Giving Clear Instructions

Back home again after a lovely 'Coronation' expedition with a few teams of Duke of Edinburgh's Award groups. We had to structure the weekend slightly differently so we could catch a few moments of history as the king got given his crown, then set off along the North Wales path to the campsite in time for a late pasta dinner. 

While helping the students to boil water and get drinks and dinner going, I got a good reminder of the importance of giving clear and accurate instructions. One pupil wanted to heat some water to make a hot drink, so after assembling the Trangia stove together, I asked him to take a pan to the nearby take and fill it with water, which he did. On his return, the conversation then went something like this.

Me: Let's light the stove.

Student: Okay.

(Gas turned on and flame was lit as planned)

Me: See how the gas is burning - now we are ready - Put the water on the heat.

Student: (to be fair, as asked), pours the pan of cold water over the flame.

Student: Sir, it's not worked, the flame has gone out.

Me: Ah yes, I think I should have said, keep the water in the pan and put the pan on the heat..... (sighs)...

It gave us all a good giggle and it was at least nice to know that some outdoor 'education' had (hopefully) taken place, as being able to boil water is a pretty useful life skill. Happily, the dreary forecast weather didn't material and we woke to a stunner of a day at camp and we enjoyed a sunny checkpoint watching the clouds roll over the mountains.

What we hadn't factored in was that it was a Bank Holiday, and higher up the valley, the roads became almost gridlocked! For a while I though I might have got the minibus stuck and was unable to turn it around! Not helped by all the 'passing places' being used as 'parking places' perhaps, like the boiling water incident, the signs need to be more explicit in what you can or can't do there! 

We beat a hasty retreat from the maddness, and got back to base for a good clear up and review of the weekend. As there are plenty more expeditions on the horizon, I got straight into organizing the kit for the next couple of trips, before calling it a day around 18:30 and heading straight over to Nick's house for a last minute BBQ and what turned into a super social evening with a super interesting bunch of folk!