camping – Explorer Scout 84

Operation Golden Orb

Wow wow wow. What am amazing weekend I have just had celebrating the Kings Coronation with the Scouts. This blog is about my experience of the Coronation Camp.

After arriving on Thursday afternoon with lovely weather, we caught the shuttle bus to site. On route we stopped at a petrol station before continuing to head off to Gilwell. Once now at Gilwell, we registered in before putting up our tents and then going on a wonder. I helped with some cleaning before changing into my uniform for the briefing and uniform checks – as I did not have the Coronation badge, I asked the valet team for one. We then ate dinner before I headed off for an early night.

Friday was a very chill day. I waited about in the breakfast queue talking to some Australians and Canadians before grabbing my breakfast. I then sewed my coronation badge onto my uniform before handing it to the valet team to iron and then headed to our safety briefing. Here we learnt some basic safety training on how to look out for “HOT bags”, the procession route and how many horse drew each carriage as well as the name of the operation… Golden Orb. We then headed out for a walk around site with our Team Leader, Larry, before playing a Scottish game of “run, haggis, run”. We then grabbed a warm lunch before afternoon activities.

For the afternoon we could drop into varying activities, there was The Lid open with a climbing wall, ladders, a mini Jacobs ladder and other mini ropes courses. This was great fun as we queued and got to know one another more and played some cards. We then did some tomahawks before helping the valet team with sewing some badges.

In the evening, there was a small campfire and Blue and I, with my new friends, got to learn some new international songs such as “Hello Mr Worm” and the German Bear Hunt. We then headed to Buffalo Bar to compete in the Quiz, where we got 10/10 on the cryptic TV shows round, before heading for an early night to wake up nice and early Saturday Morning.

Saturday consisted of an early start at 4am to have a quick shower before heading to meet the rest of my group and grab our breakfast. We then walked to Chingford train station to grab the first train into London. The early morning tiredness was real as we made our way into London and headed for Green Park Station.

We shortly arrived in St. James Park and set up our base. At first the weather was gorgeous however soon it started to rain and proceeded to not stop raining throughout the rest of the day. We soon saw the King’s Procession towards Westminster Abbey before watching the main coronation at Westminster on the big screen. It was amazing to watch in a crowd with others cheering when he was crowned and joining in singing the national anthem, a lovely atmosphere. Before the Coronation Procession left the Abby, we headed out towards The Mall to get a good spot to watch. We then saw the Coronation Procession including the Golden Carriage and once the procession had finished we queued patiently to walk towards Buckingham Palace to view the Balcony Wave and watch the Fly Byes. As the weather was still very much raining, we only got to see the Red Arrows and I saw two of the Royals, who weren’t obstructed by the Victoria Memorial.

After queueing for the longest of time to escape The Mall we travelled to Victoria station to head back to Gilwell. There underground was long with delayed signalling and silly people obstructing the doorways we eventually made it back to Chingford before slowly walking back to site. I swapped out of uniform and played some cards before a delicious meal of lamb stew and then headed back to the Buffalo Bar. We did the macarena, cha cha slide and listened to music before heading to sleep.

Sunday morning was more relaxed, I said goodbye to my Scottish friend before heading to the Scouts Own/Closing Ceremony. We reflected on our Scouts Promise and how we did our duty to our country and King over this weekend whether it be by Stewarding or just being a friendly face. After some reflection and thank you, it was time for goodbye’s and Operation Cornetto. I finished packing my kit away before catching the shuttle bus to Chingford to head home. As I was early to my train, Blue and I went via. Liverpool Street to catch the Elizabeth Line. We then made it back home to Sunny Brum.

My First SSAGO Rally

After a kerfuffle with cancelled trains, I made it to Newport ready for my first ever national SSAGO camp. Luckily when I arrived on the campsite, our tents had been pre assembled due to the freshers arriving earlier with them. I unpacked before discovering dinner and then shortly the Quiz!!

En route to Rally ft. Blue the bear and Orinoco

Just as I settled into my tent, one of my tent buddies felt sick so we addressed this and got her to the first aid tent before heading to bed again. It was a very cold night and I was happy when I could wake up and grab a warm breakfast. However, luck was not on my side. When I reached the front of the queue, C and I got stopped as they needed to let those on the early coach through first (is it not there fault for waking up late?). When they finally let us go to the front of the queue they had ran out of beans and hashbrowns so we had a pity breakfast of bacon and eggs.

