This is my entry from livejournal on the DofE trip to the Isle of Man enjoy


Day 1
At 11am we set off from the Sound of Calf. As we began on our walk it had just started to rain. 1 hour in and 20k left to walk we sort shelter to eat our lunch. Only once out of the constant rain did we realise just how wet, cold and miserable we truly were. After 20 minuets we continued round the edge of the island, morale was low as the mist made it hard to see and the rain had soaked all of our clothes, pools of water were collecting in Laura’s pockets, the wind was battering against us and all we had to look forward to was a tasteless boil in a bag and a patch of hard, cold, wet, ground to try and rest on.
What seemed like an eternity later we arrived at castle town, which meant we had reached near enough the half waypoint in our journey. Several hours later we arrived at the scout camp only to find that most of the shutters were down, no electricity and no warm water. Also there was a very large axe on the sink, which was slightly worrying, but we were all too tired to care. We made a make shift light in the toilets using one of the torches and also put up a washing line to attempt to dry some of our clothes so that they would be wearable for the next day. As it was still raining and we had just about given up on life we had a rushed dinner, set up the tents under some trees to try and shelter as best we could from the rain. We went to bed at the early time of 9pm but didn’t actually get to sleep till gone 11 as the sound of the rain and the thought of the axe kept us awake.






Day 2










We awoke at 7 am to the pleasant surprise of sunshine and warmth. We immediately gathered all our wet clothes and lay them out in the sun to dry. After breakfast we put on our still damp clothes and reluctantly picked up our bags to start another day of constant walking. As we were to be walking along roads we, the front and back people of the group, had to wear large, luminous yellow jackets. Which were rather fetching. Fortunately I was third in our single file procession of 4 and escaped the dreaded jacket.
The walk was quite enjoyable compared to the first day as the warmth from the sun made us feel quite cheery, also it gave us a chance to get a slight tan. The mood slowly took a turn for the worst as I stubbed my toe on a rock and made sure everyone was feeling as miserable as I was. The worst part of the day was when we were ten minuets from the end and we had to walk up this steep hill to get to our campsite. At this point I was exhausted and miserable at the thought of 2 more days of walking hell. Finally I forced myself up the hill with the encouragement of my team and we flopped on the ground to inspect the damage to our feet. Much to my horror my toenail had turned black and there was a large blister at the back, which the nail had dug backwards into. I put a very large plaster on it to try and stop it from getting any worse. There were hundred of gnats at the campsite and we drenched ourselves in spray in the attempt to keep them away, however I think it just attracted them as we ended up bitten to death. After a quick shower, since we had hot water, and food we put our tents up and got into bed wishing that the next day would never come, but it did.






day 3






Today I awoke as miserable as the last as we had the hardest part of the walk to do. Most of the days walk was up hill apart from the last section. So I began the day trudging along at the back moaning and complaining as we started as we meant to go on walking up hill. After a hour or so we started to descend slightly. I was feeling more cheerful as the sun had come out from behind the clouds and we had done over half of the total walk.
We could see snaefell and just how far we had to walk up hill but decided to be positive as the sooner we got up it the sooner we could continue downhill. We set off over boggy marshland and a few times slipped over or fell down the concealed rabbit holes. Once we had finally got over the hellish bog land we started our assent upwards. Half way up we decided to get the tram, as it was part of our project work. We got to the top exhausted from the climb. We stopped to have lunch before following the tramline down to the road. On the way down I slipped in the mud many a time, it meant a few less feet I didn’t have to walk. Our route had been changed since we were told that our originally route would have been too hard so we donned the florescent jackets and continued along the road till we were back on our planned route. The route was fairly simple for the rest of the way but about 2k from camp I stubbed my toe again on a large rock. I removed my shoe to check the damage and I found that my nail had started to peel back and the large blister had been cut into further and had started to ooze rather nastily. After hobbling to camp we noticed rain clouds gathering so we quickly set up the tent and ate our food. That night is rained lightly and our spirits dampened at the thought of another day walking in the rain.















day 4








Today we woke expecting rain however the clouds had shifted and the sun shone down on us brightly. We took this as a positive sign. After packing up we set off in an optimistic mood because we knew that in less than 6 hours time we would have completed the expedition and would have to do anymore walking. I am in the belief that this is the only reason I was able to walk that day. Laura and I were in such a good mood we decided to sing songs to make the walk seem less boring. There was a high tide so again we had to change our route and follow the road. Once more the yellow jackets made an unwanted return, this time it was my turn to wear one. The road was extremely straight and boring so Laura and I turned to more annoying songs that you could sing for a long time, much to the distress of Sarah and Johnny. Finally we could see the lighthouse and all that stood between us, and the end of our Duke of Edinburgh Expedition was a long, straight road that never ended. As we set off down it the lighthouse never seemed to get closer. A considerable gap started to form in the group, tired from our constant singing Laura and I started to lag behind. We ambled to the finish feet destroyed, legs sore but never has there been a better feeling than taking that ridiculously heavy rucksack off for the finally time. What wasn’t a particularly good feeling was driving back, what took you 2 days to walk in no more than 40 minuets.




there were 2 entys so heres the second arnt u lucky




well I'm back =] was epic in so many ways so here goes.

