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THE JOURNEY Expedition Challenge in the Purbeck Hills November 2004 Cliffs, sun and muddy boots The forecast was against us, but that didn't stop us undertaking another Troop B expedition weekend. Buddens We crowbarred everybody into the cottage (more of a farmhouse) at Buddens Campsite near Wareham. This place impressed us greatly as it had superb facilities and made for a very comfy pre-expedition night's sleep. Route plans Late-evening route planning is always the best way to go, and the scouts produced some first rate proposals for their weekends trekking. Purbeck Coast The Purbeck coast is a stunning array of beaches and cliff tops. Groups hiked across this, stopping for lunch at Dancing Ledge, enjoying the view of the sea and navigating some muddy pathways. Just trying to be a bit careful not to wonder too close to the edge! Studland to Corfe Castle Studland is a beautiful sandy beach. Corfe Castle - perhaps the most famous symbol of Dorset. Both are stunning, but the walk between them is just as impressive as the destinations themselves. Covering beach, cliffs, viewpoints and a ridge, it's a great place to make fleet-footed progress. Training Two groups ended their day with a ride on the steam train from Corfe Caste to Swanage. Going one better, they even managed to persuade the staff to give them a tour of the steam train to see how it works! West Dorset Two groups of older PLs covered West Dorset (and some of Devon). Lyme Regis, beaches and an ascent of Golden Cap (the highest sea cliff in southern England), provided much interest on this sunny section of coastline. Navigation school Our younger scouts picked up some basic and more advanced navigational skills. Pacing, compass work, timing and more - these guys are gonna know precisely where they're going. Swanage Youth Hostel We stayed at Swanage Youth Hostel, which was excellent. The rooms were clean and comfortable, leather sofas in the lounge. But the real stars go to the staff who were friendly, flexible and cooked a mean breakfast! We'll put it on our 'visit again' list. Golden Cap Basecamp The PL's groups stayed at Golden Cap Basecamp - a World War II radar station that's been converted into a bothy. It's in the middle of nowhere really, but close to some fabulous walking. Thanks go to the National Trust for letting us stay there. Splashdown We wound down after two days hard walking by spending a couple of hours on the slides at Splashdown, one of the best water parks we've been to. It's in Poole. Fastest slide was the Torpedo Run, though perhaps more fun was the one with the rubber rings, where you got to have a bundle and steal other people's. Pizza Al did the honours ordering vast quantities of pizza to give us plenty of energy for the ride home. Sun An improbable amount of sunshine greeted us for what was supposed to be a wet weekend in November. Thank you to the Met Office for pulling another warm and sunny one out of the bag. One of the best weekends - expeditions always are - and full credit to the scouts who responded resoundingly to the challenge. They did brilliantly. Look out for more expedition action in the not too distant future.