Iceland holiday and Jamboree 2012.
Topic: Record

Dates, are a funny dark coloured fruit! Dates, 12th July to 30th July 2012.

Location, a place called Iceland, which had more rocks than ice, so it may need to change its' name.

So J-W loaded up his Jamboree bags from last  year with a lot of kit we do not normally take on Jamboree trips, like cookers and thermals!

We got on a bus around 9am and went to a shop in Guildford to get the money we would need in Iceland.  This should have been quick as there were only two people ahead of us.  But the first persons money was not behaving and it took them 5 goes to count it. They were going to about 5000 in 5's 10's and 20's!

Got a train to Woking, at Guildford Station, got asked where we were going by a girl who saw J-W's Jamboree Bag, as she had been at the Jamboree last year. At Woking only had a 5 minute wait for the coach to leave.  Got checked in at Heathrow just before 11, after riding the escalters which are lazy and only go along. At the boarding gate, J-W spoke to a lady who had lots of badges on a rucksack.  Turns out she was also a Scout Leader from the USA, who was going back via Iceland, to go on her summer camp.

So the airport in Iceland is a lot smaller than Heathrow, and we went up and down and around past where we got off the plane.  The coach took about 30 minutes to load up and go and drove on the wrong side of the road, which is ok as all the other vechiles were doing the same.  J-W said Iceland would be colder than in Surrey, but it was sunny and hot!  We got dropped off by the coach at the Reykavik Camp Site.  We got the tent up and then went to a supermarket nearby around 7pm, which was 6pm due to the clocks in Iceland being slower than our clocks here.  J-W had fun playing guess the flavour, as Icelandic does not just use different spellings, it uses a lot of extra letters as well.

J-W was in luck as the camp site has a kitchen area with 4 electric hot plates, so he did not need to buy fuel for his stove.  The hot water here comes from the ground! They have to cool it down, and it still comes out of the tap very very hot.  Also as J-W found when in the shower, the hot water smells of sulphur.  The other strange thing is the sun here does not set until 11pm and then it hids just below the edge, so it does not get dark. When we got up around 7am, the sun had already been up for about 5 hours or so.  Do you think it gets tired being up so long?

So this capital city is not really that much bigger than Guildford.There are more bike paths and the cars give way to walkers at the speed humps and crossings.  We walked all around, so got a bit dusty.  There is a black ashy dust around most roads and footpaths.

We visited the national scout centre and a museum of old buildings on the first day.  They used to just pile up rocks and turf to make buildings.  Found some scouting displays in the museum.  We did a number of other museums, a trip on a boat to see Whales, and a climb up a Glacier.  This was fun as J-W had to wear these spiky things on the bottom of his boots  and he had an ice axe.  The axe was  a bit big for me, but was good for sitting on so I did not get wet.  The glacier was a bit dirty, as it had ash all over it.  We got to see at sea a couple of Minky Whales, and a number of different birds including Puffins, which did not! We were on the boat for about 3.5 hours and it was quite cold in the wind.  Some of the other people put on this all in one padded suits, which looked a bit funny.

Whilst we were on the camp site we meet a group of dutch Rover Scouts who had been hiking across Iceland.  Turns out another couple of people we saw for a couple of days were also leaders going to the Jamboree, we only found out as they turned up at the collection point just after us on the day we went to the Jamboree site.  We had also meet a couple of groups of other scouts whilst walking around near the camp site, as the collection point ws a local school, where a lot of the overseas scouts were staying.

The coach had first loaed up in central Reykavik and then came out to the school.  There was a large group of Swedish Leaders and then some groups of USA and Canadian Leaders.  Out of the 50 or so foriegn Service Crew, there were at least 6 UK Scouts and 1 Guide Leader.  There was even one Sea Scout all the way from Korea, who had come back now for his third or fouth Icelandic jamboree. 

The Jamboree site was about an hour away in land at a lake called Ulfljotsvatn.  Parts of the road in were down the fairway of hole 7 on a golf course and also was on dirt roads.

The camp site was a great place to grow Midges, J-W gave up in the ennd and just eatthem when they got stuck on the candyfloss at the Rover Scout and IST party.  We palyed a game where you had to hit nails into a block of wood, after spinning the hammer round.  We played with a UK Guider and Swedish Scouters and a couple of the canadian and USA leaders.  The camp site is on a hill, and we were camped by the lake at the bottom, and where J-W had to work and eat was at the top of the hill.

J-W was working on the climbing tower, but spent most of the time, just watching kids abseiling!  Which seemed to just mean he stood still holding a rope.  We did go to a real mountain one day.  J-W tried leaving me on site in the tent, but I hid in the bottom of his bag.  He had put on lots of layers as it had been windy, but the side of the mountian we were on was in direct sun, but out of the wind.  We also went with all the IST up onto a giant 700 metre high ice cube in a lorry, 40 at a time.  You could see some islands which were over 80 miles away off the south coast.

