Hi All,

We’ve a few things to post here. Yes, it’s very early, but hopefully it’ll help you to be well planned!

Gear List. It WILL change so please keep an eye on the website!

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 / St. FinBarres neckerchief, so if you’ve only one with you, then you can’t swap it if the opportunity should arise).

• Hiking boots will be necessary.  Remember too that it’s VITAL to “wear in” hiking boots.  If you need to or choose to buy new boots, you MUST have them “worn in” before camp or you’ll be VERY uncomfortable in them!
• Water bottle – At least 1 litre – possible 2 x 500ml’s would be a good idea.
• Sleeping Bag  – THE SLEEPING BAG IS A MUST!  YOU WILL NEED IT!!
• Pillow (if you like.  Inflatable maybe?)
• Pillow Case.  (We think there may be pillows in the chalet but you will NOT be able to use them without a pillow case that you bring yourself.
• 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 salve
• Torch & Spare Batteries
• Rucksack or similar type hold all
• Day trip bag
• Sunglasses  (Nothing expensive please!)
• Walking Socks
• House shoes – the hostel are quite strict about no “outdoor footwear” to be worn inside. So something suitable. Slippers, flip flops, whatever would be comfortable.

Just for information, there are NO clothes washing facilities in the chalet.  As far as we know there are no launderette facilities anywhere in the vicinity – so either have enough of clothes for the duration or be prepared to do a hand wash yourself!

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 Switzerland.  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  SUPER IMPORTANT
• Swimwear

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 possibly on the ships.

Money

Totally get that a lot of people nowadays live in an electronic world – and use Revolut or similar for nearly all their spending. BUT…

Where we are in Switzerland is very rural. There are zero guarantees that all cards will necessarily work. Were that to happen, we wouldn’t be in a position to give you money to carry you over.

So…

We would strongly suggest that spending money is brought in Swiss francs – at least some of it. (i.e. not relying on your card for everything.) We will be, as usual, offering a camp bank system whereby we can take care of any cash for you until it’s needed.

Obtaining Swiss Francs:

It’s come to our attention that not all of the Irish banks will supply foreign currency at this stage- even on order. So this is also something that needs to be looked into in advance. We BELIEVE that Bank of Ireland and AIB do allow you to order foreign currency. Please check it out with your bank!

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 – camp24@douglasscouts.ie

Yours in Scouting,

Adelboden 2024 Team!.

Booking’s for Camp24 are now closed.

We thought it would fill quickly, but didn’t think it would be this fast!

To eeveryone who has secured their place, Congratulations! It will hopefully prove to be an experience of a lifetime!

Hi all,

Hope you all survived the ridiculous weather last night without too much disruption!

As has been sent out by various channels, the camp announcement will now happen tomorrow, Friday night, at 8pm in the Scout Hall.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

On Thursday 29th the bus departed at 3.00m in the morning and Summer Camp 2023 officially commenced.

Bus to Ferry to trains followed by lunch and another bus and then we were at Silver Cross

We got started straight away setting up tents and camp. The sun acted as both a positive and a negative in that the weather was wonderful but tiring especially after the journey.

After camp was set up there was some free time before we had dinner.

Friday 30th

After the traveling yesterday it was not much of a surprise that we had a late start today

We started off Camp with a light day onsite.

This consisted of a shelter making demonstration for bivvying and then practice. Following that, the scouts and ventures split into 6 patrols and then partook in some team bonding activities. This included Flag designing and making, coming up with Patrol names, assigning roles; Patrol Leader, Quartermaster, Scribe etc. Claiming Huts and Fires. At the end of the day we all got a lovely surprise trip to Costa Coffee.

Saturday 1st

Today was spent mostly out in Swansea.  We went to the Leisure Centre: Which was a very cool swimming pool with multiple slides. After the LC we got to spend time on the promenade where we witnessed some of an awesome airshow and then wandered into a fair with many different stands for example a Lego minifigure stand, and Ferrets. We also had a brilliant encounter with both Batman and Spiderman.

The day came to a close with some card games and Tarot reading.