Thursday.

leave at 9 drive to ferry and we get tickets. lol at mat cos his ticket says Miss M. Boyden XD. so ferry was ok got a free coke (y) and no i didnt offer anything for it >.> then we all bought sweets and played poker on the floor in the way of everyone =]. started feeling sick so went up top in RAIN. blah got to camp site set up tent and dodged nerf ball that was being lobbed. laura threw up lots and i discovered i have super powers =O. when i laugh sarah hiccups . finally got to sleep.

Friday.

The walk begins =[. get up at 7 dressed and packed by 9 say goodbye to the lads group, Cheshire United Navigational Team (C.U.N.T) and got in van to sound of calf in the south of the isle of man. So the 23k SLOG in the rain began. started off in a sort of marsh area a cross between Jurassic park and Battle Royale. were quite low walking because it was so wet
=[ saw this FAT slug tho.
Laura:*looks at slug* who ate all the pies
Me: do slugs eat flies?
Laura: NO. how could they?
Me: well if one died and the slug found it.
Laura: WHAT? pies?!?
Me: oh piiies.
also had a great conversation about brown grass (drowned rats). swear i need my ears testing. so yeah not much else happened for 7 hours until we reached the camp at 7. shitest campsite ever.
1. no light in toilet.
2. no hot water.
3. no bin.
4. sink that didnt work.
5. random giant saw left out in open Oo.
so yeah just got in tent to escape rain when i discovered 1 of my toe nails was coming off woo.

Saturday.

woke up at 7 again realized our map was in pieces and beyond repair lol. tried pathetically to dry clothes in sun. so wore wet clothes and set out at 10. sun ws out all day so we were feling better as we walked down the road. me and laura took some great pictures =]. however the day turned bad when i stubed my other toe and felt that nail coming off. yeah so not too bad a bit up and down. also when we stopped for lunch LOADS of spiders attacked =/.
took us ages to walk the last 2k because i just couldn't get up the last hill, my toes felt like they were bleeding turned out to be puss (y).
got to campsite at 6 =]. we were on the same one as the lads again woo set up our tent and got food on the go. got bit loads then went bed i fell asleep and apparently missed laura talking to herself.

Sunday.

Set off for 10 again felt crap cos i had 2 days left to go and i wanted home and a decent bed =/. struggled and i mean STRUGGLED up this rocky hill. felt better coming down though lol. walked over bog land which was fun, i fell in and got submerged up to my ankle soon driied in the sun =]. started climbing sneafell lol funny me and laura at the back AGAIN =]. was really hard so when we got to road we got a lift to the tram and went up on that. BEST THING WE HAVE EVER DONE XD. dave walked up in 15 mins. we were terrified that the assessor would be at the top and he'd see us getting off the tram but he didn't.
we met up with him later tho.

assessor: so how did u find the climb?
Us: oh yeah it was alright (y)
assessor: so u didn't find it hard?
Us: o...er....yeah was really hard...took us ages (LOL).

on way down to campsite i stubbed my toe REALLY bad and the nail cut into skin behind so lots of puss =/.
hobbles to camp and johnny wanted to walk on a golf course. he kept saying they were public right of way. ITS NOT ITS PRIVATE LAND YOU CANT JUST WALK ON IT >=[. well anyway i was right our proper path was a different way =]. campsite was fit had decent showers and good ground =].

Monday.

rained at night but was sunny in the day.
BEST DAY EVER me and laura made loads of songs up =].

Every step i take
Every move i make
Every toe i break
Every stop we take
Ill be wanting home

Oh, cant you see
what it's doing to me
How my poor feet ache
With every step i take

and

Trail as long as time
hard as it can be
Barely even walked
Then somebody falls
Unexpectedly
Just a little hill
Small to say the least
all a little scared
nobody really prepared
Walking and the pain

started in sound of calf
to the point of ayre
70k long
what have we done wrong
to deserve the pain.

the was of course the song that never ends and we did a great rendition of the elephant march which lasted for at least an hour. swear sarah was going to bottle us at one point lol. we were just so cheery cos it was the last day =].
got to the end and there was dave with some cans i was like FIT =].