Wednesday, 8 August 2007
Travel News
And the news is... Not good we're afraid. It's 5pm and we're in a
traffic jam on the A14 near Huntingdon. The M6 that we're due to go
on next is down to one lane... So, we're not sure of our eta yet, but
it's not going to be 6.30. More when we know more!
traffic jam on the A14 near Huntingdon. The M6 that we're due to go
on next is down to one lane... So, we're not sure of our eta yet, but
it's not going to be 6.30. More when we know more!
And They're Off!
Hurrah! It's just coming up to 3pm and we've left site! Our best
guess at this stage is arrival between 6 and 6.30pm. Watch this space
for news of traffic jams etc...
guess at this stage is arrival between 6 and 6.30pm. Watch this space
for news of traffic jams etc...
Travel Update
Well, it's now 12.45 - and, amazingly enough, we're not on the
coach... Current delays seem to be about an hour, but it's all a bit
confused! Further updates when we get them!
coach... Current delays seem to be about an hour, but it's all a bit
confused! Further updates when we get them!
Tuesday, 7 August 2007
The Final Curtain
Blimey. It's almost at an end. Just when we thought that the intensity couldn't get any higher, it did last night - and that's continued into today. We sometimes see the Explorers, but, most of the time, they're off swapping things. The Sombreros are looking good!
The rest of today's going to be taken up with starting to take things down, and then, this evening, it's the Closing Ceremony. We're not sure exactly what's going to take place here, but it starts at 9pm and there are rumours of a particularly impressive firework display... I guess it'll be on the Community Channel.
So - how to sum up a pretty unforgettable two weeks? Your intrepid correspondent (okay - it's Andy, hence the intrepid bit!) is at the keyboard with Steve O, and we've looked at that sentance to try and figure out the next one. Erm...
Not sure that we can sum it up easily. What have been the best bits for us are kids wandering in to the campsite with Scouts from all over the world in tow, or have grabbed some clothes and taken them over to the Nigerians, or that they gave their free gift vouchers away. They've been fantastic, and are a huge credit to Solihull, their parents, and to themselves.
They're already planning a reunion in November - and are all signed up as Service Team for the next one - so we think that they've enjoyed themselves! We'll keep the website going for a little while afterwards to get some photos on - please do let Andy have copies - and to ensure that they can keep in touch with each other.
And that's it. There'll be an update tomorrow from the coach, technology permitting, detailing a better estimate as to our arrival time - other than that, thanks for reading, and we came third in the footie!
Cheers,
Andy, Gareth, Naomi, Roy, and Steve.
The rest of today's going to be taken up with starting to take things down, and then, this evening, it's the Closing Ceremony. We're not sure exactly what's going to take place here, but it starts at 9pm and there are rumours of a particularly impressive firework display... I guess it'll be on the Community Channel.
So - how to sum up a pretty unforgettable two weeks? Your intrepid correspondent (okay - it's Andy, hence the intrepid bit!) is at the keyboard with Steve O, and we've looked at that sentance to try and figure out the next one. Erm...
Not sure that we can sum it up easily. What have been the best bits for us are kids wandering in to the campsite with Scouts from all over the world in tow, or have grabbed some clothes and taken them over to the Nigerians, or that they gave their free gift vouchers away. They've been fantastic, and are a huge credit to Solihull, their parents, and to themselves.
They're already planning a reunion in November - and are all signed up as Service Team for the next one - so we think that they've enjoyed themselves! We'll keep the website going for a little while afterwards to get some photos on - please do let Andy have copies - and to ensure that they can keep in touch with each other.
And that's it. There'll be an update tomorrow from the coach, technology permitting, detailing a better estimate as to our arrival time - other than that, thanks for reading, and we came third in the footie!
Cheers,
Andy, Gareth, Naomi, Roy, and Steve.
