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Final Farewells

By PRO Rosie Palliser

It was a close competition, but well done to Alpha Three, who after a fantastic Bravo pull and a highly amusing skit were declared the Adventure Challenge champions. Their prize...a massive chocolate cake!

Despite the tiredness and aching muscles, venturers and staff managed to keep the music and dancing going as long as was physically possible (when the electricity was turned off) before an early start the next day and mad rush to get everything packed and cleared up before jumping on the buses up to Bangalore.

While our venturers had a two day journey ahead of them, most of the staff headed back to Mysore Fieldbase, where we've been busy with our "staff wash-up": a mass of paperwork and cleaning Fieldbase ready for the next expedition!

It's the final day of India 08F tomorrow; a chance to finish all final jobs before our staff party in Ooty in the evening. Looking back on the past two months since the first staff arrived mid-June, it seems amazing what has been achieved in such a short space of time - Raleigh India's first 5 week expedition has been a huge success and I for one can't believe we've come to the end!

I hope you've all enjoyed keeping an eye on how everything has been going here and thanks again for all your blog messages during the expedition. Check out our Raleigh website http://www.raleigh.org.uk/ for up-to-date information about all our expeditions and events.

Don't forget, it doesn't end here! Raleigh is not just about an expedition, it's about being a part of a community of like-minded people. Stay involved with Raleigh through the alumni section on the website where you can keep in touch with your expedition friends, share memories and photos and learn about Raleigh societies and other volunteering opportunities.

Check it out at www.raleighinternational.org/raleigh_alumni

And I look forward to hearing from all our India 08F staff and venturers soon. You've all been fantastic and should be really proud of everything achieved both on Project Phase and during the Adventure Challenge. Myself and Jess, our 08F Expedition Coordinator, will be in touch soon about events and the all important expedition reunion - watch this space.

Bye for now and keep in touch!

Rosie

The Adventure Phase

Alpha One – Ice Tang

The Adventure Phase in India is full of challenges, combining activities of cycling, trekking and rafting. It was full of sweat and tears but eventually our whole group made it through.

Throughout the phase it was not only physically challenging but also mentally a challenge too – we had to overcome heavy rucksacks, muddy roads, hot weather and leeches in our trek. At Top Station and Central Station we could see the beautiful scenery of Tamil Nadu and the life of some tribal people.

Rafting is combined Bamboo and River rafting. Because of a still current we spent five and half hours getting back to Hornbill Camp which is twice the time that the other groups took.

During the cycling activity, we came across a series of mountains that everyone was amazed and fascinated by.

To my family and friends,
I have finally finished the trekking and was bitten by leeches at some points! It was tough and full of challenges. I missed you all and especially my girlfriend Maggie

With love,
Ice

End of Adventure Challenge

The challenges are over; the scores are in; all Alpha groups are already on their way back to our Hornbill Fieldbase and staff here are getting ready for a mammoth day ahead of equipment cleaning, sorting and packing; feedback and review sessions; administration and of course, party preparations!

At 12.45 today we will hold the final challenge – an alpha group “Bravo pull” where each team will pull one of our Raleigh vehicles down the track using a tow rope in the fastest time possible...it’s all left to play for.

By the evening, all will have scrubbed up and dressed up in honour of our Black and White Ball, complete with a traditional Raleigh skit competition, mega barbeque and music into the night.

With our venturers heading off to Bangalore tomorrow and Fieldbase packing up and returning to Mysore, it all seems to be coming to an end very quickly. Everyone has achieved so much and has so many great stories and experiences to share, it seems impossible that it was only five weeks ago that it all began.

I’ll be revealing our winning Alpha team and all the news from the final day at Hornbill on return to Mysore, but for now, it’s back to base to get ready for the day ahead and put on the dancing shoes!

Below are some pictures of Alpha One and Three on their trekking and river rafting events:

Alpha Three

Trekking

Alpha One
River Rafting

Adventure Challenge Day 6

I can't believe we're into the final days of the Adventure Challenge already! All the groups are doing amazingly well; still some eggs intact and challenge points on the increase after building basha beds, completing physical challenges and putting together some fantastic creative projects.

Here's a quick round-up:

Alpha One are on their second day of bamboo rafting today and have a very exciting day ahead on the river again tomorrow... not that they know it yet! Having cycled 26 kilometres in a day and then trekked through some of Kerala's highest, and toughest terrain, a cooling swim in the river was just what the group needed.

Alpha Two have been learning some great new skills after 22 hours of the "survival challenge" which included a GPS treasure hunt, night elephant watch, cooking an amazing meal for some special guests and sleeping in basha beds they had to construct from scratch during the day. Today's challenge: Trekking!

Alpha Three have taken to their bikes this morning after a relaxing couple of days drifting down the river. The route will take them uphill (mostly) through some of the most beautiful scenery of Kerala before arriving into Lakeside campsite early evening. Keep an eye out for those elephants!

Our photographer is racing round the groups trying to catch them in action whenever she can, so we'll get some photos up on the blog as soon as we can.

Adventure Challenge

The competition is on! The game was set, the first challenge: to carry 6 eggs per alpha group throughout the next seven days and return as many in one piece as possible to Fieldbase Hornbill. Within a few hours Alpha Two and One discovered that already a few of their brood had been smashed and Alpha three, who left first on Thursday afternoon to begin their trek were the suspects…now it’s serious.

The groups will follow a route over an area of one hundred square miles; from the backwaters to the second highest mountain in Southern India. It will include trekking, cycling, river rafting and bamboo rafting and a full 24 hours of “survival camp”. Along the way the teams will be presented with a variety of “secret agent tasks” which will all count towards their final alpha group score when they return to Hornbill camp on the 8th.

So, who are the new Alpha Teams? Read on, read on…

Alpha One
Project Managers:
Gill
Madoc
Alice

Claire
Jean-Paul
Mariyan
Katie
Rosie
Hannah
Sundar
Vicki
Nick
Leisha
Ian
Gary
Ice

Alpha Two
Project Managers:
Rich
Sharon
Yvette

Mark Pryde
Mhari
Bill
Alistair MacLeod
Amelia
Mark Barrie
Gurunath
Holly
Fanny
Elisha
Jess
Sanjaya

Alpha Three
Project Managers:
Sophie
Vijay
Jane

Arun
Iona

Alistair Johnston
Ronald
Ella
Alex
Charlotte
Nikita
Sarah
Carl
Danielle
Alyx

All the groups have been having a fantastic time so far, working brilliantly together in their new teams and stepping up to each task thrown at them! I caught up with Alpha Two for their bamboo rafting…

Here are a few messages from the Alpha Two gang:

Mark Pryde
Hey Guys,
Still having an ace time in India. Going river rafting at the weekend. Looking forward to seeing you all in 11 days! So important message:
Dad – can you book my flight from London to Edinburgh on the 11th. Any time after 2:30 pm. Can you then email me at 06003394@napier.ac.uk with the itinerary, so I can go to an internet café at Heathrow and print it off. Can you reply to this message as well please, just to confirm!
Cheers, Mark. X

Mhari:
Lee, hope you had a good birthday and enjoy your birthday drinks at the weekend! Could you please take my mum to the airport with you on the 11th? (Mum and Lee please text eachother)
Mum, hope you had a good time down south.
Kirsty, hope the job is going well.
Lots of love
Mhari. x

More news and photos soon!