After breakfast we grabbed our lunches before waiting for the coach. We nearly got a lift on a minibus to the coach however the minibuses clutch failed and we started rolling backwards. We then walked to the coaches to head into Cardiff.

During Saturday morning, I partook in the monopoly run. I was in a group with other SSAGO clubs and we ran around Cardiff. Cardiff was heaving with people due to the Tonga v. Wales rugby match happening later that day and we saw the Tonga coach arrive.

At lunch, we sat and I spoke to some of my Scouting friends from home which I did not know were in SSAGO. This was very nice to catch up with them and it included one of my Jamboree friends.

Amazing bread at St Fagans Outdoor Museum – 5/5 cheesy baps!!

After lunch, I booked onto the St Fagans Outdoor Museum. I fondly remember visiting here as a child and one of the houses had my nans old kitchen cupboards. I enjoyed exploring the museum and looking around the old buildings as well as hearing the stories behind them. As an afternoon snack, I bought a cheesy roll and it was gorgeous. I then visited a castle before catching the coach back to the campsite – I don’t remember this journey as I had a well deserved nap.

After arriving back at the campsite, we grabbed dinner before getting ready for the ceilidh (a highlight of any SSAGO camp). This was so so fun and the caller had been on Stacey and Gavin and worked with many cool clients. After the ceilidh, it was time for the silent disco before heading to bed after a midnight Welsh cake!

Sunday morning was a much better breakfast as I woke up early to head off to reps. Reps was full of all the SSAGO ~~gossip~~ news and election details. Following this was an EGM and I was running on behalf of the Oktoberfest rally committee. This would be held in Autumn 2023 and I had to speak and answer questions (see photo below of confident 84 in front of over 100 people!!).

Speaking in front of over 100 people (I am the one in grey!)

After EGM it was time to pack away before we caught the last minibus (due to 3 minibuses breaking down over the weekend) and headed back to Newport. Here we headed to spoons before catching the train back to Uni.

It was a really enjoyable first rally and I am already looking forward to Centenarally in March next year (hopefully we will have received our Rali Cymru merch before then though – edit 12.3.23 ‘we still have not received our Rali Cymru merch’).

I’m a SSAGOer get me out of here

This month, I have helped to plan and organise the Midlands Freshers Camp for SSAGO. On our small committee, I took on the role of being logistics and as such, I ensured we had enough equipment, helped here and there as well as create a timetable and ensured we kept to timings.

Friday evening rolled around and first I had to catch a train to Tile Hill with other BUSAG members – as I had a Friday late lecture 🙁 and would not be able to arrive early. As soon as we arrived, I got straight into helping, from annoying the kitchen staff to pitching tents to attending the quiz late to washing up. There was a small campfire before I headed to bed, ready for a long Saturday ahead + an early morning as I agreed to help make breakfast.

Saturday morning was an early rise, waking up at 6am, prepped to cook breakfast. After a well deserved cuppa (and watching the stunning sunrise), I started cracking eggs for eggy bread. Shortly, the campers started waking and breakfast was a go! It was one of the best camp breakfasts I have had in a long while.

After breakfast, I ran capture the flag. With a little bit of cheating here and there (I never said in the rules that I could not tell the opposing team where the other teams flag was hidden), we then stopped briefly for elevenses. Then, we had a mini firebuilding workshop before lunch.

Afternoon activities consisted of backwoods cooking or a rotation of an “eating challenge”, guess the object, free time and my base of the “elephant/monkey game”. It was a very fun afternoon before the rain came in. I then went on a campsite explore before heading back for a gorgeous dinner of dhal, rice and naan.

After dinner, we had a campfire. Due to it raining, it started off quite small as we created two smaller fires before combining them together once more of the wood had dried. We sung songs before many retired to bed. I agreed to stay up and watch the campfire die out (which meant I did not have to be on breakfast cooking duty Sunday morning). A few other SSAGO member stayed with me watching the fire and it was nice chatting and making new friends. We talked into the early hours of Sunday morning before deciding that we would head off (as the campfire was just now embers and ensured they were cooler). As soon as we reached back to camp, it started raining again which was typical.

Sunday morning was a later start where I ate breakfast before, visiting the amazing campsite shop. It was then time to dismantle camp and tidy the hut we had been using. We had a lovely leftovers lunch before walking back to the train station to return back to Uni.

