Scotland

We met at Dublin airport at 5:30 am. Everyone was really excited. We spent age waiting to get on the plane. One of our scouts was leaning against escalator and he got sucked up (it was a great start to the week ahead). On the way over one of our scouts got invested as a leader, it was probably the first time an investiture had been done on a plane. Three hours later we arrived at Auchenigillan situated in the outskirts of Glasgow, in 100 hectares of woodland and rolling hills. It catered for all activities including Quads, Crate Climbing, Rifle Shooting, Orienteering, Absailing and Swimming. There was enough to keep 18 scouts and 5 leaders occupied for a week.

The scout program was developed to have us on and off site, on alternate days.

Day 1 was spent on site. it was raining heavily when we arrived. We began by setting up our super mess tent, arranging the most important thing the food, tents and our site boundaries.

Day 2 we went on a trip to Loch Lomand. Every one was starving by 3:00 p.m. having fed their lunch to the sea gulls from the boat . The scouts then went swimming off a pier when we arrived at Balloch ( a little village off Loch Lomand).

Day 3 relaxing day back on site. Doing what we do best we developed our campsite by building a few tables and gateways for our watch areas. Siobhan Allen started her pioneering project, which was to build the main gate for the site and a watchtower, for her chief scout award. Then in the afternoon we did some activities.

Day 4 our major outing to Edinburgh. It began with a trip to Deep Sea World which was very interesting for all age groups, after an hour or so we left and headed off to Edinburgh city. When we arrived we sat down for lunch in the park soaking in the Scottish traditional music; we energised ourselves to do a bit of shopping. We all met back up after a few hours to go on the tour around the castle and to see the famous military tattoo. The scouts were amazed to see all the different armies from around the world.

Day 5 we challenged a troop of scouts from England to a football match on the site. Of course we were beaten but not surprisingly because out opposition cheated!! It was great crack! That night we headed off into the wilderness aided by Junior our local guide, to do a night hike. Of course the leaders who stayed on site were relieved to see us return.

Day 6 (2nd last day) was another very active day, a day full of entertainment. We started off by going dry slope skiing. Then a bit of ice-skating followed by a swim and a few slides in the Water Park, which was excellent, by the end of the day there were only a few bruises! That night the senior scouts packed their bags and went on another night hike and stayed in a bivouac ( which is a man made shelter made from natural materials.

Day 7 (last day) we got up early and struck down our campsites we put the heavy equipment into storage to follow later, packed up our bags began our journey home. Three ours later we landed back in Dublin Airport .

This was our third trip to Auchengillan and each time it gets better. Plans are already being put in place for our summer camp 2001.