Join 1st Rogerstone Cubs and Scouts - and get out of the house.

Dolygaer Camp – Fri 20^th to Sun 22^nd Nov 2009

Looking at the weather forecasts before the camp, it sounded like we were in  for a very wet weekend.

We set off from the Scout Hut just after 6pm and got to the campsite just before 7:30pm. After we had unloaded the cars and put all the kit away, it was decided due to the dry weather that we would go on an evening hike instead of a Sunrise Hike.

We set off along the railway line and eventually got to the level crossing where the circular track around the wood started.  We followed this track and after a few minutes, we all turned off our torches. At first, it was very dark but within a few minutes our eyes had adjusted to the dark and it was surprising how much we could see. Some of the Scouts didn’t really like walking in the dark, but it was an experience for some of them who had never done it before. At one point the ground beneath us became very muddy and we came across a herd of cows and some ponies. After about 2 hours we arrived back at the Scout hut for some party food as it was one of the Scout’s 11^th Birthday and that day.

After breakfast and washing up Saturday morning, the Scouts went off to play hide and seek, whilst the weather was fairly dry. Saturday afternoon consisted of the Egg Drop activity which entails making some kind of parachute or protection to stop your egg smashing when it’s dropped off from a certain height. The first attempt involved lots of padding and when the exercise was carried out there was only one egg casualty. On the second attempt, a very small amount of materials was supplied and there were far more egg casualties!!

Back inside the Scout hut, an hour was spent in coming up with a route card for a test hike in the Talybont area. Some of the Scouts weren’t sure how to do this but after some guidance, most of them learnt a fair bit in how to fill one out. We then had a game of Articulate and that was really good fun for an hour before tea. Some of the describing was really funny and some of the answers were even funnier. It was a really good fun game.

After tea, we had our Indoor campfire which was written and mainly performed by 3 of the Scouts for their Entertainers badge. The entertainment was first class and was really well planned and executed. There were some real comedy moments in the sketches and I’m sure every one who watched or performed really enjoyed it. Well done to the 3 Scouts – Charles, Katie and Carys.

It was then the turn of our DVD night. First we had Wallace and Grommit and this was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who watched it. There was a fair bit of laughter throughout the file, some of the comedy was lost on the Scouts but the Leaders were killing themselves laughing.  This was followed by Star Trek which was enjoyed by the majority of people who watched it.

Sunday morning after breakfast and washing up was mainly spent tidying up rooms etc but a small game of hide and seek was carried out before it was interrupted by rain. A swing was discovered by some of the Scouts and they were enjoying themselves on it.

Four of the Scouts then went abseiling down a waterfall with the Explorers. They got very wet and cold!!! Some of them actually enjoyed it!!

On the whole, it was a really good weekend but it was a real shame about the weather as it could have been so much better, as the Campsite is situated in a really beautiful part of Wales., which is just ideal for discovering.

A big thank you to the following leadership team for making the weekend a success:

Lee

Dave Colbourne

Dave Gordon

Gavin

Pete

We hope to go back to Dolygaer sometime in 2010.