Duke Of Edinbrugh Bronze Award Poem by Sian Mein

At the start waiting to go
The weight of our bags was beginning to show
Carrying tent, food and clothes was great at first
But the heat and sunshine was definitely the worst
We were nervous about the weather to come maybe rain or frost
We were also worried about the food, arguments and getting ridiculously lost!
We were dropped off by the forest in the shrub
And already our heavy bags were beginning to rub
Butterflies flew and trees surrounding everywhere
By this point everyone had stopped worring about their hair!
We lunched by the river and our sandwiches we ate,
By the end of our lunch we had to cross the kissing gate
The sun beating down on the hot summers day
With lots of water to drink on the way
I tripped over a root and down I fell
We soon got used to the sweaty smell!
The trees made it hard to navigate,
And by the time we made it to camp we werent that late,
Putting up the tents was easy for us,
But then again we are very adventurous,
We had arguments over cooking and washing up,
But the main tragedy was I had misplaced my cup!
We feasted on sweeties and haribos galore
And see how many haribos my mouth i could store!
I soon felt so ill from trying not to chew,
But where I was laughing I didn't know what to do. 
We abandoned the stoves which gave off too much heat
We talked about our experiences and our aching feet!
So rolled up vests for us girls and shorts all round
Shouting from boys playing football and birds the only sound
Running and chasing each other late at night,
But Dripping in sweat most probably wasn't a good sight
The toilet block seemed millions of miles away,
But peeing for boys behind a bush suited them ok!
We snuggled in our sleeping bags in our boiling tent,
And we hoped all the pegs would hold and weren't that bent!
At half four in the morning we heard the dawn chorus
Which reminded us of the hike before us
But half six came and we needed to put everything away
We really wish we could of been allowed to stay,
Our legs were aching so tough and sore
From the hiking we did the day before
Waking up in the morning was a struggle for some,
But most were interested in the hills to come!
Repacking our bags was a real bore,
And we really didn't want to walk that much more
But even so Off we went with a song in our heart,
Although our bodies were aching and falling apart
What kept us going was thoughts of a long cold shower
And every step we took would get us home sooner by the hour
Arriving at the bike hire we all shouted with glee
We passed the bronze award, as you can see.


By Sian Mein