Last weekend 25 Cub Scouts from Douglas Scouts headed off to Larch Hill in Dublin for Mad Hatters on the Hill! This was to be a fun-filled Alice in Wonderland themed adventure!
Friday
On Friday afternoon the scouts set off by bus to make the journey to Larch Hill. We arrived up at the campsite about 9pm after taking a break at halfway up to eat our packed lunches and to use the bathroom. Everyone headed up to our site in the Dormouse Warriors subcamp! All the Cub Scouts got settled in their tents before getting into costume for the opening ceremony. When everyone was ready each subcamp headed down to the tea party to meet the Camp Chief Orla and her assistant Grainne.
At the ceremony each of us had to eat a small sweet to shrink us down so we could fit down the rabbit hole. Once we were all the right size we walked to the Upper Dolmen field for fireworks! The fireworks were amazing and everyone really enjoyed them! Once the fireworks were over we all headed back to our sites to settle down for the night.
Saturday
Saturday morning dawned to the sound of lively excited Cub Scouts looking forward to what the day held!
Everyone had breakfast and then got set to head off to our mornings bases in the Queens Croquet Ground! The first base we did was Batty Backwoods where we made bread twists on sticks.
Then we all headed to Bizarre Branding where each scout got to brand a leather woggle with whatever symbol they wanted and their initials!
After this we headed over to Slay the Jabberwalky which included trying out part of the obstacle course.
Once we had slayed the Jabberwalky we headed to the You Wouldn’t Believe First Aid base. This was followed by the Turbo Tie Dying base where each scout got to tie dye the white tshirt they brought with them!
While the tshirts dried we went onto the next base which was Rooting for Loot where the scouts panned for gold which they could use to buy goods at the trading fair later on in the day! The final base we went to was Foolish Fire by Flint where the scouts were thought how to use a flint and steel to light a fire! After this we all headed to back to the subcamp for lunch and free time.
After lunch we found out we were heading to the Pool of Tears (water activities!) for the afternoon bases so we all got into our old gear (including some of the leaders!) and headed off with our subcamp chief Ros. The first base we went to was Down the Rabbit Hole where we all got a go on the slippery slope! Following on from this we headed to Caterpillars Catipults! Here everyone got a go at trying out the catapult where they fired wet sponges and catching wet sponges in a bowl on their head! Once we were finished at this base we went on to the Bungee run base. Here two scouts were attached to bungee ropes and had to try get to the end of a slippery slope while some of the other scouts threw wet sponges at them! Then the scouts got to have revenge on Diana, the Friday Cub Scouts Venture Scout helper and myself by getting to throw sponges and buckets of water at us as we tried to run the Bungee Run. After all this fun we walked to next base which was Catch the Queen’s Gold where the scouts had to work as a team to use water to raise the Queens gold which was stuck in a pipe full of small holes. This base was followed by Splatoon where everyone got a water gun and got to shoot each other. This base was followed by the Tweedledee Race where they did 3 legged races and wheelbarrow races. Then we all headed to the final base, Lickety Split where the scouts had to get into water and collect rubber ducks with the right numbers on them and be first to collect all their ducks! Once this base was finished we all headed back to site for showers and a set of dry clothes before having a lovely dinner of chicken curry! The scouts then got a bit of free time to explore.
After dinner we all headed to the Wonderland Market where each scout got to spend some of the gold they had panned for. There was lots of cool stuff to buy from cupcakes, to marshmallows dipped in chocolate, to clay cupcakes and other Wonderland themed items! After the market the scouts had free time and time to get into costume for the White Queens Ball (Disco)!
The evening was spent dancing the night away at the Ball and once this was over everyone headed to bed for a well needed sleep!
Sunday
Everyone woke to a much quieter site on Sunday morning. The scouts got up and had breakfast and then we got ready for another busy morning of fun bases! We headed to the Garden Grove for the morning! The first base was learning about recycling from Oscar the Grouch.
After this we headed to the Wooden Gate field for the Collywobbles base which turned out to be grass sledding! This was fantastic fun as none of us had ever done this not even the leaders!
Once we had finished at the Collywobbles base we headed over to the Training field for the Battle of the Suits. Here the scouts got to have a go at gladiator fighting against each other!
The next base was Jumpy Houses where all the scouts got to go on bouncy castles, a bouncy obstacle course and a bouncy slide!
The fifth base was balloon modelling where the scouts were taught how to make balloon animals, balloon swords, etc. After this we all headed up to the nature base where the scouts learnt about nature and built a house suitable for a mouse.
The last morning base we went to was the Arts and Crafts base where everyone got to make wristbands, headbands and a Mad Hatter poster for the troop! Then everyone headed for lunch which was sausages in buns! Then the scouts got some free time to chill out and relax.
The Afternoons activities were held in Tuigey Wood. The first base of the afternoon was Ponkers pioneering which was pioneering using elastic bands and bamboo sticks. From there we headed to Alice’s Escape which was the zipline! This was definitely one of the more popular activities on the weekend!
Once we were finished escaping we headed to Kooky Kitemaking where the scouts were thought how to make a kite with cloth and bamboo sticks and then try to fly them. We had one successful flight but it was still a fun activity! After we tried to fly our kites we headed to the Blindmouse Trail where the Cub Scouts did a blindfolded sisal trail while being guided by another Cub Scout.
After the Blindmouse Trail we all went and made Grass Heads. For those that don’t know these are the little balls of earth in a piece of tights that your scout may have brought home. If they keep watering it regularily it will start to grow grass hair! Once we had all made our Grass Heads we headed over to Flutterwacken where they learnt about drumming and drums as well as rhythm. Our final base for the afternoon was the Winter Olympics where the scouts tried to use grass skies, hoopla and tried welly tossing!
After all this we headed back to the site where the scouts had some free time before dinner of Spaghetti Bologonese!
After dinner it was time for the second Wonderland Market! This time it was our troops turn to sell the wonderful crafts we made a few weeks ago and we sold out in no time and made a pile of gold! Once everyone had spent all their gold we all got ready and headed to the tea party with our subcamp chiefs. Once everyone was gathered we headed to the Campfire. This was one of the biggest campfires that Douglas Cub Scouts has ever been too with over 800 in attendance! We all had great fun learning some new songs and after it ended we all headed to bed because we were all wrecked!
Monday
We all got up nice and early and had breakfast. After breakfast everyone packed their gear up and we started to take down the site. All the Cub Scouts got involved and were great help in taking the tents down. At about 10.30am everyone got into their team costumes and headed to the tea party once again where our costumes were judged. We got great compliments on our fantastic, huge caterpillar! We had the biggest costume with 28 people underneath!
This was followed by the closing ceremony. Once this was over we headed back to site to do a sweep and make sure we left it the way it had been when we arrived and then we headed to the bus. We shared the bus back with Passage West Cub Scouts and stopped halfway down for a quick packed lunch and toilet break! After this we all got back on the bus and arrived back on time to the scout hall. As they all got off the bus we gave them a bottle of magic potion to make them grow back to normal height in time to go home with their parents!
All in all a great weekend was had by everyone!
I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved:
To the parents who helped us out in any way they could in the preparations leading up to it.
To Ros, Claire and the staff of Mad Hatters on the Hill for everything they did, for making sure we were always happy and giving the Cub Scouts a fantastic time.
To Wendy, Nick, Cian, Siobhan, Michelle, Gearoid, Shane and Diana for your hard work at the weekend. Nothing would have been possible without any of your help.
Huge thanks as well to Cian and Nick who travelled up the day before and pitched all the tents and set up the site for us!
YiS,
Vickie
