Potters Bar and District Scouts Lochearnhead Blog 2010

Highland Games

lochearnhead2010 — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:09:51 +0000

Tansy: Highland games today, lots of junk food been eaten Candy floss. Burgers. Hotdogs. Sweets. Doughnuts. Yum.

Beccy: Scottish children are cuter than English ones, especially in their kilts! (awwwww)

Tansy: You’re never too old for facepaints, as we prove…. a lot of weird looks were given.

Tossing the caber (a really large log) is actually awesome, Dick would be good at it (only LARGE men were entered)

Beccy: Everyone is dead on their feet (except Anni) ’cause of severe sleep depravation. Thanks Paul (A) for his iPod speakers and Chris for his early morning wake-up calls.

The haggis eating competition is perhaps one of the grossest things we (except for possibly Emily and Jess – lol) have seen this holiday.

Me and Vicki had to refrain from the arcade after discovering a few years ago that we were addicts. Ian won Jess a penguin and she didn’t even realise til he waved it in her face! Then she went up to random Scottish people telling them how much she loved it (and Ian)

Oh, and me and Jess were talking to some Scottish men who decided the only reason that we joined Scouts were cause of cute boys. We agreed that Scottish men are fitter cause they all wear KILTS!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of Love (lol – lol) Beccy, Tansy, Vicki and Emma

2 Day Hike climbing up to Ben More and Stob Binnein

5thpottersbar — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:29:53 +0000

Group B had their first excursion to go for a mountaineering hike. They planned their route on wednesday night and decided that they wish to climb up to Ben More and Stob Binnein, a couple of the two tallest monroes in Scotland. The idea was to hike up to the ‘campsite’ in the middle of nowhere at 400 metres up, and then climb up to Ben More and Stob Binnein.

All in all we had a fantastic time up in the mountains, with incredible weather, until just as we had reached the tents at the end of the day when it started to rain a little. Once we had all warmed up, and eaten dinner, the rain started to ease off, and Ronan decided it would be time to attempt a ‘mountain poo,’ digging 4 holes in total! – All for different reasons of course!

We all had an exceptional time with learning how to do river crossings, how to deal with an injury in the valley of mountains and B-laying down a small Crag.

We can only apologise…

5thpottersbar — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:15:40 +0000

Yo Babe and Honey and Darling!!! we did hav some raves of times!!! ME , being Krissie, had a small mud bath on the way bac from doing ‘megan’ MONRO- a 3000 ft + mountain which is in scotland heasgarnich!!! Songs up a mountain wiv Georgie!!! We (all of the girls) are officiaalllyyy in love LOLtrain hehhehehehe!!! canoenig wiv MARTIN and JOE was amazing!! Jodie capsized!! Then again the next day wiv Krissie!!! no thanks to gordan and he’s heavyness in a small sailing boat!!! gr8 week!! oh my lady gaga!!!!

lot’s of hyperness Krissie, Emily and Jodie

Three days remaining…

lochearnhead2010 — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:28:36 +0000

It’s been exceptionally hectic at Lochearnhead Scout Station, we’ve been spending the week in a converted railway station owned by Hertfordshire Scouts. With nearly 90 people from Potters Bar and District Scouts we’ve had to split everyone up into 6 groups running a rotating schedule of activities including Canoeing, Cycling, Overnight Hiking, Off Roading and Off-Roading.

The weather has been largely excellent and is set to remain so for the remainder of the week, so spare time is being spent playing frisbee in the yard area and playing every game under the sun (and for some, writing on this blog).

Tonight, we’ll be holding our very own highland games and getting some well deserved rest for the start of the 2-day hike (for group F anyway).

Stay tuned to our twitter feed for live photos throughout the day

Canoeing

5thpottersbar — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:09:12 +0000

Today i went canoeing for the second time this week. i really enjoy canoeing but Monday was an exception it was pouring down with rain and the wind made it feel like -2 degrees centigrade, i was already cold cycling and then i decided to change into some shorts i was freezing but i was having fun until i capsized my clothes where freezing but i did my best to have fun then a really nice instructor lent me this wet suit like top i was getting warmer but i was still cold, then we did chariot racing, we got into pairs and brought the two boats together then my friend Louis put one leg in my boat and his other leg into his boat, then we put one of the oars across the boats and i sat in the middle of that. Then Louis got the other oar and started to paddle, as we paddled the group just a head of us split into two and fell in which was quiet funny so we where second the group a head of us where paddling fast, mind you they did have the other instructer and one of the tallest boys in there group we tried our hardest but lost it was such a good race but then since the adrenaline had run out, I started to get very cold and shivery so i got out and got changed . Canoeing is so fun thanks Joe and Martin.

Luke M.L

Off Roading

5thpottersbar — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:56:04 +0000

Off roading was really fun. We went quad biking and it was extremely fun. We also had a chance to drive a Land Rover with obscure reverse steering. I could only just touch the pedals and I couldn’t see much out of the windscreen. Then we jumped into a brand new Land Rover and went for a short drive round the woods. We reached a pond and I thought the car would sink! When we completed the pond we went up some very muddy hills. I thought the car was going to fall!!

Jess W., Daniel P. and Rory Y.

Our first day at the Lochearnhead Scout Station

lochearnhead2010 — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:11:28 +0000

Well we arrived at a rather early time, 8 am, looking forward to a fantastic full english breakfast after a rough 11 hour journey up, with very little sleep. Unfortunately we were greeted with knackered Hemel Hempsted scouts who quickly made an escape before we realised they didn’t make us breakfast!

So far the day has been a very long day, with many things going on, with everyone settling in, and leaders having to go back out to the local supermarket to collect food that did not get delivered.

News just in! Tony Marsh has just sent the District Commissioner, Charles Dace to bed! This is probably because he had a frantic time trying to find his wallet after losing it on a bike ride. After fretting about it for many hours, he decided to phone his wife and she said, “Oh I have it here.”

We had one activity in the afternoon today, which was an orienteering course. This was a great way to get everyone to break the ice and work together as a team. The orienteering course was not exceptionally long, however they found a snake slide to entertain themselves for the next half hour!

The last thing of the day for the scouts is a short quiz, just before they go to bed letting the leaders have a well deserved cold beverage while reflecting on the extraordinary day.

Steven Uniacke.

It’s getting close now

lochearnhead2010 — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:56:39 +0000

So, have you begun packing yet!? If not you should really start thinking about it as we leave on Friday! Ok, that’s probably a bit too ambitious for most people but do please put enough thought into the updated kitlist. There are several items which were omitted in the original kitlist so please take a look.

Vital bits of kit will be checked this Thursday at 7.30pm in the 5th Potters Bar Scout HQ. If you’re having a bit of a crisis with equipment, we suggest you head over to Cotswold Outdoor in St Albans where you may get a 10-15% discount by quoting Hertfordshire Scouts and taking a neckerchief/scarf.

Our blog and twitter feed will be updated regularly during the week so make sure you get involved and comment. We will have guest writers (in the form of Scouts and Explorer Scouts) giving you the lowdown on the day’s events. We’ll also read out some of your comments to group in the evenings.

Make sure you tell everyone!