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Nothing dampens the enthusiasm of a couple of hundred scouts. Not winds strong enough to blow down tents designed to house army tanks...no kidding, this really happened. Nor water so choppy it classified as 'Sea State' with proper white horses 'n all. By the time I turned out of my comfortable bed on Saturday morning and arrived at the camp site at 8:30am, there was a full circle of over two hundred scouts assembled around the flag. At the point they were all 'dismissed' and told to get ready for the first 'Aqua' bit of Aquacamp they were so revved up that even Lewis Hamilton could not have out-done them. After some final assembly of the Isis Mansion (10-man tent for those new to the club) we got onto the water ready to receive our super-eager guests. Well they turned up in all manner of garb. Yes - they had the appropriate safety gear provided courtesy of the scouts but the rest was up to them. Personally I saw (besides wetsuits) full high street outfits, waterproof golfing suits, thick woollen socks matched with large school shoes and most memorable of all when invited to play the very popular game of 'get out of your boat-stand up and run across all the other boats in a raft formation to finally sling yourself into the water in the most spectacular way imaginable - one chap emerged from his kayak with a beaming smile wearing.....green wellies! Yes he threw himself into the game with 100% commitment, then he threw himself into the water with 100% commitment, then he somehow managed to get out of the water with footwear weighing in at approx 5kg per leg with 100% commitment and at that point I needed 100% commitment to stop myself from bursting with laughter. No one saw the tears rolling down my cheeks due to the fact that it was raining again but nobody cared about the rain, nobody cared about the wind or the storm force weather conditions on the lake, these scouts were made of stern stuff. Then I found out why - They were Sea Scouts and belonged to the 22nd Oxford troop whose base Isis share. The similarity in attitude was plainly evident, these kids were born to become future members of Isis Canoe Club!
Once again Isis shows that they are able to make the best of any situation, having just as much fun as the kids! It was brilliant to see so many kids that remembered us from last year and to hear the cheers when they found out that they were with us again!
Oh, and if anyone's looking for a lowtop camper with plenty if room for two, I can strongly recommend the Vectra estate!
Highlights of my weekend? Well, there were many...
It was my first time for a few things this weekend...taking part in Aqua camp, staying in the Isis mansion, trying to paddle against gale force wind, rocking the zebra pj's and playing Uno Isis style! Most of the kids were a good laugh (not sure why you would go on an Aqua Camp weekend and then be all stroppy about getting wet!), it was brilliant seeing Jen's evil side come out (trying to convince one of the kids to push a whiney one in), good fun taking the mick out of Simon for how long he takes to play a hand in canasta, and Helen has some mean rules for Uno. l learnt Bridgo has tried most adrenalin sports (please be my cool Uncle Bridgo?), Paul has an awesome paddle wagon that looks very comfy to sleep in, Hilma must have the patience of a saint to be a teacher (and then volunteer her free time to more kids - not to mention put up with Paul :D) and Soren is a legend for rocking up with a crate full of beer! I have several highlights from the weekend; the apple crumble was awesome, watching kids fall on the kayaks (while raft running) and bounce off into the water was hilarious, the wind was immense but it was great fun paddling through the waves and the moment l will always be proud of - catching Simon off guard and pushing him off the jetty! Mwah ha ha ha
Bring on Aqua Camp 2013, we're preparing already!
- JenPhotos by Jen.