Sunday 2nd

Today’s primary activity was an Inter-Patrol Cooking competition. This was won by a 6th scout patrol group who made Burgers.

Other activities included; Putting up tents without sight and/or hands.

Traversing a minefield with a ‘Scout’ (Ha)

Blind Obstacle course & Cup of Water

Disabling bombs and rescuing civilians from between burning buildings.

Cooking breadsticks

Camouflage hide and seek in the woods.

Another Late night ended the week with exciting discussions regarding Aliens and Life on other planets.

Monday 3rd

Today started at 10.00am with a Hike into Morriston which lasted about an hour and a half. We then continued on for a further half hour to Swansea AFC Stadium where we stayed for 2 hours. We decided to return via a more direct route back to camp from the Stadium. Highlighted conversation on the journey back was about James Gunn and Mark Reeves’ DC movie adaptations.

Finally Monday came to a close with a coloured themed Inter-Patrol eating challenge

Beige – Whistling Crackers   Blue – Cheese   Red & White – Uncooked Pasta and Jam   Red – Chili Pepper   White – Cake   Yellow – Lemon   Green – Olive

Tuesday 4th

Today was spent in Oakwood Theme Park. The most enjoyed ride was probably Speed -A rollercoaster with a near vertical drop, loop-the-loop, and corkscrew- or Vertigo -A slingshot-like-ride where up to three people were drawn up to what must have been at least the height of a seven story building and then let swing down.

While at the Theme park the Ventures engaged in some delightful Plotting.

Once back at camp everyone partook in some Jovial Birthday Celebrations which ended with a Woodland Disco. Highlighted Songs include; Ra Ra Rasputin, Mr Brightside, California Girls, and Footloose.

Wednesday 5th

The day was spent onsite and started out with avoiding ‘spiderwebs’ in the forest by climbing or crawling. Following that we delighted in trialing the much talked about  Spiderland. One person went through a total of 13 times.

After cleaning up from Spiderland we all were challenged by a Quiz about our Patrol Leaders. We know them so well. After that we got to trial laser tag in the woods we then got to partake in crate stacking and the aforementioned plotting was executed.

Thursday 6th

We had a dark and early start today at 03.30am and traveled to Rhosilli where we went Coasteering; Coasteering involved swimming along the coastline, climbing and then jumping off Cliffs and it was outstanding and an incredible experience.

When we returned to camp we took down shelters and repacked patrol boxes and some other site items to lessen the workload for later. Then we had a number of hours of free time where we laid back; read together, played games and, notably, built a wonderful bandstand with a porch, roof, decorative leaves and flowers and carved wooden rings.

In the evening we got to meet Explorers from the area and enjoyed an excellent Barbeque with them. The night was spent socialising and playing Uno.

Friday 7th

The second last day of Summer Camp was spent taking down camp, packing bags and generally preparing for the journey back to Cork. After finishing packing early. We got to spend 1.6 hours in Swansea and then a further hour and a half at the LC. The markets in Swansea were the highlight of the time there. Upon returning to camp we prepared for the last campfire which included collecting firewood and getting songs prepared. We found Frogs which definitely would make a list of the best things to happen on camp. At the campfire we got the results of the Interpatrol competitions the overall winners being A Ventures patrol called Baskets

The final competition was a pronunciation competition of the longest place name in Welsh; llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

The last night was a late night with some goodbyes.

Saturday 8th

The travel back was bittersweet considering people were happy to be home but no doubt sad camp was over.

Nevertheless many wonderful memories were made and experiences had.

We are very grateful to all the leaders and everyone who was involved in making Camp happen and running it.

Thank you all very much, Míle Buíochas, Diolch.

Katie Byrne.

This blog is brought to you by two of our Venture Scouts Alex and Brian and recorded in the form of a ships log.

9:30am Left campsite with 9 Scouts and 7 leaders. Tunes on the bus…

10:50am Arrived at Enniscrone at 7th Wave Surf School. Everyone arrived in one piece.

1:00pm Finished surf school. Headed to Sligo Town

2:32pm Arrived at Sligo Town. Went shopping.

4:05pm Left Sligo Town

5:23pm Arrived back onsite with all Scouts and leaders.

