Scouts had a brilliant time building playgrounds, rafts, poking a fire with sticks and cooking their own meals for an entire weekend. As well as completing all this, they also completed 9 km hike with a 280m change in altitude.
(The photos below are a special request - one of the scouts asked if I could post both this years pictures and last years photo next to each other)
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| 2020 Mid-Winter Camp |
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| 2019 Mid-Winter Camp |
Mid Winter camp is always a challenge with the weather. The forecasat looked good when we started, with 3 days of overcast with the odd bit of sunshine predicted for all three days. Well, we got the 30% of times the forecasts are wrong. We got 2 days of overcast with spots of rain, heavy rain on Saturday night and sunshine on Sunday.
FRIDAY
Arrival on Friday was greeted with less chaos than normal, and I think this is largely due to the fact that we are frequently doing camps of this type. Tents were put up and the campsite prepared in fairly short order (for scouts!). By mid afternoon their tents were up, beds made, bags stowed and they were ready for their first activity.
Wash stands: The scouts were required to build their own wash stands, complete with a basin stand and washboard shelf below. Some of the scouts were more successful at this than others, but all achieved a servicable wash stand.
Later in the afternoon, with a bit of free time in hand we all took a walk down to the eels. They live in a part of the river at Battle Hill and are always there. We took a couple of bread rolls down and some of the scouts got "really" close to the eels.
Later that evening, while some scouts were taking their leisure, a select crew of scouts and leaders went hunting for glow worms in the dark. And once they had been discovered and admired, were passed over in favour of night time swings.
SATURDAY
Food of scouts the world over, pancakes is a staple breakfast. (Some of the scouts, may have been up, but weren't necessarily awake!)
The morning activity, was to build a playground. The challenge was to put together a swing, seesaw, roundabout and sway bridge, all using just the materials supplied. Poles and lashings were all they got. This is what they made:
The tramp in the afternoon was the usual Puketiro Loop, but with a twist. Along the route at designated coordinates, were top secret folders, with codes inside. Scouts were required to find each of these 6 folders and record all of the codes.
Along the way, they saw some marvellous scenery, including the view from the summit.
Thats Pauahatanui Inlet in the background, Mana Island in the middle ground and the South Island in the distance.
It is apparently an essential skill of tramping to know that you have to take a selfie at the summit of your tramp and post this on Facebook!
Part of their Hiking Badge requirements, has to do with boiling a pot of water on route and preparing a hot drink. This hot drink apparently includes 2 minute noodles in its classification.
We got down from the tramp at just about sunset so immediately launched into making dinner, more specifically, Cowboy Dinner! Salami, onion, potatoes, and other ingredients, all wrapped in bacon and the whole wrapped first in leek leaves (left over from the previous nights dinner) and then tin foil. Baked on coals for 40 minutes and then savoured!
Who knew that scouts like to poke fires with Sticks!?!?! Left to their own devices after dinner, we were all sitting around the fire, just "shooting the breeze", until it was time to call it bed time and the scouts duly went off to do teeth and climb into bed. Quiet time was called and there was not even a need for a second round to reinforce the message. Everyone was asleep.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning and we start they day with a good "Scout led, scout fed!" breakfast. Whatever was left in the chillibins was fair game for breakfast. The most extraordinary I found had to be "Sausage on toast, dusted with cinnamon and sugar (from the pancakes)".
This was followed by a little cleaning, tidying and packing and then "Raft races". Only these rafts you would never try to put a person on. They were made of bamboo and didn't exceed 20cm in length. Never-the-less, the rafts were made and then placed on the river and raced for all they were worth. Two rounds of racing happened, but I am sorry to say, that I did not record the results. There were however some VERY exceiting moments, especially at the little waterfall.
Hopefully by now everyone will have made it home safely and scouts will have shared their stories with all around them. It was a good camp. I am pleased I was a part of it.
Derrick
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