Adventure Camp

Many of you know that Sassy was the scout master for 2nd Castle Hill. For many years we did some amazing camps. There were beach camps, hiking camps, bike camps, father and son camps and there was, the Adventure camp. Sassy decided that the boys needed to learn some skills. More than just pitching a tent.

The brief was clear. Scouts were only allowed to bring a sleeping bag, no tents were allowed. Dinner on Saturday night was catered for.

I remember arriving home from school on friday afternoon and the truck was packed and ready to go. We drove down to the scout hall and all scouts were shuffled into cars.

Off we set for Mudgee.

The first night we stayed in a rest stop on the way somewhere. My buddy and I jumped out and secured the table as out cover for the evening. The next day we made it to the property where we were staying. As soon as we arrived, Sassy requested us huddle for a briefing.

Off the back of the truck he picked up a hessian bag. Inside were 7 chickens - live chickens! With that smile that reads trouble, he announced that this was our dinner! He laid out the steps that we had to follow including building the fire and the process of killing and cleaning the chooks.

Before we could do that however, we had to catch them. Yep, Sassy let them go so that the troup had to work together to catch dinner. He even showed us where the saying “running around like a headless chook” came from!

So the troup went about our business under the guidance of Sassy and the other leaders to kill, clean and cook our dinner.

Once the tough part was done, it was onto roasting them for later in the evening.

Then with dinner set, and no tents to pitch, we needed shelter from the frost. With whatever we could find, we built make shift structures. It was October in Mudgee, and the morning was cold to say the least.

The adventure camp was one of the best camps that was ever done. It is certainly one that is remembered!