Otaki Forks Chill Out Christmas Camp

Well, let me tell you a story.  Once upon a time there were a group of scout leaders, who being keen on traditional scouting activities like camping and tramping decided they would like to share their fun with another bunch of scouts.  Happily they picked us as the lucky invitees.

Negotiations began in September.  Being a sea scout troop, all these activities have to be held around our normal schedule of regattas.  And at this time of year, they come thick and fast.

After much too-ing and fro-ing between us the dates were settled and the location agreed and the programme was aligned and the menu deemed satisfactory (Actually, Tina told us what all this would be and we said "Yay!")

And so it began on Friday evening, arriving at Otaki Forks camp ground, we set up our tents, decorated for Christmas and settled down to meet all our contemporaries in the other troop.

Saturday

Saturday began very slowly.  This was a Chill Out Camp after all and everyone was up by about 8 and had breakfast.  Scrambled egg and bacon - gets us all going every time.

This was followed by a good game of soccer out in front of the tents.  It pretty soon became quite clear that I had chosen the team of better sports persons, as, for every goal that was scored against us we doubled our efforts to get one in return.

We then took a short walk to orient ourselves in the camp site (read: find the swimming hole!), before all getting ourselves ready to do the mornings tramp up to the old Otaki Forks Boilers.  The walk was done at a leisurely pace and took a whole 20 minutes to get up there!

We did have a tricky bit where a slip had taken out a small section of track to negotiate, but easily done for a group of scouts.

Lance gave us a short talk on the history of the area and the reason why there is an old steam boiler, nearly 100 years old, sitting out in the open in the middle of the bush!

After a short refreshment break, we took the track back to the camp site.  We took an obligatory group shot in front of the information board.

(left to right - back row: Thomas, Matt, Hamish, Alfie, Jamie, Fletcher
middle row: Connor, Laurie, Jasse, Quinn, Daniel, Marcus
sitting: Penny, Pebbles, Rosie, Adam, Zac, Calvin, ..., Connor)

We even sang some Christmas Carols while waiting.  Mostly it was "Last Christmas", but when it came to videoing it, everyone got shy and all we could get was "Jingle Bells"

Then came a quiet lunch of mac & cheese back at camp followed by swimming.

The excitement of swimming in a flowing river was only exceeded by the fun found in finding new and more creative ways to enjoy this new pleasure.

The temperature at this point felt like it was in the mid 20's and deserved a fair amount of time cooling down.  However, more fun was in store:  Catapults, not just any catapults though, water balloon catapults!

The practice tennis balls got VERY accurate, with one of the teams able to put them through the triangle of the others catapult with almost every shot.  The balloons brought everything to a new level.

Then it was back to the river for another dip as the afternoon just seem to be getting hotter.

Even our lovely leaders joined in the fun!

Then came the discovery at the top of the section of river we were swimming in of a small rapid that gave a short but fun ride.

"Christmas Dinner" - the excuse for a fantastically impressive meal to be served to a bunch of scouts in the middle of the bush - meant everyone was looking forward to dinner.  A few games of "Nuke Ball" - a new game the scouts taught us leaders - entertained us until the dinner as ready and then we were blown away:-

• Roast Leg of Lamb, marinated in rosemary and Moroccan spice and then slow roasted, served with a mint yogurt sauce
• Roast Beef - with traditional gravy
• Roast vegetables - potatoes, pumpkin, carrots - all grilled in garlic

I think that would be impressive for a home Christmas Dinner.  It's all the more impressive that Tina & Izzy, turned this out off a BBQ and a Pizza oven in a campsite!  Even the tables were decorated.

After dinner came a visit from “Heidi Claus” offering lollies off a Christmas tree

Saturday ended well with some quite games of cards before heading off to bed.  The outstanding part of the evening, was that while we were telling some scouts to turn off lights and go to sleep, others in the group could already be heard snoring!

Sunday

Sunday began with a few early morning cloud bursts, just enough to damp everything but it didn't take long to warm up and allow things to dry.  A Scouts Own, lead by one of Waikanae's senior scouts, moment of seriousness and contemplation before starting into the next level of fun was followed by bags being packed.

Another intense game of Nuke Ball followed with various teams opposing each other - Ngati Toa vs Waikanae; Patrol Leaders and Venturers vs everyone else.

Tents were packed and returned to bags, and some equipment made ready to pack.

Lunch was a quick hot dogs.  Then one of the scouts dared to challenge a leader.  The terms were water at close proximity.  The scout, bless her, thought one water bottle was enough.  Little did she know!

At lunch, we did have a sudden scare, when the gazebos that made up the mess area were caught in a strong gust of wind and lifted off the ground a couple of metres.  That was the one and one blast of that strength, but we decided to bring all the gazebos down after that and pack the equipment.

Then back to swimming again.  More rapid running, jumping from rocks and enjoying the cool water.  Due to the cooler temperatures, this session was a little shorter than previous ones.

Both scouts and leaders were completely packed up and ready to go home by 2:30pm.  All thoroughly happy and the camp was a great success.

A huge thank you to Izzy and Tina for all the catering and background organisation and Lance and Steve and Robin and Vanessa, who all gave up their weekends to ensure the scouts all had a brilliant time.

Heres to doing it again next year!

There are more pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZrSQuAatRSxaFqWK7

Derrick