Guides Get Away to Stockholm
In July 2010, a group of Guides
travelled to Sweden for the Great Guide Get Away to Stockholm. Read
all about what they got up too...
Saturday 17 July
We all arrived at Heathrow, a little bit nrevous and a
líttle bit excited about meeting all the others for the first
time. Some of us came in groups and others on thier own, so
finally arriving and getting on the plane to Stockholm was the
start of the adventure! This flight to Stockholm was the
first for some of the girls, so there was some added
anticipation.
At the
airport - We were given hoodies with random letters on the
back - and were wondering what the letters stood for - we
had to work this out! They spelled out, the Great
Guide Getaway to Stockholm! So when we´re in a line, we
make sense!
Arriving in the city was exciting - and many camera batteries
were already starting to run out!
When we arrived at the youth hostel - which is on
a boat - we got to know some of the others in our rooms,
before we went out for dinner - this was some more bonding
time with our patrols before bed.
Sunday 18 July
After breakfast and some games, we waited for the boat to
Skansen, an open air museum on an island called Djurgården - some
of us really enjoyed the ice cream. Here we saw some animals, a man
blowing glass vases, snakes, spiders and crocodiles.
After this we ventured across the island to Grona Lund theme park,
which had many rides íncluding the upside down rollercoster called
"Insane" and the best Fun House ever - this started a chorus
of songs.
Monday 19 July
Our patrols got to know each other even better as we explored
Stockholm and met the people in the city as we completed the
Stockholm Challenge. We had several challenges to complete,
find out some facts, answer questions and practice our Swedish. We
watched the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace and all got
together for a group photo of the backs of our hoodies. We also
found some time for some shopping in the town today, buying many
tourist items and and somethings more unusual.
Later we went to a Scout group out of the city centre on the train
- here we enjoyed a BBQ and sang lots of campfire songs, including
attempting to sing one in Swedish. When we got back to the
boat, many of us decided this would be a perfect moment to capture
a Titanic style photo pose on the front of the boat.
Tuesday 20 July
The weather is gorgeous, with a perfect cool breeze and we can´t
wait for camping on the island. We are packed up and ready for the
next part of the adventure.
We took part in the Stockholm Challenge, a number of challenges
which we had to complete around the city centre. We had to
watch the changing of the guards, visit the City Hall, speak some
Swedish, find some historical land marks in the Old Town...and find
some time for some more ice-cream and souvenir shopping! In
the evening, we took the train to one of the northern suburbs,
where we had a BBQ and campfire at Sollentuna Norra Scout
group.
Wednesday 21 July
Having spent a few days in Stockholm, it's Wednesday and now
time for us to head off to camp – there was a coach journey,
followed by a short boat ride to the island – where a tractor was
waiting for us to take us to our site. The island of Vässarö
is a great place for international scouting and guiding. Staffed
largely by volunteers there is a welcoming atmosphere and lots of
people to help you and give you ideas.
After setting up camp, we had the opportunity to explore the
island before bed – we were sleeping in the Centenary tents and
were much admired for our matching collection!
Thursday 22 July
On Thursday we took part in Vässarö’s famous Trapper Trail, a
walk around the island with a twist; rope ladders to climb, bridges
to cross and a zip-wire, narrated by a guide who told us all about
animal hunting and traps over the years. After dinner, we
learnt a new game called kubb, which we all became very passionate
and competitive about! A very judicious referee was required
to oversee the games!
Friday 23 July
We were going to have our first adventure on water today,
sailing from Fladdan, in optimist boats, which each fitted two of
us. Before this, we all hand painted a t-shirt – one of the
many reminders of the fun we had on Vässarö. That night we
had been invited to the first of several discos! This was a
great night and we were able to meet some of the other Scouts
staying on the island. There are no Guides in Sweden - instead
they have mixed Scout groups. One of the groups, the Sea
Scouts, had their national Jamboree during our stay, which meant
there was lots going on and many people to meet!
Saturday 24 July
It was an early rise on Saturday morning, as we had a special
Centenary moment at our sunrise ceremony. We walked to the
east coast of the island, just as the sun was rising at 4am.
Sitting on the sea’s shore, we had a lovely ceremony, thinking
about Guiding through the last century, shared some of our
favourite Guiding memoires before all renewing our promise. After
the walk back to camp, we all went back to bed for a long lie in,
getting up when we liked. This was followed by a leisurely
lunch before our own take on “It’s A Knockout!” This was
followed by some more of kubb and another disco in the evening!
Sunday 25 July
On Sunday we went to the Chapel on the island where we had a
Friendship Guides Own – a few moments of quiet and calm amongst the
hustle and bustle of camp. After lunch, we had been invited
to the Sea Scouts’ opening ceremony – unfortunately conducted in
Swedish! That evening we enjoyed a traditional Swedish sauna
and swim in the Baltic sea! We also had the opportunity to
spend some time with one of the other Scout groups, learning about
some of their traditions and how they differ from ours!
Monday 26 July
We were woken with a fantastic alarm on Monday morning – a
tuneful round of Swedish happy birthday, accompanied by a
trumpet! It was one of the girl’s and one of the leader’s
birthdays today – but before we got too carried away with parties,
we had jobs to do on the island! We had been asked to help
move some wood which had been felled recently – we made a huge pile
and were quite impressed with our efforts! In the afternoon we
did the co-operation games, a number of challenges and activities
to complete in groups. We also challenged ourselves to a few laps
of the obstacle course before getting ready for the birthday
party! Traditional games of musical bumps and statues, pass
the parcel and our Talent Show, completed the birthday party in the
Cirkus building.
Tuesday 27 July
Tuesday was our last full day on the island – we spent most of
the morning successfully striking camp, before canoeing and a quick
dip in the afternoon. We were going to spend the night in the
Cirkus building before departing the next morning, so had to carry
our bags up there. To end our camp, we walked to the west
side of the island, just as the sun was setting for our closing
ceremony. This was a time for us to look to the future and
think about our Guiding lives. After this ceremony, there was
another disco, for those who had the energy left!
Wednesday 28 July
Once we had woken up and had breakfast in the morning, all that
was left was to say our goodbyes and head for the boat. The
short boat trip was followed by a coach drive to the airport.
Here was where we said goodbye to our new friends from Germany as
we went our separate ways through the departure gates.
On arrival back at Heathrow, there was a row of smiling faces on
both sides of the barrier – families pleased to have their
girls home, girls pleased to be home, but smiling with all the
happy memories we have shared and the friends we have made.