Thurlby a la France

Author: Richard Harvey

Published: September 16, 2014

At 6.30am on what was a very wet Monday (25th August) - 41 young people and 7 leaders made their way from Thurlby to Ardres, France.

We arrived at our Acorn Adventure camp at around 1.45pm local time and we were met on the bus by a very loud member of their entertainment team…..

We were that tired from travelling that I think nearly everyone on the bus panicked!!  We had had a long journey but thankfully one that was very uneventful!

With no time to rest, the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers were divided into their groups for the activity, which was a wet obstacle course, helped on of course by the weather.  The kids loved it but it meant for us a very long, damp day and night trying to get their clothes and trainers dried!

The rest of the evening went without a hitch and everyone was soon ready for bed.

Tuesday came and so did more rain but this did not stop the enthusiasm from everyone.  The Groups headed off to their various morning activities, consisting of wall climbing, nightline, fencing and archery.  In the afternoon, we ventured off to the Viking Museum, which was very amusing seeing some of the kids dressing up and trying to fight each other (Viking style of course)

Back to camp and on then after tea for a town trail.  Still more rain and more damp feet and clothes, but the fun continued.

Wednesday was brighter, so out went the clothes line!  After breakfast, off the groups went for another morning of adventurous activities, this time

canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding and raft building.  Followed by a wonderful trip to the chocolate factory – I think everyone wanted to dive into the buckets of chocolate.

Wednesday night was campfire night.  There were many stories told and songs sang not just by our members but the entertainment team made quite a few up of their own!

On to Thursday and our last day.  Still quite dry so more clothes lines for us!  The kids went on to their activities and even paddled (all of them) across the lake to get an ice cream.

We finished the evening off on Thursday with a huge game of hide and seek, although I had been forgotten as I was hiding up a tree!! (Thanks James Helliwell)  Bags packed and lots of excited children went happily off to their beds.

I don’t know what happened to Friday – we got up way too early, had breakfast and before we knew it we were at passport control on the Eurotunnel.  Lunch stop at Stansted Services and made it back home by 3pm.  It was great fun for all concerned and would recommend taking your pack/troop on an adventure like we did!

Nicola and I cannot thank all the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers who attended for being so well behaved and represented our Group and Scouting in general exceptionally well.  We would also like to thank the Parents for entrusting their children in our care, whilst traveling abroad and finally to the leaders who came with us.  Together we made a fab team.
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