It was a very rewarding camp, and I thoroughly enjoyed being behind the scenes this one time.

Summer 2020

Tomorrow I will be returning to school for my very last year (year 13), I am slightly nervous and I have written this blog post to recap my summer.

Caught up on some school work – this included some of my maths and chemistry which after taking my online course, I became behind
Read quite a few books – such as Red Rising, Red Queen, The Summer I turned Pretty, reread the Selection series and more
Watched Netflix – including Scorpion, iZombie, the Order, Vampire Diaries etc.
Home and Away via. My5 – I’ve been getting very behind on this show but it is amazing
Did a tiny bit of revision – this was reading my flashcards through from year 12 and creating a few more resources
Visited my family – this was lovely as I had not seen my family since Christmas
Met with some friends – I was able to catch up since lock down and even saw my friend who moved to Manchester
Watched too many movies – including Chalet Girl, Camp Rock 1&2, Feel the Beat, The Kissing Booth 2 and more
Took some photos – I learnt some new skills and practised star photography with Comet Neowise
Played guitar – learning some new songs and chords
Spent time in the garden relaxing
Stroked my cats
Went on a 30km charity hike – blog post coming soon
Wrote some letters
Tweeted for changed to my ALevels in 2021
Played on my Switch – changed my island in Animal Crossing New Horizons and visited my sisters island
Celebrated my sisters 14th birthday – in my eyes she is still 12
Practised french plaiting my hair
Created a photo book – blog post also coming soon
Went camping by the seaside
Cooked lots of different meals – including pizza, burgers and coffee cake
Attended some virtual camps
Attended virtual open days

Online Stravolution

Over the past weekend I completed online Strategy and Evolution. For the past 2 years I have helped out with Strategy and attended Evolution as a participant. The weather has usually been warm and sunny during this camp and this year also lived up to the warm weather.

During this weekend we would complete different activities on the Saturday earning points as a team. Different activities would include; nail painting, obstacle course, wire maze, first aid, bag check, ring toss etc. For the online version we were set 15 activities to complete. These included; spending a night outside, nail painting, first aid, drinking a pint of water, designing a new weapon, making ice cream, creating your own campsite, etc.

Blue and I both participated together and Blue tried to paint my nails in triple blue. I really enjoyed participating and so did Blue and we cannot wait until we can go camping again.

European Jamboree 2020 Precamp 1

I have been selected to attend the European Jamboree next year (as I like to nickname it EJ2020). The Jamboree is based on ‘ACT’ which is the idea of acting upon the environment to make the world a better place. A few weekends back, I went on my first unit camp with my EJ2020 unit.

On Friday evening we set up camp. We helped to move bags up to the kitchen area before I set up my tent and sorted out my roll mat, sleeping bag etc. I then talked to other people before heading to help put up another tent. The thing with this tent was that someone got told to take down their one man and sleep in a 4 man by themselves. As clever Explorers, we put the outer side of the new tent over the old small one man tent to save time taking down one tent and putting up the whole of the other tent.

That evening we headed to the campfire where we were told who was in each patrol. We were told some of the programme for the weekend including that on the Saturday we would be helping clear some of the site as part of our ACT mini project. As my patrol would be cooking the next morning, we played 2 truths and 1 lie to get to know one another before we soaked up the rest of the campfire. We ate supper and then headed to bed.

On the Saturday morning, I had to wake up slightly earlier as I had to cook breakfast. We cooked bacon for bacon sarnies and then eggs for the vegetarians. After breakfast we washed up before helping put up tents as part of our ACT project. We had to check the quality of the tents before taking them back down again. In the end, the tent I put up was one of the worst tents as so we swapped the good poles of the tent with the broken ones from other groups.

Blue with the trailer containing the weeds we had cut down

After a quick snack break, we were then on weed cutting duty. My group cut all the weeds around the traverse wall as well as some near a car parking area. The rake I was using kept breaking so at first I fixed it with some rope, but that only lasted for 5 minutes before it broke again so then I used some duct tape which lasted for longer. After this activity, we ate lunch before proceeding to the afternoon activities.

In the afternoon, we stayed in our patrols during a rotation. Our first activity included going around the traverse wall and coming up with our patrol’s name. The name had to include the word ‘ACT’ so our current name is ‘PACT man’. Our next activity was tunnelling where we played hide and seek in the dark followed by a talk from one of our leaders. Our final activity was Tomahawk throwing before we had some free time before dinner.

