After meticulous kit packing, Simons webbing and bergan weighed in around 35kg, and then there was another 7kg of SLR to carry!
There was a slightly smaller group of cadets this year, with the support staff to cadet ratio working out as 1:1, last year we had double figures of cadets!
Walking with us were Ruth, the PE teacher, Frank (from Peterborough...) Trev and Claire Law. The weather was fantastic, with no wind, a rare event in the Falklands! The nights were fairly frosty, with Simon waking to find frost on all his kit and ice beginning to form in his water bottle!
The cadets were pushed the hardest they ever had been, and they were Meghan 15, Harrison 14, Will, 13, Chris, Ash, and Tom who joined us halfway through all just 11! At some points, Trev, Frank and Simon were carrying the webbing and day sacks of 4 youngest in addition to their kit! Harrison bravely soldiered on (haha!) carrying around 20kg of kit for the full four days!
Ready to leave Port San Carlos......
A long road.....
....which goes on and on....
...although we do stop for food.....
...this year a flight over the whole route courtesy of British International....
....and the usual running repairs to feet..... These belong to Harrison!
Teal Inlet became a forward operating station, and was a temporary resting place for those killed assaulting the positions around Stanley. The names of those laid to rest here are commemorated on this memorial
Cross country....
One of the cadets thought he would see what it really felt like to carry kit....
....look, a bergan with legs....
Estancia, our final night, the farm is still run by Tony and Ailsa Heathman who have some fantastic stories about the conflict. Ruth and Claire had recieved medical care for knees and feet, so we were down to section strength! Harrison had his blisters popped here. He had originally developed 1 blister, and then another blister formed underneath that one, and then a third formed underneath that one!
Wreckage from Argentine aircraft outside Tony and Ailsa's house
Rest stop below Mount Kent....
...where an Argentine Chinook was shot down...
From Mount Kent, it is cross country all the way, including the crossing of the Murrel Bridge, which has been newly repaired
From the Murrell, it is a short yomp along the Moody Brook Track.....
...past Mount Longdon....
...and into Stanley....
By the end, Simon was absolutely shattered, the yomp had been completed in around 25 hours, the fastest time ever by the cadets.
They gathered around the Liberation Monument for photos, before heading to the Victory Bar for a well earned Heineken, or 6!
......very red heels...
.....and two black toenails on his left foot....
...and 3 black toenails on the right....
Simon eventually lost all 5 of these toenails, although the big toe was incredibly sore. What you can see in the pictures of the big toe above is actually one solid blood blister under the toe nail, which the hopsital refused to pop!
Despite the feet and toenails, Simon really enjoyed doing the Yomp again, especially in this 30th Anniversary Year.
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