6:00pm Finished a game of UNO. One scout left to go home as she is going on holiday.

7:04pm Ate cheese pizza and chips for dinner. Held a meeting about what could be improved at our next camp.

8:20pm Explored ruins near the camp and took an alternate path to visit the lake near our camp.

9:27pm Started log

10:30pm Finished log

– Alex & Brian (times are approximate)

This blog is brought to you by two of our Scouts Tomás and Darragh

Our day started on Orchard Island to the sound of a (Tomás) phone alarm. Some people woke on the island as other people were only going to bed.

Gavin was missing his coffee and shouted at us to get up, again. We had cereal bars for our breakfast on the island and then took down our shelters so we would leave no trace. We waited for the boats to come and collect us and while we waited one slacker was still asleep. His name was Ronan.

We packed everything onto the boats, the scouts went first so we were first back to the site. When we docked the boats Gavin ran to get his precious coffee.

When we were back onsite the leaders had cooked us sausages and rashers which were really nice so this was our lunch. We then played our last game of UNO with Emer before she went home and goes on her holiday to Spain and her mum had chats with the leaders.

Then in the afternoon we went on our patrol hike to Boyle Town. In Boyle we discovered Supervalu and went to a park and sat and talked about camp. We also bought a new board game called pub quiz and said that this would be for everyone in the group to play with.

When we came back to site we were told to start getting ready for dinner so we put the fires on and started to boil the water for the pasta but we soon figured out it was chicken burgers and waffles and there was no pasta. We’re not sure who told us it was pasta for dinner though.

After dinner a few of us went on an adventure to the bottom of the site to the big green building to find a fridge and some couches. We played soccer for ages and when we came back we found ourselves signed up to the pub quiz game that we bought earlier. Our team won!

We’re going to bed early tonight as everyone is really tired and we’ve been told we’re getting up early tomorrow to go surfing.

– Tomás and Darragh with help from Slaney

This blog is brought to you by two of our Venture Scouts Katie and David.

After a late night of escapades certain scouts went to bed quite early.

From 9am most campers were awake, aware and eating a nutritious breakfast of cereal, juice, hot chocolate or tea.

The first enjoyable activity to partake in was Zip-it where one camper completed the hardest circuit. After pushing our limits in regards to patience and bravery we began heading back to our site.

After a well deserved ten minute break we enjoyed a lovely lunch of salad and hotdogs.

A list was compiled and eager and wary campers packed bags for an overnight stay on Orchard Island.

Rowing across the scouts enjoyed listening to aesthetic and high energy music such as Queen and ABBA. After arriving and unpacking we prepared shelters we hope not to need.

We discussed the likeness of our campsite in the forest and certain books and novels as well as comparing interesting phrases for example a miasma of discombobulation and the vibrant fire juxtaposed to the midnight sky.

We made wrap-pizzas with some campers running out of cheese and our leaders coming to the unfortunate realisation of a lack of easily accessible caffeine in the near future. Our sympathies were with them.

Our older campers managed to nab the last tarp for their shelter and after watching the enchanting sunset they helped the younger campers gather fern for their shelter.

The day came to an end and the night began with high spirits all around. The darkness creaped in quickly and the forest was submerged in a fiction-worthy night.

Smores and other chocolatey treats were enjoyed and we began one of our more risky ventures when we decided to forgo sleep in favour of a night of messing and procrastination.

Sadly (or sensibly) some campers retired to the previously prepared shelters from early in the morning.

Games, fun, music and gossip were exchanged around the campfire leading to a memorable trip and might be recalled for years to come.

– Katie & David

Post script: younger scouts accompanied by a leader were attacked/interacted with some local and friendly bats as well as one memorable moment were one camper had an unsettling encounter with a mouse.

This blog is brought to you by two of our Scouts Slaney and Emer.

After an eventful Sunday us tired campers had a late start to breakfast at 10 past 9.

Eager campers prepared their bags and waited to be told what activities lay ahead for the day. At 10:30 we set off to the lake on foot. We arrived shortly after and split into three groups before heading in rowing boats to Trinity Island.