Some of the Scottish Scouts and Guides got on site late on on the first day, so we had helped them get food sorted.  One of the Scottish Guide Leaders slipped whilst carrying a gas bottle back to their pitch on the first night, and broke her arm!  Her unit was staying on a couple of days afterwards, but she was at the aorport when we went home.  As was a group of the Canadian Guides, who were writing up their diary at the gate for their flight when we went to our gate.  They were a bit surpised to see us.  J-W told them it was part of the IST's job to make sure everyone made it onto their flights!

Was strange getting off the plane at Heathrow, as there was bits for the olpymic games everywhere, and the sun remembered how to go dark before 9pm!  The temperature also dropped a bit when it got dark 

 

Nights away = 18!  Total now 169.

District Cub Camp

Friday 8th to Sunday 10th June.  We when with J-W's mum to Bentley copse.  We had to take the small hike tents from home.  We set them up in the afternoon.  J-W has not put two of them up for years and his mum had not put any of them up!  The cubs turned up in the evening and used the poles we had brought to make gate ways.  We had a massive number of cubs from Shalford, two!  One of these two's dad is a scout leader and came along too, so we had four tents for five people.  I was in the old silver tent with J-W, while his mum was having fun crawling in and out of the red hike tent.  The cubs had my three man Jamboree Tent.

J-W, the dad (Lee) and I were with a Cranleigh Leader Matt guiding  the three hour walk, three times over the weekend.  Each time we had a different fourth leader.  Sandy and Brian from Cranleigh were cooking for everyone.  Someone forgot to edit thekit list, so most of the cubs brought along a lot of cakes.

Nights Away. +2 making 151 nights.  Which mean a new badge.

 

A big catch up entry.
Topic: Record

After getting saw paws doing all that typing at the Jamboree, I'v been a bit slow at doing reports here.  I'v been on three camps since last summer.

The Frost Camp at Bntley was wet under foot, but warm.  J-W spent all his time outside the shooting range doing safety talks.  We were in the lodge again for two nights.

Nights Away +2 = 146

New Forest with about 35 Scouts and 12 leaders in April.  We found a damaged set of Wood Beads in the middle of th forst by a stream and rope bridge.  Three times on two different days, we had to dodge the hail stones.  The first time every one was sitting down having lunch.  We saw lots of deer including a white one.  We got mugged by a pony for J-W's apple.  One of the young leaders routed us through a river a couple of times.  So J-W gave up and just walked across and got wet socks.  We alsochanged which station we ended at, as we were given a different set of trains to use.  So all the leaders were having to think on the last day.

Nights away +2 = 148.

April 2012, 1st Shalford Group Family Camp.  This year we were camping at Loxwood Village about 10 miles away.  Trouble is no-one told J-W that the plan was changed and we were not sleeping over on the Friday.  We only found out after the ten mile cycle with full kit on the bike.  We got a lift back, and I stayed with the cycle bags in the Scout Leaders car.  We had good weather after two weeks of rain.  J-W and I were in charge ofthe bridge building using ropes and dead full.  I got J-W into a climbing harnise, so he could act as a moving end post for a hand rail, so we did not have the Beavers falling off of the bridges.  We also most shoot one off who fall onto the rope, when J-W pulled the rope tight a bit quick!

Nights Away, J-W is only letting me have the night in the tent, not the one in the car.  +1 =149.

 

22nd WSJ
Topic: Record

The WSJ is now well over, so I can now add up the nights away!

 So over all the weather was very british, but more so.  The nights were warmer and the sun did not like going to bed, like some of the IST.

J-W eat more fish than he does in most months put together.

I saw one of the Go-jam bugs and quite a few mooses.  I dodged the White tailed eagles which had a nest  on the far side of the bus road.  There were nice flowers in the fields and butterflies which did not sit still enough for J-W to id them or get a photo.

J-W was not impressed with the credit card thing you were forced to use to pay for things.  It was near impossible to find kiosks which took cash, and  the cards are slower to do than cash, as were credit  cards.  Also it took hours to get cash put onto the cards in the bank.  There was no way of securing the cards, so J-W had to try not to loss his.

 I saw Charlie* get given her Queen's Guide Award.   Also Larry in J-W's Patrol got to the Jamboree ok, but his bag never did get there.

I liked the tower in the middle of the site, I just need to talk Graham at Bentley into building one like it.  Went up it twice, and got a photo of me and Charlie*.

I'm going to go through J-W's badges tonight.

Also the pin badge I was testing for J-W , I'm keeping it as mine now.

