Blog

During the week we updated a blog to let people back home know what was going on. A transcript of it is below.
Note that time in brackets (when Blog was posted) is UK time. So add an hour for Swiss time. Yes the Leaders were up at nearly 2am some mornings sorting things out for the following day!

5th August

Only a week to go now! Better start packing soon. :-) (14:38)

13th August

Half way (04:07)
It's now 5am Saturday morning and we are probably about half way there. Not far from Luxemburg at the moment. The plan is to stop there to refuel both the coach and scouts :-)

Nearly there (07:54)
Just stopped past Metz for breakfast. Next stop should be Switzerland!

Switzerland (10:44)
After a hold up at the border due to road works we are now in Switzerland. About 1.5 hours and we should be there.

We made it (18:08)
We arrived here at 2.30. The view from our chalet is amazing. Right opposite up is the Swiss Alps! We are so high up we are actually in the clouds :-)

14th August

Up in the Alps (21:56)
We have been up in the alps today. The cable cars seemed to go forever! We got to the last station on the first one and then decided to hike up higher and catch one to go up even further. We then came back down a short way and then 40 of us used the scooters to come down even further. There was 3 or 4 fallers but no broken bones.

15th August

The rain won't stop us! (00:33 - 16/08/05)
Its been raining all day today, but when you are this far up in the clouds I guess you should expect it! So we altered what we did to suit the weather. We went to the caves this morning which took up 400 metres into the mountain down near Interlaken. Then some time to buy gifts before going on the cruise on lake Thun. We have never seen emerald coloured water before! I guess everyone at home is so looking forward to seeing the photo's :-)

16th August

SUN!! (08:39)
What a beautiful sunny morning. The tops of the mountains are still covered with snow but bright sunshine is making then look like picture postcards. We are on our way to the waterfalls this morning then up to the restaurant that was in James Bond. Ice Skating later tonight too.

17th August

Photo's & Reply's (00:30)
The technology we have here is not working as hoped so we can't upload photo's. We can connect to the internet via mobile phone, but not the Silver End Scout web server. I'm afraid we can't reply to email either as running up Dan's mobile phone bill enough just updating the Blog and receiving emails. Rest assured though we are passing on and reading out your messages. The full report for Tuesday will appear shortly, so bear with up while we get some sleep :-)

Tuesday (17:40)
Finally got round to telling you about yesterday. The waterfalls in the morning were amazing. 20,000 litres of water pass through it every second! Even though the sun was out still got wet from all the spray. The James Bond place was unbelievable. We were above the clouds looking over all the peaks! Hopefully the photo's will do it justice :-)

What a scorcher! (23:21)
It's been the hottest day yet with bright sunshine and temperatures of 26! A glorious morning in the swimming pool and then a leisurely stroll to the woodcarvers. The Scouts brought loads of gifts there to bring back home so expect some unique things. This evening we went climbing and had another excellent time. Fingers crossed for more good weather tomorrow.

18th August

Screaming through the valley (17:03)
We have had another excellent day with the adventure park this morning. This involved zip wires over the valley, free fall abseiling and bridges and jumps 21 metres up! Lots of screaming as the Scouts went down the zip wires and not just from the girls :-) We are off to the Swiss night now, the report on that will follow later...

We stole the show! (00:40 - 19/08/05)
We made it to the Swiss night in time despite Holly-Ann getting her woggle stuck on her finger. Surgery wasn't needed just washing up liquid and cold water. After some glorious Swiss food each Group performed a sketch. We got the biggest cheer when we sung 'Show of the way to Adelboden'. Tony Christie would of been proud :-)

19th August

The final day (00:49 - 20/08/05)
The final full day here in Switzerland was filled with travelling up the chair lift in Kandestag then doing the toboggan run. Everyone had a fun filled time before visiting the Scout Centre. We then had an hour or so to go shopping in Adelboden to get gifts to bring home. So expect lots of chocolate :-)

20th August

Bye Bye Adelboden (10:34)
The Scouts were excellent this morning and really knuckled down and got the Chalet gleaming as we found it. We passed the inspection and were given the all clear to leave. We are now leaving Adelboden and making our way to Bern were we stop for a few hours before heading back to Calais.

The long leg (15:17)
We are now on the long leg of the journey after stopping in Bern. Another 11 hours until we get to Calais.

Dinner Time (20:28)
We've just spent an hour at the services for the Scouts to eat their sandwiches or buy food. Now we are off to the port and still scheduled to arrive home at 7am maybe a little bit earlier.

21st August

Back on the boat (02:28)
We are now leaving France. We have actually got an earlier ferry, so may get back earlier. So if you are up at this crazy time in the morning please get to the co-op about 30 mins earlier.

That's all folks! (08:07)
Well we are all back safe and sound. It was an emotional farewell (have to admit I had a lump in my throat too) as new friends were made and some Scouts will now be moving on to Explorers. A great week with a great bunch of young people. If you are one of their parents you should be proud of them :-)

Just one more thing... (09:53)
A big thank you to the Scouts for the chocolate and beer glasses you brought for me. It wasn't necessary but many thanks for thinking of me.