2020 Mid-Winter Camp

Chilled, not chilly!

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)

2020 Mid-Winter Camp

 

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.

Back from the eels it was time to make dinner. A new entry to the scout menu, and one that I suspect will make repeat calls, was Minestrone soup. Lots of chopping and slicing meant that dinner took a while to prepare, but it was worth it.

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 playground was left in place for the rest of the weekend and provided plenty of idle time activity, keeping the scouts focused on what they had created and also, keeping them maintaining the structures long enough and to suffficient level to be able to continue to use them.

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

Winter Camp 2019

Winter Camp and all that that implies was what was delivered last weekend when we went to Battle Hill. 13 scouts and 4 leaders took on the elements and came away satisfied that they had defied them all and had a fantastic camp. Effort and an ongoing smiling faces is what saw us through. From the first day when we set up our tents and kitchens, planned and cooked our first meals, we were all positive.

Left to Right: Zac, Matt, Daniel, Ohara, Emyr, Max, Derrick, Adam, Lauree, Kym (behind), Amelia, Rosie, Hamish, Ciara, Calvin, Vanessa & Robin

The meals were a highlight for some. The first day we cooked on gas for lunch and fire for dinner. The dinners were well prepared and set out according to the menu plan everyone had. Simple meals that tasted good.

Day 2

Day 2 was the big day, with the building and setting up of our first attempt at our Jamboree gateway. The plan went well and we even got the gateway standing upright for a while, although not unsupported. Team work played a large part with the work being divided up between the scouts and then coming together at the end. One comment I heard, which I have taken to heart, was "I think we need to practice this some more!"

The final gate - umm,,definitely some practice needed

Ohara showing off his square lashing ability

The afternoon saw the scouts all preparing for their tramp. The intro was a little more than just a briefing with some instruction on separation and exposure, and search and rescue. These being a key part of the plan to get these scouts their "Hiking Badges". Then came the tramp.

from Derrick: "My watch did really well with even the youngest scout, Calvin, showing great determination to reach the top. There were no complaints, no mumblings, nothing but the stoic continuation of the tramp (sometimes backwards on the really steep bits, because "its easier"). Hot soup just beyond the summit (out of the cold) and then came the downhill piece. Completed really quickly obviously and everyone was back in camp around sunset having started at approx. 1pm. A good 4.5 hours walk."

Derricks Watch - The Martians

Kyms Watch - The Heros

from Robin: "Wow, where to begin? Rain. I remember there being quite a bit of rain. A LOT of rain in fact! And mud. An awful lot of mud! I'm fairly convinced more mud was snuck in and added to our existing mud each night as we slept. Through it all though the scouts were amazing. Mucking in (quite literally) and just getting on with all their jobs and helping each other out/working together. Great to see in action. I really was very impressed.

Thankfully I think I got a cruisey watch for the tramp - the BOIZZZ! (Boyz: Adam and Ohara.) They really did make light work of the 4.5 hour tramp. With their constant chatter of lively conversation and easygoing teamwork they marched through all the checkpoints without complaint. Adam even took a spectacular panoramic shot from the summit, capturing the many hues of grey from the fog, mist, cloud and rain. I can almost feel the bracing wind just thinking back.

The hot soup was a welcome treat before heading back down that epic hill, again with a lively chatter of conversation and a couple of songs thrown in for good measure. Their upbeat attitude was fantastic.

Throughout the camp it was really great to see how well all the scouts worked together: building fires, mixing ingredients, prepping their meals, clearing their workstations/areas and washing up. Honestly there were so many bits and bobs they had to do and they just got stuck into everything.

The campfire singalongs were very entertaining but I can see it'll take a few more camps before I start knowing most of the words. (I'm a big fan of "The quatermaster's store", that was a new one for me.)

Overall I was super impressed by how upbeat everyone was despite the weather. It made me really proud to be a newly invested Scout Leader. I'm looking forward to the next camp!"

Robyns Watch - The Boizz

from Vanessa: "The watch I hiked with were not bothered by the weather and time passed quickly with good company and a wide range of conversation. We set a good pace and kept catching up to the watch in front of us. “Get a move on, Kym!” We made our targets in the time we calculated using the map - “oh, about half an hour, just a few more corners." It was awesome when the cloud lifted enough to see the farm below. The hot soup was wonderful, particularly out of a pot. The girls had dinner planned and jobs were sorted before we even hit the stream."

Vanessa Watch - The Goyrls

The Summit in cloud

Then on to dinner, again prepared on a fire. This time with a first attempt at "Pan Garlic Bread". This was 3 quarters successful with only one of the four watches burning their bread.

Calvin at their dinner table

Emyr and Zac frying breakfast bacon

Hamish and Max preparing to boil water for washing

The occasional drizzle we had had up to that point was starting to get serious and the camp fire was delayed, eventually happening at about 8:30 that night, even then we got rained on. It turned into a bit of an informal affair with everyone suggesting songs and even a few skits in a bit of a random manner. It was fun though.

All did not end well on this day for some scouts. A mess of food left outside their tent and unwashed dishes and work surfaces, meant that said scouts were roused from their beds and made to complete their kitchen clean up after everyone else had gone to bed. When they finished this at 11:10pm they were allowed to return to their sleeping bags.

Day 3

Sunday did start off promising with sun making a brief appearance and a beautiful rainbow.

Then came the rain! The outstanding memory of Sunday. And Mud! A call was made early to ask parents to come in and help pack up. The programme was abandoned (except for the "Scouts Own", which we did during a lull in the rainfall)

Scouts Own was done with a Kaupapa theme - the scouts doing karakia and waiata. Then came the highlights:
- Robin was invested as a Leader - congratulations Robin; and
- Vanessa was awarded her Medal of Merit - Well deserved.

Vanessa with her ever present smile

Kym on Parade

Then to packing up. Muddy tents, muddy gear and getting everything into packs and then into cars and trailers. A story of rain and wet and mud. Many thanks to the parents for responding to the the call for help and coming prepared to get wet and muddy to help us get everything packed away. It was so good, as leaders, to see the support that came out as soon as we asked for help.

All ended well, no injuries and plenty of good, lasting memories.