Posted by Admin | Posted in Camp 2015 | Posted on 06-07-2015
We’re now getting the chance to give you our first update from Castle Saunderson International Scout Centre
Introduction by Group Leader, Conor Crowley
Departing Cork on Saturday July 4th, shortly after 08:30 and after two scheduled stops en route, the bus pulled into Castle Saunderson around 3pm. First impressions are of a fantastic and modern campsite with plenty of room for hundreds more Scouts. Our site is perched in the top right hand corner of the camping field and suits our needs perfectly.
Tents for our youth members and leaders went up in record time and basic site work started to make our two week stay more comfortable. Some scout patrols built their tables and others their fires. Dinner on night one was centrally cooked by the leadership team. We met some of the onsite staff and were made feel very welcome. There are over 100 other Scouts onsite from, Dubin, Sligo and Beaver Scouts from Northern Ireland.
Our first night ended with a site campfire where we made ourselves known to the other groups onsite and got stuck in and also learned a few new songs from the other troops. Our beds were calling and after hot drinks for everyone a good nights sleep was needed after a long day.
Everyone is having an excellent time; now over to our scouts to explain the rest of camp in their own words.
Day one – written by 2nd Cork Scout, Eoin Comerford
When I first arrived at the church where the bus was parked I felt excited but at at the same time tremulous. The atmosphere around me was buzzing with eagernes to get to Cavan. I don’t remember the bus ride very well so I’ll skip to the arrival. When I first arrived we were so happy to get off the bus but what the scouts and I didn’t realise was tents. Tents. I found it funny that all the patrols except ours were building a normal table but we worked all day on building a complex table. The highlight of the day for me was when all of us started taking pallets so we destroyed a bug hotel that was made from them. Conor got absolutely killed for that although I’m not sure if that was on 2nd day or not. The bug hotel apparently took 6 months to make even though there was a forest next to it. We had spag bol for dinner which was delicious. The first day was tremengous so I see good things for the future of this camp.
Day two – written by 47th Cork Scout, Ciara Barrett
We destroyed a bug hotel and Conor was killed. We got up and had breakfast at 8:30. We were split into two teams at 11:00 a.m. One group did orienteering and the other did crate stacking. At around 12:30 we came back to the site and had lunch at 13:00. After lunch at around 14:00 we did activities and the two groups swapped. During the time we were doing orienteering there was a thunder storm and we had to stop because the Venture leader Michael got scared of the lightning. After we went out again our team won and we got a cd from the 2008 Jamboree and a ruler. Afterwards at 15:30 we started our fire, tidied our site and started our dinner. Saoirse was our cook and I was the assistant. We made sweet and sour chicken. After we ate it, me and Joyce did the washing up. It started raining so we went into the tent. When the rain stopped Mark, Shane, Brian and Michael did a rounders league. The Ventures beat the 2nd and we beat the 6th. Afterwards we came back to the site and talked for a while. We had hot chocolate and biscuits. We went to bed at 23:00
Next update in a few days...