Summer camp 2006

Arrival

Three leaders, eleven scouts and three cubs set off for Frylands Wood near Croydon for the 2006 summer camp not knowing quite what to expect.

Frylands has been host to this event with a different theme for some 5 years now. This year they chose the Simpsons.

We were all ready for fun and that's exactly what we got thanks to the organisation of Steve Callum and his team at Frylands. There were very few times that we were not doing something from morning to the early hours of the next morning. The proof of the pudding was when we travelled home after the week was over. Most of our young adventurers were asleep!

Camping was a slightly different affair for us since we had use of two tunnel tents and some pop-up tents for sleeping. the tunnel tents are amazing with two sleeping berths and the novelty of an adjustable partition which can be set either to make a big living area or smaller are with outside porch. The sleeping quarters provided ample room for even the messiest of our scouts. No points for guessing which were messier, boys or girls! Our cubs were sleeping in pop-up tents which are fantastic since they take just a few seconds to put up and after just a couple of guys are pushed in they are ready for the duration. I certainly hope that we are able to buy more tents like these!

After we had put up the camp and set out our fire, yes we do cook on open fires still, it was free time for our group to go and find out about the camp. Lets just say that the Kwik-e-mart was found within minutes and money streamed into Apu's coffers. Thank goodness one of the site attractions was Moe's tavern for weary leaders open after 10:00pm

Apart from us we found that we were teamed up with the explorers from Littlebourne, scouts from Foots Cray and Gosport and cubs from Bognor. Other groups were arriving later. A swift game of rounders was organised between groups.

An evening meal of pasta was gobbled down by our cubs and scouts, before they disappeared into the nearby woods for some reason?

The opening ceremony was a bit different since Frylands had an inflatable stage and a big screen beside it. You might have thought we were at a pop concert. The team had made a mockup of the Simpsons lounge and under cover of darkness the whole clan made its way onstage accompanied by the trailers and music of the Simpsons. A slight oversight in costume meant that the characters found it difficult to see though masks and even be heard but nothing is perfect.

The first night was as usual long with chattering and lots of noise. No fear of attack by wild animals tonight. Yet as Jim and Tony watched the late night fire a vixen padded across by our tents oblivious to our presence.

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