ACE 2010

Well, here we are, four days from Jamboree..... and I for one am getting a little excited. I went shopping this week and bought my inflatable bed and new bags. The clothes shopping is complete and now all I have to do is begin the labelling!

The swaps are ready to go..... what have you made? Mine will be a surprise!

I am looking forward to another jamboree (Banksia and my third one) and my last as a guides leader. I cannot wait to share this experience with our girls and rangers, and all the leaders I know. If only the plane wasn't leaving at 6:00am!!!

Banksia and I will be working in operations..... I think this may be the first aid support centre. I hope I remember all my first aid techniques!!! Michaela thinks she will be seeing a LOT of us (you all know how accident prone she is..... and to think she is going surfing! Hope there are no sharks!!!

I will blogging from time to time from the camp..... get your parents to log on from time to time and I will try to update them about what you are all doing.

Have a fabulous time girls!!! XXX

Where Has the Term Gone?

As you can see it has been quite a while since our last blog entry. The term began on a bittersweet note with our beloved Banksia leaving us to establish Warragamba's first ever Rangers Unit. They are know as the Southern Cross Rangers (for girls aged 15 - 18). Our four older guides moved on and upwards to Rangers, leaving our unit much, MUCH quieter!!!

Lorikeet and I have now officially taken over the Waratah unit and the girls have had a very busy term!

Here are some of the things we worked on during the term:

• First aid night (complete with simulated wounds.... very gross girls!) Watch this space for photos. I especially loved Emma's wound complete with cut up bits of plastic cup embedded in petroleum jelly...ewww.
  
• Creative cooking... popping popcorn over tea lights and making crepes full of chocolate, marshmallows and jam. Dubiously delicious!
• Father's day portrait painting - not only did the girls get to paint portraits of their dads, but the dads then reciprocated....very hilarious!
• Knots and lashing (thanks to Mr Blakey for sharing his expertise and to Banksia who returned to help us out)
• Unfortunately we had a fair amount of rain this term so our campfire did not eventuate.
• Farewell to Tara camp - for those of you not in Australia Tara was a beloved campsite used by girl guides NSW for the past 40 or so years. Unfortunately, it had to be sold recently. The farewell camp was an amazing and tearful experience for many.
• Another Bunning BBQ.... all proceeds to the support group who pay our bills.
• Eagle patrol night - army night.
• karaoke and guitar hero

The term passed by very quickly and with next term only being nine weeks we will be packing excitement into every week.

June

Thank God You’re Here! Like the TV show, we have discovered that our girls have a wonderful imagination and sense of humor to ensure this night was full of giggles and belly laughs.

The end of June saw us visiting one of our favourite activity centres, Don Bosco. Don Bosco gives the girls the opportunity to play basketball, snooker, pool, table tennis or work out on the trampoline. A game of basketball was started with siblings and guides taking sides and friendly rivalry started to show through. No one really knows who won (if you ask either side, they both say they did!), but the smiles say they both did!

Campfire - June

Campfires, songs and toasted marshmallows...who could ask for more? Emma, Jemma, Abby, Suzanne and Ann did a wonderful job leading the campfire songs. A big thanks to Beth who brought along her guitar for a little back ground music to assist in our sing alongs. Lorikeet brought along some damper and syrup to top off a night with the girls cooking the damper over the coals which was an experience.

On such a cold night it was wonderful to see the girls enjoy the toasty warmth created by the fire.

May

With the cold weather drawing in on us throughout May, we moved inside where we took a trip back to the 60’s and learnt how to tie dye. Shirts, pillow cases and tea towels got a make over worthy of any hippy’s wardrobe. Laura’s shirt was a hit, as was Brookes work of art! Brooke has since confessed that she has been begged by her siblings to create some more for them; Bravo Brooke!

We also had a night of pamper with foot massages, facials and manicures...oh, and chocolate with marshmallows! The girls finished up with a session of yoga with Trudie assisting with some sun salutations, and getting in harmony with their inner self, along with the background music from Twilight, and alot of giggles due to uncoordination a fun and informative night was had by all. And the floor got a good mopping due to all the spilt water from the foot spas!

Trivia Night

Last night we invited Glenmore Park Guides to join us for a night of trivia fun. We also invited our district leader, Bursaria, and our Region Leader, Kowanna.

5 girls from Glenmore unit turned up (sickness took a hold on their unit) and we began to introduce ourselves. Before long the games and questions were flying thick and fast. Interestingly enough the leaders' table did NOT know everything about guiding!!!

Congratulations to the winners of the night.... and to all the girls who won spot prizes of chocolate.

Convict Camp 2009

Last weekend we embarked (as all good convicts do) on a journey to the land down under.... Terra Australis. The journey from jolly old England was fraught with danger and terrors not for the feint hearted!

Actually, we drove about 1km to our beloved (and soon to be gone) Tara Campsite in NSW. But we were convicts for all purposes.

The girls had made convict costumes for the camp and looked fabulous. Each girl received a new identity with the crime they had committed imprinted on it for all to see. All the names were women who had been sent to Australia as a convict and the crimes were real. Imagine someone being deported for impersonating an Egyptian or for showing their bottom in church!

Our first night was full of excitement and hard work as we made camp. Those bell tents were expertly raised and the patrol shelters were fantastic. Considering that we had quite a few girls who had never outdoor camped before Banksia and I were very impressed.

