Gold Adventurous Journey information for participants

This newsletter is also shared with your parents

Adventure is just around the corner!

The aim of the Practice Journey is to put into practice what you learned in class so that you will be ready for the Qualifying Journey that will follow.

The aim of the Qualifying Journey is to challenge you by creating a spirit of adventure. You will be asked to find your way with your team into the forest with the use of a map and a compass and complete a hike carrying your rucksacks. As soon as you reach your destination, you will cook your own food and set up your tents to sleep. You will wake up the next day, pack and continue your journey. The following Journeys will take place and your team leader has already booked to participate in a Journey. If not, then please hurry. We need to know so that we will proceed and make things happen.

Useful information

• All Gold practice journeys will take place in the wider area of ​​Madari forest. Gold qualifying journeys normally start from Platania and finish in Troodos mountains, Paphos side unless otherwise specified.
• Bus departure:
  • On Fridays all buses depart from the parking lot of your school: 14:15 from GC school and 14:50 from the Senior school
  • On Saturdays all buses depart only from the Senior School (map location here: https://goo.gl/maps/BxmwfKMtoBE39w15A) 
• Bus arrival:
  • All buses arrive only at the Senior School.
• Expected return: sometimes there is a delay caused by late arrival of a team at the finish. To avoid parents waiting for you, you should call them as soon as you board the bus to confirm the exact time of your return.
• Prerequisites for participating in Adventurous Journeys:

1. 1. A participant can join a Practice Journey only after the completion of the training at school.
   2. A participant can join a Qualifying Journey only after completing a Practice Journey.
   3. Your parent/guardian must complete the online Medical & Consent Form (click here) before your first journey. 
   4. You must be properly equipped according to Award guidelines. To read and/or print the equipment list please click here. More information regarding TEAM and PERSONAL EQUIPMENT:

• Tents: According to the tents arrangement of every team you can borrow a tent per three or four persons from us on the spot. We will collect the tents as soon as you finish. The tents we use are of high quality and cost at least €300 each. We expect from you to use them with care. In case a team will cause any kind of damage to a tent, tent mates must cover the cost of repair or replacement.  
• Stoves, cooking set, gas canister and compasses: Stoves and compasses are provided by us, but you MUST purchase the specific cooking set and gas canister you will use from us, for your safety and for cleaning reasons because you will be trained with these. The additional cost will be €10 per person (no matter how many members in a team so that will be fair for everybody) and can be paid on the spot by every team leader after they will collect the money from their team members. Please have €10 with you and hand this amount to your team leader. 
• Personal equipment: We will check the specifications of the following for your safety: hiking boots, sleeping bag, waterproofs (jacket & over-pants) and rucksack. We recommend you purchase our proposed Value Pack that includes all products that are extremely important for your safety (marked with VP in the Equipment Kit List for the AJ). For the ones that did not pre-order the Value Pack it will be available for purchase from our shop until stock lasts. More details about the Value Pack were shared in a previous newsletter that you can access if you click here. Although the proposed Value Pack IS NOT MANDATORY, we kindly ask you to trust us on this matter. This equipment will accompany you for almost 4 years on long hikes in adverse weather conditions. If you don’t select your gear wisely you might face several issues (lack of quality and reliability) for the next 4 years that could force you to buy the right things again, which is unnecessary. In total, you will walk 16 days and sleep 10 nights until you finish Gold. In addition to the technical specifications, price is an indication of quality. To be within specifications expect to pay around €150-200 for the boots, €100-150 for the sleeping bag, €40-60 for the waterproof breathable jacket with hood and €25-35 for the waterproof breathable packable pants. We encourage you to purchase your equipment from our Get Out store (Arsinois 18A Acropolis, tel: 22311012). We have the equipment recommended by the Award at the suggested EU retail prices. In addition, we offer you a 15% discount. If you choose Get Out for your purchases, you will be certain that you have chosen the right equipment at the right price and you will avoid buying products that either do not meet the recommended specifications or are not worth the money.
• Please prepare your gear according to the equipment list and do it yourself. We prefer you come unprepared than prepared by your parents 😊
• Food: Eat lunch before departure. Organize your meals in groups (breakfast, lunch, dinner) as we described during our meetings. In addition, bring some cookies, an energy bar per day, a fruit like banana or apple and some nuts & dried fruit to eat between meals. Options for cooking for your dinner could be pasta, rice, vegetables like zucchini & broccoli, sausages etc. Options for breakfast can be porridge (oat & hot water), cereal, tahini pie, bread etc   

Some more useful information

• We are always happy supporting you directly. We are available at award@onestepfurther.com.cy and on 22254612 office hours, daily from 9am to 5pm. Do not bother your parents and do not ask from them to communicate on your behalf. This is your Award, not your parents’ Award. Be responsible, you can. Of course, your parents can call us for other issues.
• During the excursions you will not be able to contact your parents. According to Award regulations, we will collect your mobile phones. You will have one mobile phone per team, turned off and sealed to be opened in case of an emergency. 
• Please bring a camera to take pictures and videos.
• Please ask from your parents not to contact us during journeys just to ask if you are okay. If something unexpected happens, we will let them know. No news is good news. If your parents need to contact us for an emergency, they can call me personally at 99359214 (Marios).
• Do not ask from your parents to wait for you at the expected return time. You will call them as soon as you get on the bus to inform them about the exact time of your arrival. There is always a possibility for delay due to late arrival of a team at the finish. 
• Sometimes we upload some general photos on social media. Please follow our page @onestepfurthercy on Instagram and Facebook to see the photos.
• Weather conditions: In general, we do not postpone excursions due to weather conditions unless a red warning is issued by the Meteorological Service. When there is an orange warning we assess the seriousness of the situation and decide accordingly. In case of a yellow warning, we take the necessary safety measures in organizing outdoor activities so that everything goes well. Part of the importance we attach to the issue of equipment, which we have made extensive references to. In the language of mountaineering, we say that “There is no bad weather. There is bad equipment.”

We wish you enjoy your journeys in the best possible way! 

On behalf of the Award Team

Marios Hadjipetris
Award Coordinator