We got up earlier that usual because we had to pack our sleeping bags etc... for 'Camp in Camp'. Swedish, Norwegian and Finish scout groups, located their annual summer camps, near to the jamboree site so that we got an opportunity to visit, stay the night, and experience traditional Scandinavian scouting.
Once we were packed, Kev's Patrol 'D', were on duty so cooked breakfast. At exactly 9:00am, we were collected by a member of the Camp in Camp planning team, who took us down to the bus stops.
Earlier that morning, Tom had lost his passport and Rosie had lost her money belt (containing everything important of her except her passport), so they went to the onsite police station, which was near the bus stops. They then came back over to us and we were split up into our patrols and sent to different bus stops.
We sat in the baking hot sun for several hours and chatted and also were told to change bus stops several times. Eventually , at 1pm! Our bus arrived, just as we got a text from Kev saying that they had just finished putting up their tents. We got on the coach and most people fell asleep, except me, Emily and Kimbo who chatted, took photos of the people sleeping and sang everyone to sleep with the help of the ukulele.
About two hours later we arrived at our Camp in Camp site, after going to one and finding it was full we were taken to another. We found that we were being hosted by Norwegian Scouts. After we had got everything off the coach, we went a big circle where we each said our name and the country we were from. We were then told that we would put up our tents, and after that we could go swimming in the lake. We quickly put up our tents which we like modern teepees, put our stuff inside before getting changed for the lake. Rosie realized that she was expected to sleep in with the Girls, which in the UK, leaders aren't alowed to do, so had to organize sleeping in with some Manchester leader. After that, we went over to the large table the Norwegians had made out of pioneering poles (they had made four flagpoles and a volleyball court as well!), and ate our lunch. We then followed the Norwegians, down a path, through woods until we reached the lake. The lake was huge, it was like the sort of lake you would see on a BBC documentary and was absolutely amazing! We quickly went in and found that the 'floor' was littered with hidden, but huge rocks which we kept stubbing our toes on. We decided to swim out to a little island in the lake and then jumped back in off a large rock. We then swam around the island and stayed in, swimming, splashing and chatting with the other people we were on Camp in Camp with. As well as the Norwegians, there was a patrol from Manchester, a patrol from Germany and a patrol from Indonesia. After we'd tired ourselves out swimming, we came back up to the campsite, dried off and sat in the sun, chatted and sang all afternoon. We were told that there would be a campfire that night and we would have to preform as well as every other patrol. We also gave the Norwegians, some of our Avonasaurus merchandise, including a flag which they put up one of their flagpoles. Later in the evening, we got our food ready to be cooked, we looked inside the bag and found, that after one of Kev's patrol had asked to borrow some of our stock, we had no stock and only half the amount of noodles. Rosie then told us not to worry, because if we got hungry we could just have some of the cereal we'd brought for breakfast, until we looked in the bag and realized we didn't have any of that either. We then all just started laughing and after we'd eventually calmed down, we went and asked the Norwegians if they had any stock we could have, which they did. We were the last to cook dinner and when we finally did, there was hardly any.
After dinner, we decided that we would sing Hallelujah at the campfire, and after finding out there was a keyboard, Rosie said she would play along. We then had the campfire, after the Norwegian, and all the other, flags were lowered and replaced with the Jolly Roger for overnight. There was a performance from each of the patrols which were all quite strange, including the Indonesians Camel, the Manchurian's ugly person and our singing - which went down very well. We also all sang as a group and were each given a badge, specific to our camp in camp. After that, there was biscuits and cake, before we all went off to our tents. I was last in, so ended up by the door, with a drip right over my face.
Kathryn, our unit leader who sadly was unable to come to the Jamboree, sent an email round every day about what our unit had been doing from what Kev and other leaders/IST had texted her. You can find what she said about this day below:
"Hello everyone
Monday was another lovely hot day, the sun was up and about early and Lucy was busy all of the day selling ice cream! Avon today went on their camp within a camp experience - an early start as they had to be a the bus stop by 9.30 - so up and breakfast early and all tidied away. After a rather long wait for the buses in the heat of the day, they were finally off with the Units that they will be spending the next 48 hours with. Each patrol went their separate ways with no idea where they were going but with a bus full of very excited young people.
There are about 80 camps within a camp which are hosted by different groups all over Southern Sweden, each group is free to run their own camps and organise what they want for their visitors so each Patrol will have a very different experience and there will be lots to talk about when they all return to camp on Tuesday. Kev's patrol are about an hour from the site and are camping in a beautiful part of Sweden, next to a lake with mountains behind them and yesterday they got to go canoeing. This is really a great chance to meet and mix with other nationalities on a much smaller scale and from what I can gather there are some truely amazing camp fires taking place in the evenings.
On the site yesterday, those that were left were taking advantage of the lovely weather and apparently the whole site was taken over by washing lines as everyone decided that after a week or more it was time to get thier washing done! I am sure that a lot of parents will be smiliing right now at the thought of their children having a go a hand washing !!! The site also continues to celebrate and educate the Scouts on many different issues with conferences and talks taking place covering subjects like Gay rights, Ramadam, Swiss National day and safe guarding young people from harm.
Avon will be back on site later on today and I am sure will all be pleased to see each other again and will have yet more stories to tell of their continued adventure.
Best wishes
Kathryn
WSJ Bristol"
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