April 14th to 15th
Our first camp of the year. A gentle overnight-sleep-in-a-tent to get our new Cubs into our way of camping. We have had a strange winter and spring, dry and then wet, windy and then calm-ish. The proceeding week had been mostly wet but with our sungod organising a camp Mrs Hathi put on a big wash confident that the murky start to the day would be followed by a glorious afternoon.
This is indeed what happened, the parents of the new Cubs made some comment about how lucky we were to have the nice weather, it was quickly pointed out where the blame/credit lay.
Three Leaders; Akela and Hathi were joined from Tuesday Cubs by Laura. She had a free night and wanted to see how we did our camps. The thirteen Cubs attending were; Zeze, dropped off half an hour early, picked up ten minutes later than anyone else, Jess, Megan 1, Megan 2, Shannon, Sophie, Joe, Matt, Daniel, Ryan, Harry, Alex and Oliver.
Akela and Hathi arrived at 14:00 and put up two tents with just the main guys fixed. They had just enough time to unload the craft-work stuff that was going to be used by the Cubs before the first Cubs arrived. Kit was neatly packed on and under chairs and the few camp rules were explained, mostly to do with tents. The Cubs worked well and soon had the tents up, the ground sheets in and their sleeping bags, roll mats etc put into their tents.
Once this was done the three bases were introduced to the Cubs; Egg-blowing and decorating, Pebble decorating and Easter card making. The Cubs were split into three groups and got started on the craftwork. We only had time to complete one base.
Hathi was sent out to the local chip shop for tea, while Akela cooked some fish fingers and spaghetti hoops and Laura looked after the Cubs. The portions must have got bigger as they were very filling and there was some wastage. Hathi and a couple of the Cubs washed up and dried the tea things before we went on our evening stroll.
at 18:00 we set out from the Scutt, past Horse World and into the countryside. The first few fields had large animals that were intimidating to some of the Cubs who had experienced nothing bigger than a dog and not in the least intimidating to those Cubs who 'drove' horses for pleasure.
Onward to Queen Charlton, still very pretty still without a pub, thank goodness! The most memorable part of this section was the laces on Jess's boots becoming entangled. This caused her to trip up and land in some stinging nettles. She had no idea how the laces had got tangled, nobody had touched them but they were tied in a tight knot.
As on recent walks we have missed out the long slog down to the bottom of Stockwood Vale and returned to the priest road and started our return leg. By now it had got quite gloomy as the sun had just set, the cloudless sky promised a cold night. Back past he horses, where Hathi had a fright as a large grey/white horse ghosted past him at a canter, just missing him.
The last quarter of a mile was dark enough for the Cubs to use the torches that they had carried so hopefully. We worried a group of teenagers as Akela and Hathi in their High-Vis jackets moved towards them but as soon as they realised that we were not going to arrest them for anything they became a lot happier and wished us a good night.
At the Scutt, Dawn and Angela had been busy and the Cubs were welcomed with a hot-dog or burger with hot chocolate to wash it down with. The Cubs voted for which DVD they would like to watch and naturally chose the longest.
Time passed. The film ended and the Cubs went out to their tents, ready to settle down and get to sleep quickly. Fat chance, it finally went quiet at about 01:30 and the Leaders fell into their sleeping bags.
The first visitors in the morning to come through the Scutt where the Leaders lay slumbering were three girls who needed the loo. When they asked Akela what the time was they were told a little white lie. It worked and the Leaders had an extra twenty minutes in bed. The Cubs were eventually told that Akela was awake and had started to cook breakfast. They got up, got changed and were ready for Laura to go round with some cereal for their first course of breakfast. Toast followed and then the cooked breakfast was brought in and doled out. Silence reigned - it must be hungry work sleeping outdoors.
There was a time for some housekeeping, the tents were emptied of the Cubs belongings their kit was tidied up, Laura had some help cleaning the dishes and Akela had some help getting the groundsheets out of the tents ready to dry.
When this had been completed the two bases not done the previous night were worked on, Hathi managed to break two eggs while trying to 'blow them' but there were some spares. The eggs were decorated and Easter Cards made. Easter word-search sheets, Hama beads, and the Live Wire sets were put out for the Cubs to while away a few minutes before the tents were dry enough to be taken down and put away.
The Cub's parents arrived, certificates and Easter eggs were handed out and farewells made to the Cubs. The Leaders retired to the Harvesters for a debrief.
Thanks are due to Akela for organising and running the camp (and the weather) to Laura for her time and enthusiasm. To Angela and Dawn for their cooking on Friday night and to the Cubs who were a joy to be with.