The middle of the end...

Fieldbase resembles something of a ghost town once more as the volunteer manager team bid a fond farewell to all the Venturers earlier today. They were finally shepherded onto their buses – despite some desperate attempts to remain – and will be winging their way to either Bangalore (to catch the recommended flight tomorrow or a different flight that they have arranged themselves) or Mysore (for those few who have alternative travel plans).

But first an update on how they spent their final few hours under a Raleigh roof – and also an update for those who were worried about the missing E4 group...

E4 safe and sound

We are pleased to announce that E4 returned safely – albeit a little the worse for wear – at the crack of dawn yesterday. Their marathon journey, which started with a four hour bus ride to Chiplun, followed by a five hour delayed train to Mangalore (which was where the trouble all started), then continued with an eight hour night train to Mysore, a three hour wait on the bus for daylight and then the final leg, a positively lightning half an hour drive to fieldbase.

They were met at fieldbase by Helen, Hannah and what at first looked like a nurse fresh from the operating theatre but turned out to be Carolyn in her rather fetching pyjamas. The group then proceeded to wake up the rest of fieldbase who were overjoyed to know that their fellow Venturers were back in one piece.

The final day

So what activities lay in store for the Venturers for their final full day? Well other than packing up their belongings it was a pretty fun day for all, with the following all taking place:

Total Wipeout – a series of fun, wet and very messy games to provide a team challenge that was eventually won by Charlie 1.   It was a hard fought competition as hot showers were the prize for the victorious group!!!

Tango 5 at Fun Station 5!

Tango 6 getting competitive

Echo 4 getting their team through the spiders-web at Fun Station 3!

The Winners - Charlie 1 - After the assault course at Fun Station 1!

Christmas Dinner – the dining room was decked out in lights and tinsel and was the perfect setting for the final evening meal, which was topped off with a lovely speech by Helen.

11J's End of Expedition Meal

Hannah, Helen and Carolyn dressed up for the occasion!

Slide Show – Hannah produced a slideshow of photographs from the entire expedition which she put to music and received deservedly rapturous applause.

Disco – yes despite the Dutch Venturers dislike of the concept of music and dancing we had a disco. That’s D.I.S.C.O my friends. Give me a ‘D’...

The end...well for the Venturers at least

And so we come to the final day at fieldbase for our intrepid Venturers, which kicked off in customary style with some wholesome, tasty porridge. This was followed by more packing before the groups were reunited with their Project Managers and went through a final review where they discussed their personal highs and lows for the expedition.

Once the remaining paperwork had been filled out there was time for lunch and some tidying and cleaning around fieldbase before the siren sounded to announce departure time.

There were hugs, handshakes and quite a few misty eyes (but no tears – they are a strong bunch!) as final farewells with the fieldbase team took place. Then they were off to the big city to either return home to tell their loved ones of their great adventure or continue the journey elsewhere.

11J

On behalf of all at fieldbase we wish them a safe flight and onward journey and would like to thank them for taking part in a great expedition. For those of us still here there are a few days in which to complete the cleaning and perhaps toast the completion of a successful journey.

Thanks for reading and for your messages. They are very much appreciated by all. Until the next time...