Orkney Camp 2005

Orkney Camp 2005

Here are some of the photos taken during the Orkney camp (Mike's pictures). Others will be added as and when they come in.

	The troop prepares for a ritual sacrifice (at the Stones of Steness)	Visitors who criticise the monuments are treated harshly		Redland Farmhouse
Some views of the campsite:


	The lads are given training before being allowed to go out and hunt for dinner
		Visiting the Ring of Brodgar
			The lads give mother nature a hand with the erosion
				Terry talks about the hsistory of the Italian Chapel

		You saw it here first: Terry eating poridge!
Just to prove we did get some blue sky occasionally	No more excuses to avoid making mum and dad breakfast in bed	Andrew tries his hand at recycling	Too many cooks...?
	Putting the final touches before inspection	Smartly turned out Scouts...	...well, for five minutes of inspection anyway	Our abseiling site
				Waiting for a go




	Our last-night-camp-fire:	There were some strange looking, long-haired scouts in the visitors' party	We welcomed visitors from Orkney, Shetland and Faeroese Scouts

Terry terrifies (no pun intended) the visitors into joining in!

Composite view of the camp site			Composite view of the camp site

Daily Reports by Pam Millar

Friday 28th (site updated 29th - evening)

Today the Scouts took down all the tents, packed the gear and tidied the camp site before heading into Kirkwall where they went shopping, swimming and ten-pin bowling. By 11pm they were at the ferry terminal and the boat was in - all on schedule.

ON SATURDAY MORNING: due to the way the gear had to be loaded into the trailer, please collect your son from the ferry terminal, as planned, then go to Daviot for the unloading of the gear.

Thursday 28th

Today the Scouts went abseiling on a rock face near the sea. Everyone who wanted to have a try did so, some on the bigger rock face and some on a smaller one.

Roddy and Alan managed to cook a pizza in their home made camp oven and did a good job.

There was a barbeque today and the food included steak, chicken, burgers, Chinese ribs, salad, and potatoes. The Angel Delight was not barbequed and will be eaten later.

There is to be a campfire tonight and there will be approx 45 visitors including Faroese Scouts and Scouts from Orkney and Shetland.

Some of the leaders have been invited to sign the farm visitors book (i.e. for a quick dram!)

Wednesday 27th

The Scouts split into 2 groups for activities today; one group went fishing from Churchill Barrier One and the others stayed in camp to do badge work, then they swapped around at lunchtime.

The patrols chose their own menus for tonight's tea - different! The culinary delights included:

	apple with tomato ketchup
	steak with strawberry
	chicken fajitas
	melted chocolate (obviously a favourite!) with strawberries, bananas and marshmallows.

The weather has been the same all week - sunny with numerous light showers - but it turned colder during Wednesday afternoon and was pretty chilly by evening, so fires were used for the first time to keep warm.

Tuesday 26th

Up earlier today, about 7:15am. After breakfast, Keith & Mike went to collect the minibus. During that time the lads were getting tidied up and ready for the first real inspection of the camp. Given the lack of experienced campers, the standard was really good. The parents would be very surprised with how tidy their sons can be. Well done to everyone for the effort. After that it was off to Skara Brae, a 5,000 odd year old village. It really seemed to go down well and everyone at least looked interested. The touch-screen facilities made it more interesting than last time I was here (Keith). Then, right down the mainland to learn about 2nd world war history at the Churchill Barriers and the Italian Chapel. A cultural day. Just finished swimming when typing this while the lads are still in the pool. I hope the water filtrations system is repaired before we are back on Friday (we have to get them clean before you see them!!!) About to have Pork Goulash for tea and hopefully it will be as tasty as last night and pancakes have been requested again. Terry & Keith's pancakes are much better than some of the parents - so we were told. Enjoy the rest of your break and it is good catching up on the Explorers exploits. I saw some of them on the jamboree site - with girls in the picture every time.

Monday 25th

Everyone went to bed on Sunday night at about 11:00 and didn't get up until 9:15~9:30am on Monday - deliberately. EVERYONE badly needed their sleep and it appeared to do the trick. Spent the rest of the morning in the campsite then had lunch. In the afternoon we went for a cycle. Made it to the Ring of Brodgar; the Stones of Stenness (the photo on the homepage) and Maes Howe (briefly). It was a good journey with no real problems other than tired legs (particularly some of the leaders!). Back to camp in time for an hours rest while Keith got the shopping. Sweet & Sour Chicken and rice for one patrol and Chicken Chasseur and rice for the other followed by hot custard and melted mars bars - fine. The teas were both cooked really well.

Game of Rounders in which Roddy's patrol thrashed Benn's. Pancakes with maple syrup finished the day off nicely.

Sunday 24th

The group got a good welcome from the local Scout group at their hut where the Scouts stayed the night - but did not sleep much. The cycle to the camp site this morning was fine and took around 1 hour 20 mins. The weather has been very mixed all day - rain/sun/rain/sun...

The camp is now set up and all the tents are up. There is a beautiful view from the site and the Scouts have been out collecting wood. There has been 1 case of hay fever (resolved with medication) and 1 case of home sickness (resolved with some sleep).

Tea tonight was spaghetti bolognaise and bananas and custard - not a bad standard for night 1!

Weather permitting, the plan for tomorrow is to cycle to Skara Brae.

Saturday 23rd

Berthed at Kirkwall 11pm. A few people sick on heavy swell.

Friday 22nd July

Please meet at Daviot at 7pm, with your main rucksack. The trailer will be being loaded and we should be finished by 8pm at the latest, hopefully earlier.

Remember to keep items required for the journey, INCLUDING FULL UNIFORM, at home. Uniform must be worn on Saturday for travelling and should be newly ironed (don't need to wear uniform on Friday). Other items, such as food, should be kept in a small daysack and carried onto the ferry.

Meeting time at the ferry terminal in Aberdeen is 3:30pm on Saturday.