Monday, 6 August 2007
It's Not Soccer, It's Football
Apologies for the slight lack of updates - it's been difficult to get on the terminals and we've been off-site - Starburst (or, as described by one of the kids, Community Service without the involvement of a judge...).
So - what did we get upto for Starburst? We were split into two groups, and your intrepid correspondent actually managed to get offsite! So, of neccessity, this entry will describe one group more than the other (we didn't manage to get our own media pass and helicopter...).
We went off to Prances Scout campsite. This is a small campsite about half an hour away by coach from Hyland's Park. Once there, we split into two patrols - Roy's to go off in the morning on a little hike, your intrepid correspondent's to do some work on site - viz. painting, benchmaking, and fence repair. The benchmaking and fence repair went well. See if you can spot the missing entry...
Yup. Teenage kids. Paint. Teenage kids, paint. Teenage kids - paint. Whichever way you put it, it don't look good... In their defence, some of it went on the building. As to the rest? There were a few showers required!
After lunch, it was off for our hike. As it turned out, this was less a hike and more of a small womble. The Americans lead off, singing marching songs. The Germans and British consequently fell behind somewhat... In a cruel twist, the route went past THREE pubs - and your intrepid correspondent wasn't allowed in any of them! It also went past some exceedingly big houses, and an ice cream shop that was most welcome, 'cause it's been getting hotter...
The other group, meantimes, went off to an Alzheimer's Society place, and spend some quality time sleeping. This allowed them to build up enough energy to do a bit of weeding in the afternoon! More on this when I have one of them with me...
And then to today, Monday. There's a big football competition underway, and we're on shortly. It's beginning to dawn on people that it will soon be over - the day of Day Visitors is today, the Plaza shuts tomorrow. It feels like we've been here for ages - but that it's over too soon...
Watch this space for thesoccer football results!
So - what did we get upto for Starburst? We were split into two groups, and your intrepid correspondent actually managed to get offsite! So, of neccessity, this entry will describe one group more than the other (we didn't manage to get our own media pass and helicopter...).
We went off to Prances Scout campsite. This is a small campsite about half an hour away by coach from Hyland's Park. Once there, we split into two patrols - Roy's to go off in the morning on a little hike, your intrepid correspondent's to do some work on site - viz. painting, benchmaking, and fence repair. The benchmaking and fence repair went well. See if you can spot the missing entry...
Yup. Teenage kids. Paint. Teenage kids, paint. Teenage kids - paint. Whichever way you put it, it don't look good... In their defence, some of it went on the building. As to the rest? There were a few showers required!
After lunch, it was off for our hike. As it turned out, this was less a hike and more of a small womble. The Americans lead off, singing marching songs. The Germans and British consequently fell behind somewhat... In a cruel twist, the route went past THREE pubs - and your intrepid correspondent wasn't allowed in any of them! It also went past some exceedingly big houses, and an ice cream shop that was most welcome, 'cause it's been getting hotter...
The other group, meantimes, went off to an Alzheimer's Society place, and spend some quality time sleeping. This allowed them to build up enough energy to do a bit of weeding in the afternoon! More on this when I have one of them with me...
And then to today, Monday. There's a big football competition underway, and we're on shortly. It's beginning to dawn on people that it will soon be over - the day of Day Visitors is today, the Plaza shuts tomorrow. It feels like we've been here for ages - but that it's over too soon...
Watch this space for the
Saturday, 4 August 2007
Ticket to Ride
We've now been given a departure time - 12:45 on Wednesday - so will probably return at around about 16:30 at the Regency Hotel.
However, there are a lot of variables, so please do check the website before heading out for pick-up - we should be able to update it from the coach, so will be able to give a better indication of time as we get closer to Solihull.
However, there are a lot of variables, so please do check the website before heading out for pick-up - we should be able to update it from the coach, so will be able to give a better indication of time as we get closer to Solihull.
Hot in the City
After yesterday's brief interlude, normal authorship is resumed... So - what's the latest news from Wadi?
