Woggleknot.com – An Explorer Scout's Blog

I haven’t posted for a while because I’ve been spending a lot of time revising for my GCSEs and I decided to have a break from Scouting while I got my exams over and done with, so I could get more revision done. Today I finished my last exam so I’m completely free from school now. I’ve got over two months to relax and not worry about any school work, but I guess that’s all going to change when I start college in September!

Tonight was my first night back at Explorers and we were on the high ropes course. We had to climb up a big wooden pole and when there was four of us up at the top we all had to hold on to each other and lean back. That was probably the hardest part – we really struggled to keep our balance because we were all stood on a tiny platform. Jumping off was fun – they let me down quite fast when I didn’t expect it, and the adrenaline rush felt great!

After that part of the high ropes course we had to work in our teams of four to climb something called “Jacob’s Ladder” (well, I think it was called that…). It’s a giant rope ladder and the further you get up the further the rungs are apart – you need to a small length of rope and help each other to climb up. I’ve never made it to the top (but that’s something I’d like to complete before I leave in two years!) but I think I managed to get one level further than I did last time, which I’m quite happy about.

It’s good to be back!

This post is quite late because I haven’t really had much time this week. I’ve got loads of coursework that needed to get done and I’ve been revising for a maths exam I have next week. Also, I AM NOW SIXTEEN! It was my birthday on Wednesday  so I didn’t bother blogging then either!

Anyway, last weekend I was at Bradley Wood as a young leader to help out at this years winter camp. These camps are very fun and I enjoyed the last one in 2008 back when I was in scouts. The camp was a bit pricey at £30 for scouts (I only had to pay £5! Leader’s price ) but it was easy to see why – so many things were going on, and some things needed to be hired – such as outdoor laser tag and arcade game machines.

When I got there all the scouts were scattered about the site doing activities so there wasn’t really much to do. So I just wandered around and did a few activities for a bit too! I stayed at the shooting range for quite a while (I’m not very good, but I really like shooting) and I watched a few groups of people play laser tag outside on the field.

However, on the second day the camp had to be cancelled because of the snow – people were having difficulties getting vehicles and equipment off the site so we had to abandon our tents, put on our rucksacks and walk to a nearby road. It’s kind of funny when you think about it – the winter camp was cancelled because of winter weather!