After a hectic week getting all the preparation done for the camp, the great day arrived. We were due to meet at 18:00 to start the journey to Woodhouse. Tuesday Cubs had the same idea, only they were going to Glenny Woods. Akela and Hathi had met up at 17:00 and loaded their cars with as much stuff out of our cupboard as we might conceivably need, and a lot more - just in case.
Thankfully we managed to keep Tuesday and Friday Cubs apart and we didn't have any strange faces with our group. For the first time that I can remember we had not a single female going on camp. Those Cubs that did come were: Harry, Oliver, Sam, James K, James B, Euan, Jamie, Alex, Thomas, Callum, Josh F, Josh D and Jack. The Cooks Team were Carol, Vicki and Ian, with their young proto-Cubs Emily and Gemma, The Leaders Team of Hathi and Akela were joined by Sandra.
The trip out was uneventful, most of Bristol had, it seemed, gone to Ashton Park to see the Balloon Fiesta. On arrival the Cubs helped unpack The Leaders cars and were allocated bunk rooms. As Tuesday Cubs had booked the tents we were forced to use the Lovell Centre rather than sleeping under canvas. The Cubs got their sleeping bags out and when everybody was settled the Camp Rules were set out, we then went for a little wander around the campsite. It's huge and took a while to walk around. Various areas were pointed out, the abseil tower, the assault course and the many toilet blocks around the site.
There then was a game of 'hide and seek'; the Leaders went off and hid, the Cubs were told that if they went and hid the Leaders wouldn't bother looking for them and that they could sleep outside, so the Leaders went out into the dark. They all had a noise making instrument. After a suitable time the Cubs were released into the search area. It took rather longer than expected to find the Leaders as they had hidden rather well - Hathi had crawled under some fences and was so comfortable he nearly went to sleep.
A hot dog supper was next followed by teeth cleaning, washing and then into the bunk rooms. After a short while the noise reduced until only a few desperate Cubs were struggling to go to sleep. The Leaders sat outside in the warmth of the evening discussing various things until it was felt safe to go to our own beds.