On Saturday 2nd July at approximately 9:00 am, 12 scouts and 5 leaders arrived at the marina in Nuneaton, packed and ready to set off for their first day of the expedition.
As I was one of the girl scouts on this expedition, I know that we all had to pack very lightly, as we had to fit our kit and somebody else’s kit in one barrel. (It was a tight squeeze)
When we set off, the weather and wind didn’t seem too bad to handle at first, but as we got further into the day the wind became stronger and it started to rain, which made our canoes twist and turn in all different directions.
We were paired up with people in the group, but were moved around throughout the day to test each other’s ability in controlling and moving the boat. I also think that the barges did not help with controlling as we had to move every time somebody on a barge came past. Also the fact that we had to pass 11 locks on the way wasn’t the best.
Finally after an extremely long day we did reach our camp for the night, which was a scout hut in Polesworth. This felt like a massive relief, even though there was more work to do before we could rest, such as carry all the canoes off the canal, closer to the hut and then cook our dinner.
I thought that my dinner choice was easy but nice, which meant that we could get everything done quicker.
By this time it was getting dark, so the leaders had to put up the hammocks in the nearby forest and they still didn’t have enough time to get a hammock up for everyone. Luckily I was one of the scouts that did get to sleep in a hammock. It was comfy.
The next morning, I was the last scout to get up, as usual, so I had to quickly get changed and have my breakfast. Then we headed back, this time the water was a lot smoother, the weather was beautiful and we didn’t have to travel as far. We all got picked up by the mini bus and went back to our scout hut for collecting time, which was around 4:00pm on Sunday.
I think that even though this camp was very tiring I would definitely do it again. It was GREAT! 🙂
By Emma
Haddon (Girl) Scout Troop
Thank you Emma for the great report. You all did well on the weekend and you can be proud of yourselves. You all earned you Expedition Challenge Award. Thank you Kevin, Steven, Dean, Neil, Lewis & Richard for making the weekend such a great success.
Woody