14 nights away, making  a total of 144 nights.

Hello more sun shine by the truck load and a half today, it is so sunny they are giving the roads water to drink all the time!

We wroted some postcards we bought yesterday.  We just need to find some stamps now, as there were none yesterday.

We went to the beach today and watched the Explorers throw each other in and get planted in the beach!

J-W says no way is he taking an army armoured bull dozer home for Cabbage.  We are off soon to do more IST experience things.  Last night this helicopter kept coming over us and we could not hear anyone else.

Lots of sun all day, J-W's washing dried in under 25 minutes this morning!

J-W was riding around on bicycles delivering water today. I was in his day bag, but some scout decided to pour the water not into his bottle but J-W's bag.  So I have had a bath on camp!  Weather has been hot all day but I'm still wet!  J-W had to replay the crank and pedal on his bicycle as the pedal came loose.

We saw Mary and her contingent today.  We took Charlie* up the tower.

 J-W will be writing tomorrow as he has finally been able to buy post cards, but no stamps!

You should have seen the size of the cricket I was talking to today.  J-W got photos, I was thinking about trying to ride it.

If the weather is ok tomorrow we may go to the coast on our day off.

More Jambo

More rain on top of rain on top of sand and rain.

Today and some of yesterday were sunny and hot.  Today people were finally lining up to go to the beach.

J-W rod a bike today giving out water, and in a van yesterday moving equipment.  We saw Beacky to talk to and hug, also saw Scotland but could not stop.  We have also been up the large tower and swapped some badges.  Two days in a row with full shifts done.

5th day of 22nd WSJ.

Right J-W says no counting nights away until end of camp.

Looks like the weather came with us on the hairy plane. Yesterday rained most of day.

First day we travelled to Heathrow and waited in a hot buildong for 2.5hours.  Saw Bert and rest of one of the Surrey units and the Channel Isles lot who were late and swapped with another unit. Guensey airport had been attacked by fog.

Got a coach at 11:45pm from the airport after getting off the plane thing.  When over a bridge in the dark.  I did not tell J-W that the coach was on the wrong side of the road!

J-W had the tent up at 3:00am, but had to move to another pitch next morning.

We got to go round the site and learn to be a patrol with foreign Scouters.  We then went round the three hubs as J-W needs to know them for his job.  J-W got sun burn.

Next day J-W swapped to job of other half of team and got to play in a wheel chair all day, from 9 to 9!  Had swedish meat balls for tea!  Also J-W lost his woggle whilst doing his only wheelchair push.

Yesterday we went in the rain by coach to the town to clear the warehouse of packing cases.  I directed J-W's pushing of the trollies and then his climbing into the square waste containers to load them.  We finished at lunch time, so came home and got to look at the swedish houses.  J-W then did his sewing.

Today we have been helping on a subcamp building thinks, we now have long break as have to work this evening, helping move people with special needs.

We only have half hour on the PC, so I'm going to let J-W have a go.

 

This key board is fun, it has extra keys, öäå¨, and others where the ones I use are normaly.

 

Jamboree!!!!!!
Mood:  happy

Ok J-W let me know that it is just one week until we go to the 22nd World Scout Jamboree.  Now I have a problem in that J-W has filled the bag, and I still have to pack!  I will try to get J-W to help do up dates from the Jamboree which will be held near Kristianstad in Sweden.  We will be going to Denmark by plane and then going by coach to Sweden over a large bridge.  Now J-W says I get confused easily, but even I think this is strange and a weird way to get to a country.

I'm testing one of J-W's pin badges with the UK contingent log on it, as it is the right size to fit on my camp blanket.

24th to 26th June 2011, Scoutabout 2011.
J-W's mum was meant to be with us at Scoutabout, but J-W's dad was ill and so Maddy stayed to make sure the dog was looked after ok.

We had to travel down with the Shalford Scouts, and then we were camping with the rest of the Guildford East District. J-W was a bit upset as we were on a different zone to normal and the loos were a way a way. This was no problem to me, and it means it should have been quieter overnight.

The scouts did not go to sleep until somewhere after one and were awake at four. Some of the Shalford lot got put on washing up for being noisy.

We saw scouts who we have backpacked with, and been to Switzerland with. Also we found the Jamboree Units, who were camping away from the 4.5 thousand Scouts and Guides. I saw some of the other IST. Jo made me a new woggle. We were working with the Archery team from 3rd Morsley again. We were joined by two other archery leaders, so we were able to get a bit of time off, and had no trouble going for breaks. J-W did the instruction for most of the lefties and the disabled kids. Some how it got foggy overnight, and the activity area disappeared. We still had to do the Sunday morning activities. The instructors on the climbing tower were using water pistols to stay cool and have fun.

2 nights away, making 130 nights away.