Douglas & St. FinBarresScout Group – 2nd 6th 47th 93rd Cork

Hi all,

Firstly – apologies, but we have next to no Internet connectivity here.

Everything else is great though! Just coming back now from a 2 day canoe trip. Camped out last night in a spectacular storm!! All well, all happy.

Time now for a quiet evening….

We’re here – safe & sound – thanks to two legendary drivers! Tommy & Michael, we salute ye for a very tough days driving, while the rest of us relaxed!!

The hostel is great & everyone’s being so so helpful.

The Scouts and Ventures went off mountain biking yesterday and really enjoyed it.

Earlier today they begun a 2 day activity with canoeing on a local river to their overnight camping spot.

Weather is beautiful and all still alive, so far so good!!

Bye for now.…

Another Country!! Just arrived in Germany – all going fine :-)

Weather great, traffic light. Enjoying a few DVD’s & relaxing on our journey!!

Hi All!

Beautiful morning, and we’re heading on the motorway out of Cherbourg.

Crossing was very calm & everyone is in good spirits!

Not sure how often we can post buy we’ll try…

All on the way to Prague

One week to go… Have you got what you need? Have you done what you need to do? Well have you? Here is one last reminder!

• Gear List – CLICK HERE
  
• Travel Arrangements – Full travel details click here
  Travel in brief…
  • Depart Saturday 3rd August at 12:00 noon.  (i.e. the middle of the day!)
  • Sail from Rosslare at 18:00 on that Saturday, arriving in Cherbourg at about 12:00 noon on Sunday.
  • Travel at our leisure on Sunday across France and Germany, arriving at our hostel in Karlštejn early Monday morning.
    Due to the confined access for the coach at the Scout Hall (and the parking for the many hundreds of cars that we’re expecting to be there to see us off ) we’ve decided to NOT depart from nor return to Douglas Scout Hall.  Instead our departure & return point will be the car park of the Church in Frankfield, Grange.
  • Depart Karlštejn on the night of Wednesday 14th August.
  • Stop over in a surprise European city!!
  • Depart for Cherbourg on Friday 16th August.
  • Depart Cherbourg at 22:00 on Friday 16th August
  • Arrive back in Cork at approximately 17:30 on Saturday 17th August.
• Passport & EHIC card.  If you have not already done so YOU MUST bring these to the last meeting on Wednesday July 31st.
• Foreign Exchange – order RIGHT NOW from your bank.
• We will also need a new consent form filled in & returned to us BEFORE departure i.e. not on the morning we leave.  We’ll have these available in the hall on Wednesday night to be signed by parents, but if you’d like to be ahead of the crowd, download it here Consent 2013 & print it yourself.  You can then bring it back filled in (BOTH SIDES PLEASE!) on Wednesday!

Hi All,

Hopefully at this stage you have ordered your foreign currency for camp!  Time is running out!

If you haven’t, you still have time to order it now.  If you don’t get it ordered in time, the nice people in Bank of Ireland, Douglas, have agreed to order in some “extra” Czech Koruna’s to have available.  These will be there next Wednesday afternoon.

There is NO GUARANTEE that they’ll have Korunas available for everyone so you should order – but hopefully if you’re caught out they might be able to help!

Our thanks go to them for their help in this regard!  It’s great to see great service from a local bank.

Enda.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting fairly conscious of all the things I’ve left to do at this stage!!

With 10 days to go until we leave for Karlstejn, we’re really on the home straights now.

At this stage, things to think about are:

• Gear List
• Travel Details
• Passport & EHIC card.  Bring these to the meeting on Wednesday night.
• Foreign Exchange – order NOW from your bank.

We will also need a new consent form filled in & returned to us before departure.  We’ll have these available in the hall on Wednesday night, but if you’d like to be ahead of the crowd, download it Consent 2013 & print it yourself.  You can then bring it back filled in (BOTH SIDES PLEASE!) and all on Wednesday!

That’s about it for now.  See you all Wednesday……

Travel Arrangements for Camp…

Coach that we hope to use for our summer camp to Prague!

As time is moving on, some people have been asking about the travel arrangements…  I’m sure everyone is interested!!

The details are:

• Depart Saturday 3rd August at 12:00 noon.  (i.e. the middle of the day!)
• Sail from Rosslare at 18:00 on that Saturday, arriving in Cherbourg at about 12:00 noon on Sunday.
• Travel at our leisure on Sunday accross France and Germany, arriving at our hostel in Karlstejn early Monday morning.

On the return trip:

• Depart Karlstejn on the night of Wednesday 14th August.
• Stop over in a surprise European city!!
• Depart for Cherbourg on Friday 16th August.
• Depart Cherbourg at 22:00 on Friday 16th August
• Arrive back in Cork at approximately 17:30 on Saturday 17th August.

Because of the type of journeys we’re undertaking, was have to suggest in advance that timings are liable to change.  We will endeavour to keep you informed of the current situation here on the webite.

Due to the confined access for the coach at the Scout Hall (and the parking for the many hundreds of cars that we’re expecting to be there to see us off :-) – we’ve decided to NOT depart from nor return to Douglas Scout Hall.  Instead our departure & return point will be the car park of the Church in Frankfield.

If you have any issues with where it is, just ask any of us & we’ll put you right.

That’s about it for now – as ever, keep checking the website for more info!

Enda.

Well, it’s now only 20 days ’til we leave for camp!!!

WOW!!!

The preparations are well under way at this stage.  Right now would be a good time for you to get together any gear that you might need for the trip.

Things you will need are:

• FULL UNIFORM.  We will depart in full Uniform.  No Exceptions!  Now is a great time to check you have all parts of your uniform.
• Spare neckerchief.  While not essential, would be useful as a spare, or if you wanted to swap yours etc.  (You must always have a Douglas neckerchief, so if you’ve only one with you, then you can’t swap it if the opportunity should arise).

• Hiking boots (if you have them).
• Water bottle – At least 1 litre – Can use Coke Bottles
• Sleeping Bag
• Pillow (if you like.  Inflatable maybe?)
• Ground Mat (Advisable.  Will be needed for the overnight canoe trip).
• Track-ends/Leggings
• Warm Sweater
• T-Shirts
• Changes of Underwear
• Plenty of Socks
• Warm Nightwear
• Change of Shoes or Runners
• Shorts & Trousers
• Raingear – Waterproof Jacket & Trousers
• Warm Hat & Gloves
• Wash Gear – Toothbrush & paste, Shower Gel, Shampoo, Comb
• Towel
• Swimming costume & hat
• Tea-Towel & Dish Cloth
• Sun hat
• Sun cream & Lip save
• Torch & Spare Batteries
• Rucksack or similar type hold all
• Day trip bag

The two types of bag are important and worth considering.  The main rucksacks will be going onto the coach before we leave Cork, and will not be available again until we get to Prague.  So everything needed for the journey will have to be packed in the day bag.  We would recommend that this would at least contain:

• Change of clothes
• Washgear & towel
• Water Bottle

If it’s small enough, it might be nice to have the sleeping bag in the day bag?  While not essential, it would add to the comfort on the journey, both on the coach, and in the Pullman seats that we’ve reserved for the ferry journey.

That’s about it for now.

PLEASE keep checking this website.  All new information will go up here.  Travel information will go up here.  Also, we would anticipate that the “gear list” above will be changed / added to.  If that happens, you’ll read about it here!

Contact any of us with any queries,

Yours in Scouting,

Enda.