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Long Weekend Camp to Coolendel
7-9 September 2007
The Scout Troop took advantage of the APEC long weekend to go somewhere that
might normally be out of range - a four hour drive to Coolendel, west of Nowra
on the Shoalhaven River. Leaving Bangor in the rain on Friday morning, we headed
south and drove out of the rain into sunshine. We arrived at Coolendel by 1pm
with an extra 50kgs of mud on each vehicle and set-up the large dinning fly just
before it started raining again.
After camp was set-up, the rest of the afternoon was taken up by a short hike, collecting fire wood
and relaxing around the fire. After dinner we did a night hike spotting wombats
and the legend of 'Spanky' the wombat was born. Heavy rain sent us to bed early.
Two Scouts built their own shelter to sleep in as part of the Bushcraft
Proficiency Badge and it was put to a severe test with lots of rain overnight -
but they stayed dry.
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It was raining on Saturday morning so we put on our swimmers and went for a long hike around the river bank. We explored several rapids and despite the ice cold water, many Scouts ended up in the river. By noon the sun was out and the early afternoon was spent on construction activities.
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Later that afternoon we went on a long hike through the muddy 'Wombat Hollow' and along the river to a high lookout. Along the way we saw a goanna, wombats and lyrebirds; and also learned about stinging nettles. After dinner we enjoyed a great campfire under a clear sky with a very bright milky way. We toasted damper twists and marshmallows, enjoyed some songs and puzzles and told lots of jokes. Later the clouds returned and rain sent us under cover.
A sunny Sunday morning was spent by the river participating in a major construction activity for the Shoalhaven water supply scheme - building a giant dam.
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Our last activity before packing up camp was another section of the Bushcraft proficiency badge - investigating a method for straining contaminated water. |
After lunch it was a slow, muddy drive back to the sealed road. There was lots of traffic on the way home and we arrived back by 4pm. Thanks to all involved for another great weekend.
