Whilst taking part in the expedition training I was impressed with the useful skills that cadets were being taught which included; map reading, route planning, shelter building (which cadets had to sleep in themselves). All this was put into practice whilst walking 8 miles.

The atmosphere of the whole division whilst participating in all of these activities was very positive and pleasing to see, from the beginning of the walk through the end of the night concluding with a bonfire and of course marshmallows!

One of the most challenging and entertaining activities of the camp was the assault course. Being able to give the cadets confidence to take part in every obstacle was indeed a leadership task in itself. The obstacles in the assault course included, the monkey bars, rope ladders, river crossing, tunnels, and doing this in the pouring rain added to the excitement! Doing the task with the cadets helped me improve myself as a person, I realised that cadets look to the staff for the encouragement and me doing the tasks whilst I was scared myself encouraged them.

The activity centre gave us the chance to experience things, which many people haven’t experienced before such as horse riding, rock climbing, abseiling and pot holing. Not one cadet turned the opportunity down, which is a good thing even for those who were afraid of horses and heights. The actual centre had staff which were friendly, polite and were very helpful. For us as staff that helped a great deal.

The surprise of the week was the helicopter ride. My division was one of the lucky selections to be able to experience this. I have never seen so many smiley faces whilst we were flying in the helicopter. This was an experience which not many people would be able to try out again. This was an activity which doesn’t normally happen within the sea cadets which made it extra special and something more for the cadets to take home with them.

All the hard work that the organisers did for this camp was obvious from the beginning. The cadets were never bored and were always kept busy which was the key to the success of this camp. I can honestly say that this was one of the best camps, if not the best camp that I have ever been on and will definitely volunteer for the next one.

P.O (SCC) Christina Smith (Age 19)