News > International > Kandersteg - Saturday 31st - Thursday 5th August
News
Kandersteg - Saturday 31st - Thursday 5th August - 17/08/2010
Saturday 31st July
On Saturday we walked from the Kander Lodge down into the village to the gondola. The gondolas were cable cars that took us to the top of the mountains. At the top we got to have a go at tobogganing. It was a mile long track down a hill, it wasn't steep but went fast if you wanted it to. It was brill and everyone got five goes at going down the toboggan run.
After the toboggan run we walked to lake Oeschinensee, we walked in our walking groups and it took us around half an hour to get there. There was a beautiful lake, in front of a huge cliff face, with alps in the background! We had lunch then made our way to the waters edge in order to go rowing. Each rowing boat had a leader and 3 scouts in. Soon we were off rowing into the middle of the lake. Overall i really enjoyed doing rowing and suggest that we do it more often.
We finished rowing and walked back to Kandersteg village, this was a nice walk, where we were walking in the middle of the mountains to the centre of Kandersteg. We finished the day with a look around the village.
Sunday 1st August
On the 1st of August, we had a big breakfast on the sports field along with all the other scouts that were staying at KISC. When we had finished we had to wait for all the other groups to finish so we could do the aerobics. There was already some music playing in the background, so Macinley had the idea of doing our own mini 4th Golcar aerobics, so off we went, dancing to the music! It wasn't long before we had a crowd of people following us! The KISC team were soon on stage and the entire field joined in the aerobics.
We visited the Museum in Kandersteg, it was all about the village but there was a special room dedicated to Scouting, and had lots of interesting memorabilia about Scouting.
After the museum we made our way back to the centre to the COPE course. This was an obstacle course that was set up by KISC. Everyone was split into three's. One person doing the course and two people were spotting, this involved making sure that you didn't fall off the course. It was fun, but challenging at the same time.
After lunch of jacket potatoes, we went to the sports field to set up our Yorkshire themed stall, which gave people a taste of yorkshire. We had Yorkshire mixtures, Yorkshire tea, Yorkshire cakes and friendship bracelets, all of which became popular with the other Scouts! There were lots of stalls that were giving out things from that country which meant something to that country.
We then had some free time to get ready for the parade. The parade assembled on the sports field, and all the Scouts at KISC (1454 in total) were in full uniform, waving their flags! After a speech from Mark, the director, we made our way to the village, making as much noise as was possible!
On the whole, this was a brilliant day and was fantastic to be part of it!
Monday 2nd August
After breakfast we took part in the international flag break.
The plan for the day was a hut hike and then swimming, but after being told by a 'pinkie' about a severe weather warning for the next 24 hours from 10 o'clock we switched to our wet weather programme.
In the morning the Scouts had a Patrol competition in and around the village, followed by games in the Kanderlodge.
The Explorers went down to the village in the morning but went into a restaurant where if you bought a drink you could go into the games room. There was a mini bowling alley, table football, table tennis, darts and pool. After a quick stop at the co-op we headed back to the centre to join in with the games with the Scouts.
This evening was the International Evening and BBQ. The event took place in the Kander Lodge sports hall where all the stalls were located. We wandered around each of the stalls to see what each country was offering us to see or eat. The other purpose was to chat with other scouts to find out information and ask questions that people may find interesting. We also did alot of badge swapping!
Tuesday 3rd August
We got up to an early start (6am!) for a fantastic day up to the highest railway station in Europe! Jungfraujoch. The Bus picked us up at 7am and after a very long trip we arrived at the train station. The train took us up through the mountain. Twice on the way up the train would stop and we would get out and have a look through the viewing windows. Once we got to the top there were lots of shops and windows. Through the windows we could see lots of cloud!
The ice palace had loads of glistening ice sculptures.
We got the chance to go out on a viewing platform where we could have our pictures taken.
After a fab day of shoping, exploring and looking around we had to catch a train back to Kleine Scheidegg. We then hiked back to our coach from Kleine Scheidegg, it was very steep and took about 2 hours.
It turned out to be a very good trip!
Wednesday 4th August
On Wednesday Morning we visited Kandersteg high ropes park, similar to 'Go Ape'.
We walked up towards the area (only 10mins walk from the Kander Lodge), got our safety briefing and got ourselves kitted up. Before we were allowed to go on the main course we all had to complete the practice course. Northing really exciting about that one, it was all low and nothing hard to navigate through, over, round, under etc.
After the practice we were introduced to the other 4 levels, 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest. A few explorers dared the hardest obstacle on the course, a HUGE 30m long wsing about 20m up, onto a net. Many tried, many failed, me (Job) being one!
It was a brilliant morning, even if my muscles were dead afterwards.
In the afternoon we went into the village of Kandersteg in teams to go swimming and shopping. It turned out that we all went swimming first and even though it was busier than the last time, we had loads of fun!
After people had finished shopping we were all given a badge to swap for a different badge at one of the shops, and the owner would swap any badge you gave him, for one of the badges in his shop.
Later that evening we had to pack up ready for departure the following day.
Thursday 5th August
We got up and packed all our last minuite kit away and cleaned our rooms.
At 10 o'clock one of the pinkies came to the lodge and thanked us. He was from Uganda and was called Gidds, he took a photo with us to show to his scout group back in Uganda. He told us that his group walk to the village and teach people about Malaria, get water for older people, wash clothes and much more. Sometimes when the Scouts get to the village there is big baskets of fresh fruit to eat. Gidds told us that it is 2 miles to the nearest well and 6 miles to the nearest internet cafe. Our group are going to write to him and his group and share scouting experiences.
The Coach arrived at 11am to take us back to Geneva for our flight home.
