23 Scouts and 5 Scouters met up at the Scout Den at 15:00 on a damp and dull Saturday Afternoon, the rain, had literally just stopped!! Before setting off we had an important Investiture to complete, welcoming Lily Byrne to the troop, who had completed all the requirements to become a scout.
All the scouts were given a high-viz and we went through the rules of the road once more and advised them of the route that they would be taking. We set off at 15:30 and proceeded to cycle through the town until they reached the towpath at the WIN industrial estate. As we continued along the Towpath, Damian had to swap out his bike as his pedal had sheared off!! We then continued to follow the towpath until we reached Gambles Road at which stage we proceeded to follow the road round to the back of Dromantine college and up to the handball alley where we thought we would be pitching our tents. We arrived just after 17:00.
Because of all the rain the flat area to the side of the handball alley was saturated and not suitable to pitch tents on. We walked up the path towards the old pond and found a patch of relatively flat grass which was relatively well drained and pitched up there.
It was nearly 19:00 before we got out the Trangia’s and started cooking our dinners. There were a wide variety of dinner made, Sausages, Noodles, Quesadillas, Burgers, Pasta in Tomato sauce and Chilli potatoes.
They Scouts got cleaned up after dinner and at 21:45 they got changed and got into their tents for the night.
We got up at 08:00 on a dry and bright Sunday Morning, we left the tents for a while to dry in the breeze but some were completely sodden, so I decided to just fold them away and we would hang them in the attic on our return and pack them on Thursday Evening. Following breakfast we set of at 10:00, following the route in reverse from yesterday until we reached Sugar Island and then cycled down Hill Street and under the tunnels at the INF emerging at the Gateway Club, and then straight up the road to the Den. We arrived back at 11:45, got the tents hung up and Trangia’s cleaned.
Their parents arrived at 12 noon and picked them up from another enjoyable adventure with @NewryScouts