Almost there!

Well, it’s almost time for everyone to head out on their projects. Fieldbase is a hive of activity with everyone checking their kit, making sure it’s dry from trek training, cleaning their boots, and, most importantly, making sure they’ve got enough food and treats to keep them going!

Porridge to keep everyone going for a full day of packing

Tango 5 and 6, are splitting the kit between their groups, to make sure all the weight is distributed between them fairly. As they’re going on trek, they need to carry all their kit and enough food for five days. There’ll be a food drop for them at certain points on the trek, so they don’t need to carry everything they need for the whole time.

Echo 3, are going through the bamboo poles and checking they have enough to make their bashas, and shelters for their camp. They’ll be cooking their own food on their project, so there’s also a lot of Trainger scrubbing going on!

Charlie 1 and 2 are putting up all their tents and making sure they’re all spick and span. They’ll be enjoying food cooked by the locals, so they’re making sure their mess tins and cutlery are nice and clean!

Counting the food rations 

Last night, we had a cook off at Fieldbase, with our groups doing ‘Ready Steady Cook’ Raleigh style. 

Each group were given a selection of sweet ingredients, including condensed milk, peanut butter, chocolate biscuits and tinned fruit. They were given 30 minutes to come up with some fantastic treats.

Our Fieldbase judges, Lou, Hannah and Lee, marked the groups on taste, imagination and presentation. It was a tough decision but after a lot of deliberation the winner was...Tango 5 with their fruit tower called ‘Seabu on the table’ (Seabu is apple in Hindu) and Tango 6 with their heat-shaped pudding, ‘Love Generation’.

Our judges tuck in 

Tango 5 and their winning pudding!

A close up of the winner - yum!

Tango 6...a close second

'Love Generation' 

In other news, Fieldbase has finally got its last member of the team. Maz arrived yesterday and is another Borneo veteran. She’s already busy getting to grips with her role and will be working on Monitoring and Evaluation while she’s here. She’ll be working with Lou and they’ll be going back to old Raleigh projects to see how they’re doing and take any learnings onto the next project.

Welcome to Maz! The latest addition to our Fieldbase family

Hannah and I are leaving early tomorrow morning with Tango 6 to join them on the first part of their trek. We’ll be back next week, full of exciting news for the blog.