It's hot, hot, hot! is the main headline. Although the forecast for the early part of next week doesn't look so good (boo!), at the moment it's hot down here. So - we're getting through a lot of suncream, and Sainsbury's are doing a roaring trade in drinks.
Today's programme was Aquaville, which ended up confusing most people. Primarily 'cause it didn't seem to have too much to do with water... However, there were alot of activities there, and the Explorers had the opportunity to crack the whip, build a house, have a cycle competition, kick rugby balls (current Jamboree record holder, Mark W...) and a whole lot more.
Once they'd done that, though, they did return to camp - which is now somewhat like an Aqua Ville - as there's the Mother of All Water Fights going on out there (your intrepid correspondent has sought refuge in the Internet Cafe!). So expect water rationing in the South East some point in the near future.
In terms of other news, Tom managed a night in the camp, and is a LOT better this morning, which is exceedingly good news! Anyhow, enjoy the BBQs tonight, and once more into the (damp) breach!
It's hot, hot, hot! is the main headline. Although the forecast for the early part of next week doesn't look so good (boo!), at the moment it's hot down here. So - we're getting through a lot of suncream, and Sainsbury's are doing a roaring trade in drinks.
Today's programme was Aquaville, which ended up confusing most people. Primarily 'cause it didn't seem to have too much to do with water... However, there were alot of activities there, and the Explorers had the opportunity to crack the whip, build a house, have a cycle competition, kick rugby balls (current Jamboree record holder, Mark W...) and a whole lot more.
Once they'd done that, though, they did return to camp - which is now somewhat like an Aqua Ville - as there's the Mother of All Water Fights going on out there (your intrepid correspondent has sought refuge in the Internet Cafe!). So expect water rationing in the South East some point in the near future.
In terms of other news, Tom managed a night in the camp, and is a LOT better this morning, which is exceedingly good news! Anyhow, enjoy the BBQs tonight, and once more into the (damp) breach!
Friday, 3 August 2007
On Hospitals, Part Two
A quick update with some good news - Tom's out of hospital, so the contingent is once again complete!
Thursday, Part Two
As promised, more on what happened at Gilwell from Chris and Jono, who had the advantage of actually being there, in their own, unique, uncensored, style...
Please don't sue... :o)
To start the activity the group was given a guided tour of Gilwell park, but was not understood because of the dude's German accent! After the thrills of the tour we headed into the barn; which had been converted into a museum of scouting (the fun!), where we watched a video all about the history of scouting and Baden Powell.
Once we had survived the excitement of the first part, it was off to the assault course this iswhen the action started! To start we had a bit of fun showing an American guy the joys of being on the receiving end of a bit of British humour... After that it was fun all the way we ran down a long track taking people down in our paths, then into the slide, over the fence ALOT!and just before we were ready to die of oxygen starvation they chucked in a rope we had to climb its fair to say we were ready to drop by the end.
Then the well deserved lunch for a short while with the entertainment of some morris dancers (not us!) and of course Keir and his trigger happy stunts. We were then rushed off to the best part of the day making our own food which also included fire. Also tying to convince jamboree staff that jono needed to brand me with the jamboree logo (Andy's note to Chris's Mum - he didn't convince them - he's okay!).
After failing to brand chris we decided the next best option was to have a go on the soaking wet trampolines as this was the next best way to hurt ourselves. After messing around on these for a while and failing to cause any mischief or pain it was time to head back to get on the coach.
Once on the coach, the majority of us decided to have a sleep after our fun filled day at Gilwell, meanwhile the rest of us just bullied the ones that were sleeping (pen mistoches etc.) Once back at camp we had some tasty tuccer and chilled out for a bit on the site.
Please don't sue... :o)
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Thursday, Part One
This is going to be a quick update, for various reasons - the main of which is that, since the untimely demise of Andy's laptop, we're reliant upon the Internet Cafes - and it's been ever more difficult to get a terminal!
