Their quest was the summit of Champagne Castle - their emotions were a mixture of excitement and nostalgia - their companions were Mr Mellema, Mr Staegemann and five brave Dads.

Comments from the 2011 Grade 9 boys :

‘’Friday morning everyone was excited……..when we got there and started the hike, everyone was in a good mood, talking, laughing, telling jokes…..after a while it became silent and all you could hear was the heavy breathing of the boys and the heavy moaning of the dads’’ - Damon Malan

‘’That night there was a huge storm where myself, Sikhona, Teboho, Mpumelelo and Kevin had to hold down the corners of the tent’’ - Bryce Dawson

‘’As we got about 500m Jesse and his dad had already swapped the backpacks as his dad’s backpack was too heavy for him (too much food)’’ - Bjorn Crinall

‘’With the wind blowing, sun baking and the cracking of the father’s knees, we headed up’’ - Irfaan Abdool

‘’The experience was probably the best ever because I had time to spend with my dad’’ - Dillan van der Westhuizen

‘’This being our last year at Drakies means that we need to take every experience, every moment, every day and turn them into memories’’ - Brandon Marais

‘’The hardest part of the hike was reaching the TOP! Man, was that tiring! But we all made it - lots of smiles, photos, singing and togetherness made it an unforgettable moment’’ - Dean Carbutt

‘’Later that day we reached Grey’s Pass and I realised that I was like a cat with 9 lives - I could have been killed by Mpumelelo when he managed to kick an enormous boulder’’ - Sikhona Wela

‘’We got to go into the mountains and experience the beauty of nature and how great God is creating all of it down to the last speck of dust’’ - Kyle Allens’

‘’The one place where you go up as a boy and come down as a man’’ - Siphelele Dondolo