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GGEW NEWS
Essex West Young Guiders’ Iceland Trip 2nd – 9th August 2011
Ulfljotsvatn Scout Centre
fter over a year
and a half of
planning we
were finally on the way
to Iceland to begin our
amazing adventure.
Fifteen very excited
Guiders met our rep
Alice, from Venture
Abroad, at Heathrow
and set off to board the
plane.
When in Iceland we
were taken to the Scout
Centre which was
certainly an experience
for our first few hours in the country. We all loved seeing the
beautiful scenery and the complete lack of civilization; the bus
trip, however, was less enjoyable for some!
Many of the roads in Iceland are just gravel roads with this
particular road having lots and lots of pot holes and our driver
was no stranger to speed!
When we got to the Scout Centre we had a tour and felt
really lucky to be in such a beautiful location. We were next to
stories about Iceland or the
traditional food e.g. “Skyr”, an
Icelandic cultured dairy product which we found delicious.
The next day we went on
the “Golden Circle Tour”- seeing the Geysirs, Gulfoss (one
of the top ten waterfalls in the
world according to Lonely
Planet) and Pingvellir - where
the first parliament was formed
in 900AD.
This was a brilliant day and
our tour guide even took us to
other places on the way which
A
the second biggest lake in Iceland with mountains all around
and a lovely campsite.
We were shown inside the accommodation building and
also learnt how the campsite was run mostly by Scout volunteers. The oldest
building on site was
built in 1944 and was
being renovated each
week by volunteers.
Soon it was time for
dinner and all we can
say is that we were very
well fed throughout the
week! It varied from
lamb to lasagna to fresh
fish from the lake which
some of us helped to
catch.
They were also very
good at coping with
dietary needs. At mo st
dinnertimes we would
have the Manager of
the campsite tell us
GGEW NEWS
WINTER 2011
were also beautiful. In the
evenings we were all able
to bond as a group by
playing cards and enjoying
life without technology!
The week then whizzed
by with activities on and off
site e.g. climbing, abseiling,
trampolining, caving, horse riding,
white water rafting - yes it was very
cold and some of us also jumped off
the cliff top into the water!, walking
on a glacier, whale and puffin watching, days in the capital city Reykjavik
including enjoying Gay Pride, before
ending
with a swim in the lovely Blue
Lagoon - a natural geothermal
spa.
The staff at the scout centre
could not be more
helpful during our visit
and told us many
stories and jokes.
For example, “What do
you do if you get lost in
a forest in Iceland?”
“Just stand up!” There
are not many trees in
Iceland and the few
they do have are very
small!
Icelandic people in
general are very helpful and the country very
beautiful which made the whole experience
extremely enjoyable.
Would we return back to Iceland? Yes we would!
Sarah Cassidy and Geri Cowell
WINTER 2011
PAGE 7
World Scout Jamboree Experience
fter more than a
year of fundraising
over £2000,
attending various
meetings, meet-up camps
and following months of
anticipation, I was standing bleary eyed at 4.30 in
the morning in London’s
Heathrow airport alongside the other 39 members of my Jamboree unit,
Diversity, accompanied by
my huge yellow and
purple cargo bag which
weighed in that morning
at 17.5kg.
Gradually parents
began to leave and we
headed towards the
check-in desk while it was finally sinking in that we were at the first
step of our journey to the 22nd World Scout Jamboree.
Soon enough we were saying goodbye to a cloudy England and
arriving in a wet Denmark. We heaved the 40 large holdalls off the
luggage
carousel and
boarded a waiting coach to
take us to the
youth hostel
where we were
staying.
All 3000 of
the UK contingent were staying in
Copenhagen
for party time
and we took
over the city!
There were lots
of activities laid
on for us, from sportsorama at the sports centre, speed boating,
exploring the city to the Tivoli Gardens.
Everywhere you looked, there were Scouts and Guides, wearing
UK neckers having fun. The highlight of our time in Denmark was
when all 3000 of us gathered in a courtyard in Copenhagen the
night before we left, to party with a Kings of Leon tribute band, plus
the real band Alphabeat (who appeared at Big Gig) and got us all
on a high ready for jamboree, as
though it was the start of the jamboree experience and we were
already there!
But of course, a coach journey
beckoned, and we were heading
to the Jamboree site – I was so
excited! My Anglia patrol, with
the group of Scouts from Greater
London Middlesex West, was on
Autumn sub-camp, opposite the
town square – very convenient!
We set up camp and prepared
for the opening ceremony. It was
incredible to see how many
nations were represented as all
A
the flags were lined
up and we cheered
extra loudly when
the Union Jack was
paraded.
We were sitting
right near the front
and even though it
rained, it was
fantastic. Bear
Grylls, Chief Scout,
abseiled onto the
stage to officially
open the Jamboree
and then visited all
the UK groups on
site!!
There was every
sort of activity
available, plus each
group went on ‘camp in camp’ – a chance to camp as the Swedish
do, plus Dream – an all night activity in the forest.
We played games, tasted food from all round the world, tried
new challenges and activities, made new friends, explored other
cultures as well as cooking for 70 people one day! The King and
Queen of Sweden visited the site to see what everyone was doing
too. I had fun learning to use an axe although a passer-by thought
it was an accident waiting to happen.
The weather was mixed but the atmosphere and experience was
brilliant all the time! Before I knew it, we were back at the main
stage for the closing ceremony. Europe performed ‘The Final
Countdown’ and the World Flag was handed over ready for next
WSJ 2015 in Japan.
Time at camp had flown by but we were now ready for the final
part of our adventure – home hospitality. Our group were going to
Finland on an overnight ferry, where we were able to sleep in
proper beds with modern bathrooms!
I was with a group of 11 who were to spend 3 days on a dairy
farm 2 hours west of Helsinki near the former capital city of Turku.
We stayed with a very nice family, with 4 children. The girls were
girl scouts and wore their uniforms for us to see one day.
We spent the time exploring the countryside and experiencing
for the first time the delights of the Finnish tradition of saunas!! I
absolutely loved it, staying for as long as I could in a very hot log
cabin in front of smoking coals and then running into the cold lake.
If only we had one at home... We tried Finnish foods, played
games, traversed the Finnish countryside and spent one day
exploring Turku itself.
All good things have to come to an end and the day for going
home came. I wasn’t really ready
to go home and could have stayed
on my jamboree adventure for
longer! At arrivals in Heathrow
there were all our parents and
friends waiting for us and to hear
all about our trip. I have had such
an incredible experience and
would recommend WSJ to
everyone!
Katherine Renny,
2nd Loughton (St John’s)
Senior Section