Award Adventurous Journeys
Plan it.
Then do it.
You work in a small team to plan and undertake a journey, setting and working towards a team goal. Your group decides what it wants to achieve. Journeys can take many forms, and they get longer as you move up the levels.
- Urban
- Bush
- Water
- Cycling
- Walking
- Horse riding
- Kayaking
How it works
The journey process
The Adventurous Journey section is split into three parts, always done in this order: Preparation and Training, a Practice Journey, then a Qualifying Journey.
Preparation and training
Covers what you need to know for your journeys: how to plan and prepare, navigation, survival and leadership skills. You do training at each level, as each level introduces new concepts and builds on previous skills.
Do it through Auckland Challenge or another Award Recognised Activity Provider. You can also complete Bronze training online through ACORN.
The practice journey
Makes sure you have the knowledge to safely complete your qualifying journey. You build on your training, improve your leadership and teamwork, and get ready to qualify.
You may need more than one practice journey if you’re starting at Silver or Gold, or if your supervisor thinks you need more experience.
The qualifying journey
The final journey of your level. Your instructor steps back, so you and your team have more independence and control, and are self-sufficient.
At the end, you present a team report on your development, learnings and experience. It can be oral, written, a video, or any format you choose.
How to write your reportWhat it takes
What you have to do
Bronze
- TrainingOnline or a day course
- Practice2 days, 1 night
- Qualifying2 days, 1 night
Silver
- TrainingDay course
- PracticeMinimum 2 days, 1 night
- Qualifying3 days, 2 nights
Gold
- TrainingDay course
- PracticeMinimum 2 days, 1 night
- Qualifying4 days, 3 nights
Practice journeys are a minimum of 2 days and 1 night. We may require additional or longer practice journeys, or more training, to keep you safe if we believe you need more experience or you’re doing a higher-risk journey.
Providers
How you can do your journeys
The Award has a range of Recognised Activity Providers (RAPs) to help you do your journey.
Our partners
Auckland Challenge works with a range of providers to make journeys available to our participants. These are often organised with discounts and exclusive dates.
Meet our partners →Recognised providers
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has a large range of journey providers. You can do your journey with any Recognised Activity Provider or Award Unit.
Browse the directory →Doing your own activity?
Think an activity you’re doing could meet the Award requirements, like a Scout tramp, Cadets course or school camp? Get in touch to find out if you can use it. It must meet the Award’s 10 requirements.
See the 10 requirements →Online training
Complete Bronze training fully online, at your own pace, through ACORN, our online training platform. The course covers all the Bronze requirements.
Start on ACORN →Important
Get it approved before you start
Before you start any activity for your Award, including journeys and your Residential Project, it must be uploaded to your Online Record Book (ORB) and sent for approval. If an activity isn’t approved before you begin, you can’t count it towards your Award.