As most of the Cubs that survived or rather enjoyed the last "Eggton Factor" Camp have moved on to other things, the Leaders thought it time to bring out the tried and tested "Krypton Factor" rip off, sorry homage.
There was a fairly good take up of the places available, it was to be expected that, as it was Easter, some of the Cubs would be unable to cancel their parents plans and be forced to go on holiday with them.
Good-Friday night was spent getting tents out ( Two large patrol tents for the boys and a small tent for the single female Cub that turned up) and sorting out the million and one things that need to be done before a camp can run. We weren't going far for this Night Away, the Cubs were to sleep in their tents outside the Scutt while the Leaders slummed it indoors. (next to a radiator on their camp beds)
Saturday
The morning was spent doing "trolley-rage" in the local Tesco by Akela while Hathi sorted out the stuff he had picked up previously at the Bristol Scrap Store for one of the bases. The Leaders turned up at the Scutt at 14:00 and put up the two tents. Well the uprights and main guys were put up, the Cubs would be actually putting the tents up fully, an incentive to do it right as they were the ones to be sleeping in them.
We had been promised a nice warm weekend and it was nice of the Met Office to confirm that Akela was on form again.
The two grizzled old Leaders were joined for this camp by Hannah and Jayne, who amazingly, despite being on camp with us before, were keen to help. They were joined by Sandra, a mum who hadn't been on camp with us before. The Cubs were; Alex, Megan, Joe, Euan, James, Oliver, Dan, Josh, Jack, Tom, Ryan and Matthew plus a brother of Dan's who came for the evenings activities.
The Cubs arrived at 16:00 and got their kit sorted, then to the Leaders amusement and consternation they attempted to put the tents up. Why do Cubs enjoy carrying a mallet around with them but have no idea how to put pegs in? Most of them had put a tent up before but they all needed reminding. Brailing pegs are the little ones, the really big ones were for the main guys and were to be left alone.
Eventually the tents were up and the ground sheets were put into the tents. The Cubs then put their night things into the tents and prepared for tea. A nice take out from the local chippy, saved a lot on preparation and cleaning up! Akela was a bit miffed as the Chip shop refused to give him a discount so we will probably not be using them next time.
Then onto the fun part the bases:
Easter Biscuits; Candle cooking, Easter egg nests.
This was looked after by Jayne and Sandra, two lovely ladies that gave up their evening/weekend so that we could do the camp. The candle cooking was done on an overturned can, with sufficient holes poked around the rim to enable an air flow to keep the night-light, inside the can, lit. small pieces of bacon and sausage were put into a small pool of oil which sizzled away quite nicely and turned the meat to a lovely cooked colour.
The Easter biscuits were nothing more than a rich tea hiding under a layer of icing sugar with sprinkles on it.
Photo by Akela
The Easter nests were a bit more involved, some chocolate was melted in a bowl over some hot water into this was deposited some crunched up Shredded Wheat, this was stirred and then a small amount was put into a paper cake dish, a couple of tiny Chocolate eggs were placed in the nest and the whole thing left to cool down.
Self portrait on hard boiled eggs, Kim's Game, Word search
The Self-portraits had to done well as the Leaders were going to be trying to put a name to each egg and pick the one that seemed to most accurately reflect the Cubs personality. Naturally obvious features like glasses and moustaches would be an instant give away and as Megan was the only girl her egg was not expected to be difficult to pick out. The eggs were drawn on by felt tip pens and crayons.
Nearly all the faces had big grins on them which re-assured the Leaders that the Cubs were enjoying themselves.
Kim's game had a sting, the instructions were to memorise all the objects under the towel once it had been removed. Only one team saw this and put down the crate that the objects were placed on.
Photo by Akela
Easter Cards using a graphics programme on a computer, also using crepe paper and colouring pens, this was the base that took the most time as there was only one computer and printer and the Cubs were doing the card for their parents or grandparents so the standard of presentation was mainly of a very high standard.
To wind them down we showed a film, it almost worked, the Cubs got restless, "We want to go to bed." they said, "We're tired" they said, so off to bed they went, where they settled down and went to sleep quickly and quietly - almost. They were Rocking and Rolling into the early hours (01:45) of the morning, the little darlings. The Leaders were in the Scutt talking and enjoying some cheese and crackers and generally putting the world to rights, except for Jayne who went home which was a really sensible thing to do.
Sunday
Up in the morning, what happened to the plan for them to sleep to a reasonable time? It was 06:30 and Akela had been up twice in the night to escort Cubs back to their tents after they had 'watered the horses'. Hathi woke to see a smiling face - behind a cup of tea. Simply saying thanks seem so inadequate at times like that. The Cubs were told that they would be able to get up shortly and so it was. They were soon up, dressed and washed. Akela had some quality time on his own in the kitchen doing the cooking. Jayne was invited back for breakfast, as she had asked the previous evening and was soon in the swing of things.
Eggstranauts:
The Cubs were given a fresh, un-boiled, raw egg ('The Eggstranauts") that they were given the task of providing a capsule for 'his' or 'her' safe return to earth after an extended flight of as far as the Cubs could fling it. Points would be given for height, duration and survivability of the flight and landing. As the landing zone was to be the Scutt car park, a vast expanse of tarmac the landing would be hard.
We had done a risk assessment and it was decided that a 'Range Officer' would
be needed to make sure that all was safe. Hathi was voted into this position as
he has a hard hat, which matches his head and a hi-vis jacket to give the Cubs a
target to aim for.
The Cubs started to pick parts from the pile of scrap material to build their capsules. The three flocks (groups) had there own ideas about eggstranaut survivability. The Hens went for a Beagle 2 design where the capsule was surrounded by balloons, but as time ran short, it ended up with one balloon. The ducks built a big capsule which was designed to dissipate the violence of the landing by breaking up. The Geese had a disaster where their eggstranaut managed to have his environment suit destroyed, (the egg broke) three Eggstranauts paid the ultimate sacrifice before they managed to push the fourth victim into their capsule. Hathi put a simple foam capsule together to enter the spirit of the thing.
The Cubs asked if the Leaders could launch their capsules and this was agreed. Jayne picked the heavy capsule and threw it mightily. Sandra threw the 'Beagle' eggstranaut and Hathi tried to throw the doomed Geese eggstranaut out of the car-park. Then Hathi threw his own entry which, frankly, was disappointing. When checked all the eggstranauts had failed to survive the impact, except for Hathi's which was in perfect condition, sadly it was bumped from his hand and as it bounced across the car-park the Cubs realised that he had cheated by using a rubber egg!
A new game was organised, eggs-away. It was a bit like the dam-busters except that the cubs had to hold a small plastic egg between their legs, move up the course and drop the egg into a tray. This resulted in gales of laughter as the Cubs tried not to look too silly as they waddled along the course.
The tents were taken down and put away, the kit was packed away, then certificates and Easter Eggs were handed out. As is our custom, Sandra was awarded a commemorative inscribed tent peg to celebrate her first night away with us. The Cubs went home and the Leaders had a welcome tinny before going home to catch up on some sleep.
Thanks to the Ladies, Sandra and Jayne for being so helpful. The weather was brilliant as expected, thanks Akela.