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Thurs
22nd April: Planning and games evening
We
met at Braid Church Hall and after a quick game run by Martin (in which
Mikael, Alan and Caroline were inveigled into joining in), we divided
into our Award groups to look at our progress and make plans for the
future. Alan then sent us away to find nine items, each with an initial
letter from the words NORTH FACE. At this, Sarah's team were victorious
and won themselves some packets of chocolate goodies. Martin finished
off the evening by running some more silly games (once he had worked
out the rules).
Thurs
29th April: Incident hike at Bonaly: Pirates of the Carribean
We
met at Bonaly at the entrance to the Country Park. Three bands of
apprentice pirates had to make their way with the aid of an old sea
chart and ship's compass to three bases. They were met by various old
and young pirate captains who presented them with tasks such as finding
the last piece of the Aztec's Gold, identifying a ship from a drawing
and decoding number clues. Each base successfully completed provided
the team with one more piece of evidence as to the location of Captain
Kidd's Treasure. We finished as it got dark and just as the
treasure
was discovered.
Thurs 6th May: Kayaking and
mountain biking
The
kayakers met at Longcraig with Alan and Caroline and were taken out by
Shiela, who showed them several of the skills needed for kayaking to
the British Canoe Union tests. They paddled forwards and backwards, did
sweep strokes and stern rudders and some had more capsizing practice
than others! The mountain bikers met at Bonaly with Martin and Mikael
and did a circuit set around the bike tracks in the northern Pentlands.
There were some questions to answer at a base.
Thurs
13th May: Creative evening
We
met at Braid Centre and then had to walk up to Cluny Centre, where,
luckily, the Cubs were doing something away from the Hall. Alan set us
all the task of writing a sketch and performing it. There were a number
of words that we had to use and points were awarded for musical
content, best use of costume and props and general acting ability and
originality. The team that should have won came third and the team that
should have come fourth came first... but them's the marks and the
winners received their just desserts.
Thurs
20th May: Kayaking and mountain biking
The
kayakers met at Longcraig with Alan and Caroline and did very much what
the others had done a fortnight earlier, though with less capsizing.
The mountain biker, yes that's right, all one of him, met at Bonaly
with Martin... but as he'd done the circuit before, didn't bother again!
Thurs 27th May:
North Face Explorers meet the Hash House Harriers
We
met at the Church on a wonderful balmy evening and after introductions,
Max set us off on a run around Morningside. The idea of 'hashing' is to
follow a trail of flour, or in our case, chalk arrows. At various check
points, there are a number of blind trails that end up with a chalk F
(for False) and a real trail that is to be followed. By the time the
tail-enders have caught up, the leaders should have found the trail and
everyone should finish together. In our case, the tail-enders were
rather farther behind than normal and took a short cut back to the
Church. The others ran through Morningside churchyard, past Blackford
pond and through the grounds of the Astley Ainslie Hospital. despite
this, we did all finish together, so the evening was judged a success.
Thurs
3rd June:
Sky-ride aerial assault course
The
Unit met earlier than they had expected (at 5:45 pm) at the Ratho
Climbing Centre. Given our tickets, we made our way up to the top of
the building and were soon harnessed up and hanging by bits of string a
hundred feet above the climbing arena! We had to complete an assault
course, but it didn't matter if we fell, because the string held us
up! We chilled out afterwards in the cafe, where Sarah
entertained
everyone with juggling and balancing acts.
Thurs
10th June: The not-so-wide game
We
met at Cluny Centre, all ready for a wide game on Blackford Hill. Alan
divided us into three teams but just as we were starting to read the
instructions, some heavy drops of rain were felt. Russell's and
Caroline's teams somehow sheltered in Russell's car, while Alan's team
reconvened in his van, so that the inkjet instructions did not run. The
intensity of the rain increased and soon it was decided that we had to
abandon the game. Very many thanks are due to John's parents for
providing accommodation for the Explorers at very short
notice!
Thurs
17th June: Paper and recycling evening
We
met back at Braid Centre for a series of three quizzes on paper and
recycling, interspersed with more practical competitions on making
boats and planes out of paper and then a fashion parade with hats and
jewelry made out of newspaper.
Fri
25th June: Midsummer vigil camp fire and camp
We
met at Bonaly for a camp fire, the Explorers being delegated to prepare
the fire, prepare the food and pitch the tents, including the new event
tent. The camp fire was a low-key event with not a lot of singing but
general socialising instead. The following day, after breakfast, we set
to in the Roman Bath, clearing the silt that had filled it during the
recent flooding of the burn (that would be a fortnight ago then— see
above!). We left at lunch time.
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