Scary night in Chester
Well it was scary for Deano when he couldn't find a supermarket in Wrexham that hadn't sold out of pumpkins for the first part of the evening. Always the good Scout though he saved the day by inventing the sport of melon carving - which I think are even better than pumpkins...
After the melons, Butcher and resident ghost hunter Donna took the Unit on a terrifying walk around some of their old haunts.
Posted at 21:45, 10/11/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Climbing & Team building
For two weeks we tried an experiment in K2. We've said for a while that when we get too big to handle you all in one Unit, we'll try to split into two parts. One idea was to split according to age - one Unit for those aged 14 and 15, the other for 16 and 17 year olds.
Well now we've tried it, I'm not sure it worked!
Half went climbing with the others doing team games, and then we swapped the week after. The older group seemed fine, but the younger group just didn't really show up!
Posted at 21:33, 10/11/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Siabod in the sunshine
We joined 1st Rhosnesni Scouts for a couple of days in Snowdonia last weekend and couldn't have asked for better weather.
Thanks to Gerry Kellett from Pen-y-Cae Scouts, we were able to go up Moel Siabod, the big mountain the left you notice going into Capel Curig. For an October weekend it was really warm and sunny and everyone had a fantastic day out.
After lunch on the top, everyone made their way back to the car park just in time for me to pick them up and take them down to the campsite (I'd been on an easier walk with the younger Scouts).
After tea of spag bol we spent the rest of the night in our own camp casino. The next morning we popped into Betws for a spot of shopping before heading home.
Posted at 22:30, 20/10/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Who's got the K-Factor?
Last night we went all musical at K2 when Brendan, off of the local Wrexham music scene, came along to play us a few songs that he'd written, answer questions about songwriting, and then helped the Explorers with their own performances.
I was a bit dubious about how it'd turn out - especially Sam's group who seemed to have nothing more than a few cardboard tubes and a flute - but the results were quite amazing...
Posted at 8:48, 11/10/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Keeping the kids off the streets
Lots of people say that Scouts is all about keeping young people off the streets. Something I hate. So tonight we had our revenge!
Starting at three random locations around Wrexham, everyone was sent a text of the location they had to get to - well, a 4 figure reference which they found on the special map provided - and headed off to do challenges.
Posted at 18:47, 06/10/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Bread making
Who knew bread making was so easy!? Just another 30 minutes in the oven at a slightly lower temperature and our carefully crafted loaves would have been ready. But then it'd have been about 10.15, and even we've never been that late.
Seemed like a good reaction to our announcement of an alternative to Sweden - more on this in the next few days.
Posted at 23:41, 26/09/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Caergwrle Castle
Great turnout last night for a Monday away from the hut - even scared away the chavs lurking around Caergwrle. Gave them a bit of a shock I think when 30-odd Explorers turned up!
After a bad start with people wondering up and down the High St looking quite lost, people at long last seemed to get the hang of it and eventually we had some groups getting to the end zone of the top of the castle.
Still work to be done on navigation skills though I think!
Posted at 17:24, 20/09/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Happy 5th birthday K2!
September 11th means a lot to many people around the world, but to us it's the anniversary of K2's founding, back in 2006. To celebrate our 5 years of adventure and general silliness, we had a party involving melons, balloons, teabags and custard. Messy.
Posted at 12:45, 20/09/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Teeing off a new term
First of all my apologies for last week. Much as I'd love to have been whacking golf balls down the fairway, I'd been invited to Berlin on the stag do of an old Scouting friend.
Looks like you had fun though (thanks Jake for the photos)...
Posted at 21:29, 13/09/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Here's your end of term round up
As you lazy lot couldn't be bother cycling over the Pennines, that's it for K2 until after the summer break. Here's how we ended the term...
First of all, some amazing, brilliant, fantastic news: Most of K2's 'A-Team', with a couple of ringers, took part in an Ormskirk District Scouts event called Alcatraz. Sam, Christian, Andy, Rob and new Sam competed against lots of other teams trying to get from Minera Lead Mines to Loggerheads via Llangollen without being caught by catchers.
Incredibly, our team came 2nd overall, and finished the course first, only losing out because they were caught one more time than the winning team.
We are really proud of the five of you!
Then, to mark the announcement of the details of our K2 summer expedition next year to Sweden, and to give Simon a good send off to the World Scout Jamboree, we had a Swedish night, eating meatballs and pickled herrings, playing kubb, making a new Frank and hearing about what Simon's got coming up at the Jamboree.
Finally, we ended the term off with a mystery train ride, which didn't stay a mystery for long thanks to someone with a big mouth (you know who you are). We went to...
Yes, that's right - Shrewsbury!
Have a great summer, see you in September for our 5th Birthday!
Posted at 19:09, 23/07/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
We go up in the world
On of the requirements for the Silver Dragon Award is to camp at least 2 metres above ground, and we gave those of our members who didn't have school or college the next morning the chance to tick this one off last night by building tree houses.
The results were quite impressive as before long huge pioneering poles were swinging through the air and up into position up the trees of Cox Wood, with 10 Explorers braving it to spend the night up high.
