19 hungry scouts and 2 hungry leaders joined Brett back at the camp and demolished a dinner of spaghetti bolognaise followed by bush donuts and custard. Karen and I had pre-prepared the bolognaise sauce and frozen it before the trip. It was well received.
After cleaning up from dinner it was time for all present to don their uniforms and head underground - into Tunnel cave for 4 of the 1st Upwey scouts to be awarded various badges/awards. The caving team set out a ring of tea-light candles in the cave and all scouts, leaders and caving team members lined the ring for the ceremony. It was a great opportunity to make a big deal out of these awards and one that the kids won't forget. Patrick received his Pioneer level badge and cord. This is a requirement to attend Jamboree and one that he has been working towards all year. Well done buddy!
After that it was back to camp and we set about making a camp fire. Given that we'd had a couple of showers earlier that evening, it wasn't looking promising. The rain stayed away for the rest of the evening and the scouts all gathered around the fire just chatting and having a good time, while the leaders (and the leaders from 6th Melbourne) had a chat and generally just had a relaxing evening. In comparison to the previous evening, we all turned in relatively early on the Saturday.
Sunday morning saw a breakfast of pancakes for the assembled throng. Very nicely done too! After this was all cleaned up it was back to discover more caves before wrapping up in time for lunch and the long road trip back to Upwey.
After a quick lunch at the camp it was time to pack up the tents and all of our belongings and load them into the trailer. One last thing to be done before we bid farewell to the caving team was a closing ceremony where the kids were all presented with their caving proficiency badges and certificates. Another achievement for all of the scouts in attendance.
The caving team were very complimentary about the scouts and their achievements this weekend and encouraged them all to carry on to Venturers and go caving as a Venturer - where you get to abseil into limestone caves! Sounds like a hoot, and I'll be volunteering.
After a final check of the campsite and making sure we'd left no belongings or rubbish behind, it was back onto the bus for the trip home. We arrived at Upwey just after 6pm - about 48 hours since we had departed. It was a very full weekend, but one that the kids thoroughly enjoyed made up of experiences they won't be forgetting in a hurry.
No comments:
Post a Comment