Hi, sorry for the lack of comms thus far, hopefully some of these photos will help make that up.
The story so far...
After the worse possible start for the Ware contingent - with the minibus towing the kit trailer not starting due to a flat battery - but thanks to some helpful parents equipt with jump leads and a battery booster pack, we were soon under way.
Everyone got the chance to stop for a short break at Leicester Forest East services before arriving at the farm before 10.30pm.
With the tents soon up and everyone suitably briefed, the catering crew served hot chocolate and biscuits before lights out well before midnight.
In the morning, the Scouts woke up to a nice crisp ground frost, but no one seemed to be bothered by the cold spell. By 7am, it was all hands on deck to make packed lunches and pack day sacks before flag break, except Holly & Jessica who somehow managed to sleep through the whole thing, waking up just in time for the second sitting for breakfast.
After all the washing up was done, the activity leaders went through a thorough kit check to ensure that the young people had everything they needed (and nothing that they didn't - pyjamas, a pillow, a book and even a Kindle were found and suitably rejected by the inspectors). We loaded the minibuses and were all off-site before 9.30am with 4 groups off to hike along the roaches, 2 groups hiking up Shining Tor and the other 6 groups doing a mixture of rock climbing, cycling and orienteering.
Thankfully, there were no reported injuries or incidents all day, other than Adam, who found the only muddy puddle on the whole 9 mile off road bike route and decided to 'superman' straight into it - you'll need to look at the photos to see the outcome!)
Homemade cakes awaited everyone for when they returned to the farm in the late afternoon, before showers and some well earnt rest (which meant football, rugby and frisbee for the more energetic amongst us).
Dinner for the evening was Shepherd's Pie with Apple crumble for dessert (with various vegetarian and other meals made available to those that wanted them). A movie was then the entertainment for the evening, played off a projector screen and loud speakers, converting the dining room into a makeshift cinema. Lights out came earlier, around 10.30pm as soon as the movie finished and no noise was heard beyond 11pm.
Sunday morning brought a cloudy overcast to the day (and no frost) and the same process from the previous day ensued with two breakfast sittings, packed lunch making and bag packing.
To this point, everyone is still out on activities, leaving me with some time to upload this to the blog down at the local library (just recently fitted with this new fangled wi-fi thingy).
More updates to follow tomorrow, so please keep checking.
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