills. It's all about keeping you safe in the outdoors - safety of participants is the top priority.
All training must be undertaken with an Accredited Provider or through your Award Unit. At Bronze and Silver levels, there is an option to do your training online, however you can only do the online training once eg: if you do online training at Bronze level, you must do practical, hands-on training at Silver Level. This is to ensure you are well trained to survive and thrive in New Zealand's great outdoors.
We will hold a training day at school (cost dependent on numbers, approx. $30)
Online training option if you cannot attend: http://www.bronzetraining.com/
2. Practice Journey:
Participants must undertake a Practice Journey to ensure they can complete their Qualifying Journey safely. The Practice Journey should be as similar to the Qualifying Journey as possible to ensure you are sufficiently prepared (e.g. if you choose an Exploration for your Adventurous Journey, then both the Practice and Qualifying Journeys must be Explorations OR if you are doing your Adventurous Journey on a boat, your qualifying journey must also be on water).
The practice tramp for all levels is 2 days / 1 night.
3. Qualifying Journey:
For the Qualifying Journey, the team is required to be self-sufficient and independent. The requirements for each level of the Award are:
Bronze: 2 days and 1 night, with a minimum of 6 hours of activity per day.
Silver: 3 days and 2 nights, with a minimum of 7 hours of activity per day.
Gold: 4 days and 3 nights, with a minimum of 8 hours of activity per day.
4. Report
This report can be written, photographic, verbal or digital as agreed by the group and your Assessor prior to the commencement of your Qualifying Journey.
The presentation is to include the involvement of all group members and must explain how you have achieved your aim.
If it is written it should be around 1 page per day (but this can include photos).
The idea of the report is that it is a reflection of this trip so could include:
What went well
What you would do differently next time
What you enjoyed
What you found challenging
A highlight
Etc.
Can I organise my own Adventurous Journey?
In most cases - no.
There are strict safety guidelines on Adventurous Journeys.
Any Practice or Qualifying Journey must be approved by the school BEFORE it takes place.
See notes above relating to information for adults wanting to support an Adventurous Journey.