The next day began with slight disappointment as our bush tucker man didn't show up! Luckily Lieutenant Collins and Captain Tench knew a bit about bush craft and a great walk around the bush site was experienced. Banksia was full of knowledge about how the local flora was used by aboriginal people to make tools, medicine and weapons. 

After lunch we departed for our wide game - "Escape From Parramatta". I'm not sure how many convicts survived the trip over the "Blue Mountains" to freedom, but we sure had a lot of fun trying - semaphore activities, tracking, building humpies out of fallen bush litter, first aid (snake bite!), raft building to cross the Nepean River, spear throwing and finally a quiz on all things Bush Tucker related. Congratulations to both patrols on a game well played.

Dinner was a bit of concern to the girls. They were presented with meat and vegetables to cook in a dixie over an open fire. What was the meat? Well, they were told it could have been anything from possum to koala, or even kangaroo! Funny how it all tasted just like lamb! Dessert was a hit with coal baked bananas with marshmallows and choc chips, smothered in whip cream.

After cleaning up it was time for the traditional campfire - organised by the two patrols. One patrol presented the songs while the other patrol encouraged us to join in the interactive stories. Great job girls. Special mention goes to Brooke who managed to keep the whole campfire cohesive and entertaining.

After a struggle to get our younger girls to bed Banksia and I enjoyed a game of "Spotlight" with our older guides. Who ever would have thought that Bethany could stay so quiet and so still for such a long time?????? Not me!

After a good nights sleep (and a little sleep in) we rose and began to break camp. The aim was to pack up all our tents, patrol shelters and cooking gear before the commencement of the Great Convict Games. I must admit, playing "Bash a Rat" was one of the funniest things I have ever done on a Guides camp.

Thanks  goes to Naomi and Gillian for selflessly giving up their weekend to be our QM's and general helpers. BRAVO ladies!

And on a personal note I would like to thank Banksia for all her help with my accreditation in outdoor camping. I couldn't have done it without you Banksia!

Now to start planning the next camp.........

Ghostbusters!

Last night the Girls (and some very brave parents, brothers and sisters) headed off to lovely Picton for a Ghost Tour.  Everyone met at Subway for dinner and then we talked to the tour guide. Here is Michaela's account of the night:

"First of all we went to the old police station. We had a look around and the tour guide told us all about the ghost that lives here. We also went to the old post office. There was a ghost of an old drunk postman called the "Fresh Air Freak". He got drunk and he died. He hates it when everything is closed. So when everything got locked up  for the night he would sneak around and unlock and open everything. When the workers came in the next day everything was open.

We went to the Country Bumpkin shop and there were little dolls arranged on ladders. Every time the owner returned to the shop the ladders would be out the back and the dolls would be on the floor. This is because the ghost hated ladders and had hung herself from a ladder.

We went to Redback Range Tunnel. The ghost here is called Emily. Emma got scared here! Emily was trying to get past the train but she forgot the timetable. She wasn't able to get to safety in time and she was hit by a train. If you listen closely you can hear her footsteps and if you looked into the dark sometimes you can see her. We weren't allowed to go into the tunnel because of Emily being there. It was a bit spooky.

The best part of the night was hearing all the ghost stories, being scared and seeing all the old buildings."

Michaela also bought a copy of the book that tells many of the ghost stories from Picton. If anyone would like to borrow it please let me know. But beware.... a note came with the book explaining that during printing many disasters happened and the author was afraid that one of the Picton Ghosts may have inhabited the book!!!

Wednesday night we all met at the local park to participate in "Clean Up Australia". The object of this exercise is to try to beautify our local area. Somehow  I think someone might have beaten us to our "site". Usually we collect lots of rubbish and, in the past, some very unusual items such as bed stands, car parts, tyres etc. This year the most unusual item we found was a rusty old lock and a tub of half eaten, very melted ice cream!

Maybe the community are finally learning not to dump their rubbish in the bush (I hope this was the case!) and are disposing of their waste in a responsible manner. Our girls could not believe the lack of garbage to be collected. After a one and a half search we eventually gave up and played some games as the twilight set in. I'd like to send a huge thank you to all the girls who turned up, gloves in hand, ready to beautify our already beautiful suburb.

Don't forget that next week is Service night..... we will be cooking morning tea for the residents at Emmaus Retirement Village to eat the next day. I hope the residents enjoy our efforts and that  no-one decides to make toffee!

Have a great week everyone!

A Note to Other Guide Leaders....

Recently it was brought to my attention that our blog is gaining a reputation (a good one I hope!!!) among other leaders. At a meeting last week Banksia was amazed - when she told the other meeting participants that she was from Warragamba she was greeted with 

"Oh... are you the ones with the blog?"

That started me thinking. Always a dangerous past time for me.

If any of my sister Guide Leaders would like any more information about activities we have participated in or would like to share some of their successes with our followers please leave a comment. It's not difficult. Click on the (number) comments - it's in a different colour at the end of each blog post. This will open up a new window. Write your comment in the space provided and then choose open/URL and type in your Guiding name. This comment will then be emailed to me directly. If you do not want your comment published please specify in the comment and I will be happy to oblige. This will also provide me with your email address so we can communicate that way.

I hope to hear from you all soon!

Echidna