During this free time, we went back into the tunnels and had music playing through the tunnels. For dinner, we had chicken curry, rice and naan – so a variation of chicken and rice. After dinner, we plotted grid coordinates onto a map for our hike the next day before toasting marshmallows on a fire to make smores. I then headed for an early night to bed.

The next day, we woke up slightly late for breakfast but fortunately did not miss it. After breakfast I packed my bag for the hike before heading off in our patrols. The walk was around 7 miles long and halfway through we met with another patrol and walked the rest of the route with them. After our hike, we returned to the campsite and helped move a few things to help finishing taking camp down. We moved a trailer of weeds before being rewarded with an ice lolly to then take down our tents. Our parents then had a meeting before we were collected and headed back home.

Over the weekend we found a bit more about what our Jamboree experience would be like. We were informed that we would fly to Amsterdam, then travel by train to Berlin and then on to Poland. As part of the main Jamboree, there would also be a 2 day hike as part of the programme. We would then fly directly home.

Rumble in the jungle 2

Luckily, I was one of the only ones who did not wake up to the sound of the Beavers at 4:30am. I only then woke up at 6:30 am from the alarm I set myself.

Before breakfast, the Beavers painted jigsaw puzzles until they then ate bacon, scrambled eggs and baked beans. After breakfast, they then started washing up followed by a scavenger hunt on the campsite. They then made animals masks using paper plates and pens.

After this, they played a quick game of NESW but with a jungle twist. When called out ‘Make the sound of …’ they would sound like the animal and when called out ‘Act like a …’ they would act like the animal mentioned.

Finally, it was time for lunch – a banquet of sandwiches, crisps, fruit and veg. For pudding, they had slime (green jelly), bugs (raisins) and sticks (matchmakers). After lunch, they rolled up their roll mats and stuffed their sleeping bags as well as collecting all of their kit together.

finally, it was time for them to go home. Once all the Beavers left, we helped to dismantle camp by taking down the marquee as well as packing away our own personal tents. The weekend was brilliant and was a nice break from my revision.

Rumble in the jungle

This weekend, I’m on Beaver camp as a young leader. I arrived a couple of hours earlier to help set up camp – I helped put up the Beavers tent and the Marquee.

The Beavers soon arrived and I quickly are my lunch ready to start the activities. We all got given jungle books and then we were off on our first activity.

The first activity consisted of hunting for different tracks – the Beavers had to at first spot the tracks and then understand what each one stood for. There were a few challenging tracks to look for which I did not manage to spot.

After our first activity, we then packed our day sacks to walk to the obstacle course. Here, the Beavers completed the course in multiple variations and even attempted the cargo net. Luckily, no one fell into the stream which the course took place above.

Our third activity consisted of knot tying and putting up a tent. The Beavers learnt the reef knot and a clove hitch whilst the other lodge put up the tent. This was shortly followed by swapping activities before going to wash our hands before dinner.

Our dinner was spaghetti Bolognese, but due to last Beaver camp where I broke multiple Scout laws (https://explorerscout84.co.uk/a-scout-is-to-be-trusted-but-not-on-beaver-camp), I was expecting revenge. I was told that my dinner might become chilli infested but in the end, it was normal. Everyone then helped to wash up.

Me and my fellow Young Leader, then made a string trail. Originally it was too long but we managed to shorten it. The Beavers thoroughly enjoyed this before then proceeding to sit and enjoy the campfire. They toasted marshmallows and sang traditional songs.

Finally, it was time for bed after a long day. The Beavers were read a bedtime story.

I am currently writing this enjoying the silence. I have borrowed the campsites WiFi to upload the post – which I only discovered recently.

Continue reading “Rumble in the jungle”

Jamboree Camp: Take 5

So this weekend I went on another Jamboree camp and caught up with all my friends. We arrived on Friday evening and got put into our patrols. I got the position of being the assistant patrol leader for my patrol and so once we were all in our patrols we had to come up with patrol names. As a patrol we came up with some very obscure and weird names, we could not decide on a name so still haven’t chosen our final name yet! but we did chose a time to wake up and cook breakfast the next morning.

‘Before bed’ (as quoted) we had hotdogs and hot chocolate for supper. We then watched Toy Story 3 in the hut all cosied up with our sleeping bags and roll mats. As usual on my Jamboree camps we didn’t get to sleep until way past 2 the next morning.