So - what's been happening today? It was (yet another!) early start, 'cause we were off to Gilwell. Where, erm, people did stuff... Apologies, but your Intrepid Correspondent was up all night sorting out Tom M, so didn't get top go to Gilwell. We'll post an update as to what happened there tomorrow!
And then dinner. Which was excellent. Superb. Without equal. Possibly cooked by the writer... :o)
This evening's been full of activities - for example, a kareokee (it's spelt something like that!) version of "By The Way" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers sung by some Italians in English to a load of Taiwanese in traditional costume. Which isn't something you see every day...
Much more to follow tomorrow. Latest position on transport is that we should be able to give details on Sunday...
So - what's been happening today? It was (yet another!) early start, 'cause we were off to Gilwell. Where, erm, people did stuff... Apologies, but your Intrepid Correspondent was up all night sorting out Tom M, so didn't get top go to Gilwell. We'll post an update as to what happened there tomorrow!
And then dinner. Which was excellent. Superb. Without equal. Possibly cooked by the writer... :o)
This evening's been full of activities - for example, a kareokee (it's spelt something like that!) version of "By The Way" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers sung by some Italians in English to a load of Taiwanese in traditional costume. Which isn't something you see every day...
Much more to follow tomorrow. Latest position on transport is that we should be able to give details on Sunday...
On Hospitals
A quick update. Some of you may be aware that Tom M's suffered an allergic reaction to something, and has been in and out of hospital for the past few days. He's currently having a bit of a rest in hospital, but is generally fine!
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Media Darlings Part Three
We've finally had (some) success on the pictures front - head over to www.solihullscoutcounty.org.uk to see a couple of them (proves that they're still alive - and contry to some suggestions - clean!). There's also a download of the BBC WM interview, thanks to Ian Carpenter.
So, apart from trying to ensure that we took the opportunity to maximise local publicity, what else have we been up to? After a cold early start at 5:30 this morning, it's just got hotter and hotter here, so there's been a lot of hot Explorers. It's fair to say that we've got through a fair amount of sunblock today... It also turned out to be a bad day for the exploration of food day - we brought Cadbury's chocolate as representative of our area. It melted somewhat...
The Explorers have spent much of the day mooching round the site, meeting people. For example, Andy and Sue - you may find that you have some entries for Switzerland on your 'phone bill upon our return... We've also had a visit from a Greek Scout who spoke pretty fluent English - not surprisingly, as he only moved to Greece from Solihull two years ago!
Tomorrow's programme is offsite to Gilwell Park - a day of climbing things and jumping off things. We're hoping that they all return intact!
So, apart from trying to ensure that we took the opportunity to maximise local publicity, what else have we been up to? After a cold early start at 5:30 this morning, it's just got hotter and hotter here, so there's been a lot of hot Explorers. It's fair to say that we've got through a fair amount of sunblock today... It also turned out to be a bad day for the exploration of food day - we brought Cadbury's chocolate as representative of our area. It melted somewhat...
The Explorers have spent much of the day mooching round the site, meeting people. For example, Andy and Sue - you may find that you have some entries for Switzerland on your 'phone bill upon our return... We've also had a visit from a Greek Scout who spoke pretty fluent English - not surprisingly, as he only moved to Greece from Solihull two years ago!
Tomorrow's programme is offsite to Gilwell Park - a day of climbing things and jumping off things. We're hoping that they all return intact!
Media Darlings Part Two
Hmm. Well, you all sat and listened to BBC CWR. Meantimes, over on BBC WM, two of the contingent, Peter H and Flick J were interviewed on Edd Doolan's show... Oops. Apologies for that, but if anyone did hear it and / or managed to record it, please do let us know.