We had a fantastic weekend at Sun Run, and everyone did really well with their times. You can read more in my blog on the Clwyd Scouts website.
Posted at 18:16, 05/07/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Frisbee golf - how many plates lost?
Much better turn-out this week for frisbee golf on Hope mountain. Me, Ollie and Jake had spent 2 hours setting up the course, and checking the pars (which we had loads of fun doing), before we sent you all off with your score cards.
Quite a few requests from other people for the rules, so here we are: the aim was to throw a frisbee (OK so we used cheap camp plates) from the tee towards the hole - a pole with a circle of rope at the bottom. The frisbee must land with any part of it within the circle to be in the hole. Simples.
Welcome officially to Alice, Alex, Cameron, Dan, Laura, Matthew, Owain and Steph, who all finally got invested last night, and to Sam who came for his first time.
Oh - feedback on whether the direction signs worked, and if it's worth doing again when we go out and about, welcome.
Posted at 8:44, 28/06/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
You lot are like buses!
But the opposite way round. First we had loads turn up for a really good night doing this...
...and this...
...but a week later hardly anyone comes to do this...
Posted at 21:39, 23/06/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
A night of bang, boom and p'twang
This week, in a ballistics themed evening...
Shooting
Mortars
Archery
and Revision Corner*
*they may have been revising projectiles? Perhaps?
Posted at 22:39, 07/06/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Fighting off the triathletes
What is it with us and water activities? We try to have a model boat race on Acton Park lake and get set upon by fishermen, and last night we go rafting at Eccleston Ferry and are invaded by loads of mad people in wet suits!
Despite one team not knowing what they were doing but battling on, and one team knowing what they were doing but looking like they didn't, we ended up with two really good rafts which survived most of the night.
Oh, here's a picture of one of those triathletes I mentioned...
Posted at 20:55, 31/05/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Backwoods cooking
On a really nice night down Cox Wood we got four huge fires blazing, split the Explorers into teams and got cooking, backwoods stylee.
The menu included trout, mackerel, various veg, cake baked in an orange, and stuffed apples.
Posted at 20:46, 31/05/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Boats and biking
I really must get back into the habit of updating this blog more often. Mondays are starting to come in twos!
Back a couple of weeks we had a bit of trouble down Acton Park lake when the fishermen took exception to us trying out our model boats.
Then this week we headed up to Llandegla for a spot of mountain biking. Exam time is upon us, and not all Explorers have bikes, so the turn-out of nine wasn't bad:
Posted at 11:49, 21/05/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Expeditions, spuds and expeditions
What a weird few weeks it's been. Seems like that hunting visit was years ago.
I've had 3 weekends camping - first assessing K2's DofE expeditions. Well done to the 3 groups we had out, bronzes, silver practices and silver qualifying. It was a really nice weekend and everyone did great. Good numbers out too. I think that at long last we've cracked putting on successful DofE expeditions!
For the following Monday we went all environmental planting our own potatoes, avocados and chillies and working out how many trees we need to plant to balance the carbon expended getting food here from overseas.
Then it was the Easter weekend and me, Butcher, Ollie and Jake went up to National Network Gathering in the Lakes. It's great to see 2 of our former Explorers finally getting to a Network event.
For the first time in ages, K2 didn't meet on a Monday outside summer or Christmas holidays. We usually put something on for Easter Monday but as we've been bowling and laserquesting recently didn't feel it was worth repeating. Hope you enjoyed your Monday off!
Finally it was the weekend of the Wye Cruise. We're really disappointed that only 3 K2 Explorers went on this, but those who went had an amazing time in great weather.
Despite only getting back from the Wye at about 6pm, we still ran Explorers at 7.30 with a nice barbecue and DofE presentations. Well done to those that took part in this - all the Leaders agreed that they were some of the best DofE presentations we'd ever seen. Really interesting, covering the project well. It seems you've been listening after all!
Posted at 15:24, 07/05/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
Who's changed their mind about hunting?
Until tonight I was against fox hunting, but after tonight's visit to the Wynnstay Hunt Kennels, I'm not so sure anymore. Hopefully the Explorers now have a better understanding of the issues surrounding hunting so they can make their own minds up.
The highlight of the evening had to be one of the hounds cocking it's leg up against Butcher who was left with a yellow stream running down his leg!
We finished with cake and pop and a quick (if muddy) wide game in the neighbouring woods.
Posted at 23:50, 11/04/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge
I'm an Explorer get me out of here!
Didn't do a blog last week - sorry Dean and Ollie - so this entry is about this week and last week, and the title seems to fit them both!
Last week Cox Wood became our 'jungle' as we recreated the hit TV show I'm a Celebrity get me our of here. As I've never seen it I can't really judge how close Dolly (as Dean and Ollie are known together) got to the actual programme, but those who spend far too much of their time watching Ant and Dec tell me it was identical to the real thing.
This week some Explorers really did want to get out of here as we took them to see an abattoir, but most manned up and took advantage of the opportunity to see for themselves where meat comes from.
A huge thank you to Jones Brothers Farm Shop's Pete for showing us around. We can definitely vouch for the freshness of their products now!
Posted at 0:05, 05/04/2011 - Find out what counts towards the K2 Challenge