The island proved tricky to find with one boat up on the rocks unable to move, some steering in the wrong direction and one boat never arriving.

Once we reached the island we explored the historical remains and discovered some locals on and around the island such as caterpillars, spiders, a dead fish and swans.

On leaving the island a boat was scratched and damaged but it didn’t stop an exhilarating race back, which resulted in many blistered hands.

After a fun experience out on the water we journeyed back to camp for lunch. After over two hours of rest we ventured back to the lake for an educational boat tour around the islands. We learned many facts such as a house with 365 windows for a different view each day of the year and were intrigued by a 6 foot long pike fish with 700 teeth caught by a local fisherman.

We arrived back to the shore safe and sound. We headed back to camp but some peckish ventures stayed behind at a nearby cafe.

The remaining campers continued their voyage back and started to prepare for dinner. The next few hours consisted of hard working labour as we built tripods, gathered firewood, prepared the pots and began cooking. A few slackers arrived back to camp to unfortunately discover half the work was completed.

After eating a hard earned meal of spaghetti bolognese and some scrumptious cheesecake. Later in the evening we enjoyed some smores while we reflected on yet another eventful day.

– Slaney & Emer with credit to Katie, Tomás and Darragh.

Our first and last Sunday on Camp 2022 officially started around 8:30am however some Venture Scouts and a Scouter were up much earlier as they couldn’t sleep and may have woken a few others!!

Once breakfast was done and wash up was completed we piled onto the bus and headed to Lough Gara Stables & Country Pursuits which was about a 30mins drive from our site. When we arrived we met Adrien, Jimmy and their team.

We split up into two groups, one group headed off and got set up to get on horses while the other group went off for some airsoft shooting. Both so different but equally as fun. When the sessions ended the two groups swapped around so everyone got to take part.

After our packed lunch the next set of activities started, group 1 headed off to do some Archery while group 2 were shown around the rest of the centre, got to interact with the goats, the pony’s, the donkeys, the rabbits and everyones favourite Percy the pig. The group also got to learn about caring for and how to groom the ponies. Again, the two groups then swapped around.

The final activity was an assault course which was really good, some people did it more than once and even some of the Scouters took part!

Sadly the day had to end but it was a brilliant way to spend it and we headed back to site. The weather today was really sunny and very warm so after some time to make sure we had enough water and sunblock we started on dinner. Pocket pizzas, a camp favourite, especially over the open fire. A game of soccer followed then by a surprise visit by the ice cream van so what a treat that was!

When the ice cream was done various games of Uno were underway however we ended up combining 3 decks and played one huge game that ended at 11:15pm when it was time to call it a night.

All tucked up in our tents now and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Well can you believe it, Camp 2022 is finally up and running? As we settle into our tents tonight it feels so good, for some us it’s been a few years doing this and for others it’s a first time experience.

Setting off from the Scout Hall this morning shortly before 10:30am by bus and by car there was a level of excitement and nerves but once the journey got underway everyone settled down and began to enjoy the experience, the banter with your fellow Scouts and making a few new friends.

After almost 2hrs we stopped off at the Midway Services (Junction 17) for lunch and a chance to stretch the legs. We jumped back on the bus about 45mins and across the country we went, nearly 3hrs later we arrived onsite to Lough Keel Scout Campsite in Boyle Co. Roscommon.

First things first was to shake off the travel tiredness and shortly after the bus arrived Ronan pulled in with a trailer full of gear in tow! Time to unload the trailer and start setting up the site. The Scouts and Venture Scouts have a selection of tents and everyone has space to be comfortable. The Scouters have a number of tents too and we’ve a central tent, known as ‘the grubber’ where a lot of our spare gear, equipment, cooking equipment and food is stored. The site has communal fridges that we share with the other groups onsite.

Once our tents were up we had a chance to sort our our personal gear while the Scouters and two volunteers got to making dinner of burgers and beans in the grubber. Yum!!!

When dinner was over and everything washed away we headed over to Lough Key forest Park to check out the lough itself and get our barings around the site.

Tonight was very relaxed, card games and chat with hot chocolate and donuts for supper. Bedtime was around 11pm and we can’t wait for tomorrow already!