We've just issued the following Press Release:
"8am, 01 August. 39 Scouts from Solihull joined in with 40,000 others at the World Scout Jamboree at Hylands Park in Essex to renew their promise to work together. This was the start of a long day for the Scouts as they had to be up at 5:30 in the morning to get everything ready, and to ensure that everyone was in place for the occasion. There was a live video link to Brownsea Island, where Scouting began exactly 100 years ago, and the Sunrise was kicked off by Peter Duncan, the UK's Chief Scout.
Steve O'Grady, head of the Solihull Contingent SolJam commented "To see so many people in one place was fantastic! We've been having an awesome time at the Jamboree meeting people from 160 countries, but to see them all there at 8 o'clock this morning was mind blowing!"
The SolJam contingent have been on site for six days now, and have a week to go. Their site is easily identifiable by the Land Rovers on the Gate. They're joined by Argentinians one side and South Koreans on the other. Commenting on the Jamboree so far, Paul Thomas (pictured) said "I've had an amazing time so far. There have been loads of activities, and I've met people from around the world. Getting up so early in the morning's tiring though!"
Solihull Scouts have managed to make the news whilst they've been here. Their flags figured on the cover of "One Word", the Jamboree Newspaper, some of them have been seen on BBC News 24, they've been filmed for Japanese television, and two of the contingent, Felicity Jeyes and Peter Hopton, were interviewed live on BBC Radio WM's Edd Doolan show.
Ends."
Hopefully, we're now getting somewhere with the pictures! Check out http://www.solihullscoutcounty.org.uk/, where, all being well, there should be a couple of pictures from here!
Further update later. Bye for now!
We've just issued the following Press Release:
"8am, 01 August. 39 Scouts from Solihull joined in with 40,000 others at the World Scout Jamboree at Hylands Park in Essex to renew their promise to work together. This was the start of a long day for the Scouts as they had to be up at 5:30 in the morning to get everything ready, and to ensure that everyone was in place for the occasion. There was a live video link to Brownsea Island, where Scouting began exactly 100 years ago, and the Sunrise was kicked off by Peter Duncan, the UK's Chief Scout.
Steve O'Grady, head of the Solihull Contingent SolJam commented "To see so many people in one place was fantastic! We've been having an awesome time at the Jamboree meeting people from 160 countries, but to see them all there at 8 o'clock this morning was mind blowing!"
The SolJam contingent have been on site for six days now, and have a week to go. Their site is easily identifiable by the Land Rovers on the Gate. They're joined by Argentinians one side and South Koreans on the other. Commenting on the Jamboree so far, Paul Thomas (pictured) said "I've had an amazing time so far. There have been loads of activities, and I've met people from around the world. Getting up so early in the morning's tiring though!"
Solihull Scouts have managed to make the news whilst they've been here. Their flags figured on the cover of "One Word", the Jamboree Newspaper, some of them have been seen on BBC News 24, they've been filmed for Japanese television, and two of the contingent, Felicity Jeyes and Peter Hopton, were interviewed live on BBC Radio WM's Edd Doolan show.
Ends."
Hopefully, we're now getting somewhere with the pictures! Check out http://www.solihullscoutcounty.org.uk/, where, all being well, there should be a couple of pictures from here!
Further update later. Bye for now!
Media Darlings
Okay - slight calmness after the somewhat hectic activity around Scouting Sunrise. It's now 10:30am, and we've been up for 5 hours so far...
So - what happened with the BBC? Erm - we were kinda on it. As far as we can work out, what actually happened is that, as the BBC were broadcasting, we were filmed - by Japanese TV. So, it looks like we'll be on TV, for those readers in the Tokyo area...
There'll be another update later, and we're getting ever closer to being able to load some photos onto the Flickr account. Tune back later for more!
So - what happened with the BBC? Erm - we were kinda on it. As far as we can work out, what actually happened is that, as the BBC were broadcasting, we were filmed - by Japanese TV. So, it looks like we'll be on TV, for those readers in the Tokyo area...
There'll be another update later, and we're getting ever closer to being able to load some photos onto the Flickr account. Tune back later for more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