The next morning we cooked omelettes for breakfast and washed up before the activities began. One of our morning activities was to plan our unit video to be sent to the UK contingent. We discussed what represented our counties and what represented our unit as a whole as well.

After this we discussed where we wanted to visit in NYC and Washington DC. For NYC we had discussions on visiting Ground Zero, Times Square and Central Park. For Washington DC we discussed visiting the White House, The National Mall and Smithsonian museums including the air and space museum (Mum and Dad- I promise not to sleep through the whole of the first floor exhibits if we go).

We then watched a short video on the timeline of the 9/11 attacks, we then discussed how it had changed and shifted the world and how we now experience air travel.

Our unit then played a couple of games before we went inside for lunch. To practice having to use points to buy meals we were given a set amount of points and had to decide the best way to ‘spend’ them on our lunch. Each of the lunch food items were worth different points and so we had to work out what we wanted for lunch and to make sure we had enough points to buy it.

After lunch, we had a talk about what to expect if we go to Canada and which countries we would also be going too. We also looked at the additional kit and what kit we would be given. As we were doing this we wrote down any queries into a box and also who we wanted to share a tent with out on the Jamboree.

In the afternoon, we went on a mini hike around the village where we had to go on a mini scavenger hunt. We had to find a blue item, see how many people we could fit in a phone box, get a takeaway menu, take pictures of birds (we cleverly took picture of chickens in the butchers) and more. My patrol lost but I believe this just gives our patrols a lot of room for improvement. When we returned we were given an activity to find out what was stuck onto our forehead and the pair. Later, we found out that this is who we’d be sharing a tent with.

For dinner we had chicken curry and rice and for the only time ever the whole unit had finished cooking and cleaned 40 minutes before planned. We were then split into half and talked about some of the things which might happen on the Jamboree and any more worries we might have followed by yet another unit discussion.

Our evening activity consisted of as called ‘Unit 82 got talent in their eyes factor, get me out of stars in their strictly popstars on ice’. In our patrols we decided on our ‘talents’ with my patrol doing a mini magic show with magic tricks. I did a card trick and we had other card tricks and a plate trick. Other patrols did dancing and acrobatics. My act came second from last but as I mentioned earlier there is always room for improvement. Our leaders also surprised us by dressing up in suits and dresses to be the show’s judges.

To finish ‘Unit 82 got talent in their eyes factor, get me out of stars in their strictly popstars on ice’ the whole unit sang Bohemian Rhapsody. After a couple of rounds of Irish snap and cheat, we settled off to sleep. Yet again, we weren’t asleep until 2 the next morning.

Breakfast was bacon baps and was then followed by a first aid session. We talked about what we might experience on the Jamboree and how to prevent it. For example, we were reminded of DR ABC, what to do if someone faints, how to prevent dehydration and sun burns as well as how to clean and cover grazes.

We played a couple more games and then it was time to set up afternoon tea for the parents and to eat our lunch (no point system today). The parents then had a parent meeting where they learnt some more information and had the chance to ask any questions. It was then time to say goodbye to all of my friends before we left to go back to our county.

I’m currently finishing this blog on the way back with my motivation (a minibus classic and tradition) of cold custard. We also had a challenge this camp go try and fit all of our kit into a medium bag to practice for our first few days travelling to the Jamboree where highly likely we won’t be allowed to go into our big bags. I managed to pack mine into a small-ish rucksack, so my Mum didn’t have to call the plumber to remove the kitchen sink this time!

Equipment: A very serious blog post.

I was recently challenged to come up with a list of things I’d take camping, but only things that began with the first letter of my name. Which of course is E for Explorer, or is it Eighty Four?

It was harder than I thought but here are my top 25 items:

Emergency Blanket
Extra Thick Socks
Earmuffs
Eurohike Tent (other tents are also available)
Envelope
Equipment
Eye drops
Ear plugs
Eiderdown
Espadrilles
Elephant dung (dried)
Entertainment system
England’s Glory Matches (other brands are also available, just not starting with an E)
Email
Energiser Batteries (or maybe Every Ready, still taking bids for product placement on this one)
Electric toothbrush
Elf on the shelf.
Emery board
Edam, eggs, enchiladas, escallops and other edibles.
Embalming Fluid (you never know)
Epic novel (on an e-reader)
Elastic
Eagle Scout Repellent 😉
Erasers
Exam revision
and of course: Everything Else!