Category: Uncategorized
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Things that go bump in the night
All the leaves were brown and the sky was grey and, one by one, the cubs arrived at the campsite carrying pillows, massive bags and wellies. For several of the group this was their first ever camp with their scouting friends (or even their first ever night in a tent) and they set about pitching…
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Moot reflections
Pastels de natas consumed: 2 at breakfast, followed by several multipacks from Tesco Useful tips to share: 10 I awoke on Day 13 in a hotel somewhere on the outskirts of Porto; the strangeness of sleeping in a bed still lingering. A breakfast buffet, including all you can eat pastels de natas and tea with…
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Day 12 – Porto day
Pastel de natas consumed: 0 (again, no time) Rookie lessons learned: 3 My alarm sounded at 5am – it was time to finish packing and to take down my tent as my bus to take me to Porto was due at 7am (as I had to arrive before the participants in order to do my…
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Day 11 – River activities day 3 (and multinational marquee dream team)
Pastels de natas consumed: 0 (no time today) Rookie lessons learned: 3 I was woken this morning by the sound of a very large pine cone falling onto my tent from a great height (a hazard of camping in a pine forest). Today was the final day of running the river activities and I wondered…
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Day 10: river activities day 2 (battle on the beach)
Another early start with the sunrise and a ride through the pine forest to the lagoon. The sunrise over the water was stunning – the lagoon was flat calm and the light glittered on the surface. On opening the shipping container in the car park where we stored our resources, I found 10 paddle boards…
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Day 9 – river activities day 1
This morning, with all 6500+ participants together at the main camp, the activity programme began. The sun was just breaking the horizon when I boarded the bus to the river (lagoon) where I was to manage and support the paddleboard yoga sessions. Things looked promising when we pulled up at the beach car park –…
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Day 8 – Hidden sandbank
Pastels de natas consumed: 0 (queue was too long) Rookie lessons learned: 3 This morning I headed back to the river with some of the river water sports team to plan logistics of movement of participants and resources and to check the usual morning wind conditions. The lagoon was beautiful in the morning calm –…
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Day 7 – Apocalyptic sunrise
Pastels de natas consumed: 1 Rookie lessons learned: 2 This morning I woke to a very different scene outside my tent. I could see small black dots on the outside of my tent as I lay, bleary-eyed, slowly waking up. The usual bright moment of sun hitting my tent was anticipated but did not happen.…
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Day 6 – Barn raising
Pastels de natas consumed: 1 Rookie lessons learned: 2 There’s a moment each morning here when the rising sun reaches my tent and, in an instant, everything is bright and warm after the cold, dark night (the nights are surprising chilly here). I love that moment – it really helps me to wake up and…
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Cloggle and koala
Pastels de natas consumed: 1 Rookie lessons learned: 2 I woke to another sunny day at the Moot main camp, many national flags flapping in the gentle breeze, looking forward to finally seeing the place where I will help to run the paddleboard yoga sessions when the participants arrive at camp in a couple of…
Chil’s Scouting Adventures 