Bateleurs Patrol Camp
Day 1
We started off at the hall, an hour before was originally stated because Tim managed to misread the campsite time details and we would not make it in time for the gate to still be open. In the rush we nearly forgot the gas which we needed for every meal. We managed to make our way to the campsite in time, the wind was not being our friend though so we colonised a campsite which wasn’t the one we had booked because it had far better shelter so we decided it was worthwhile. We tried to make spaghetti but the wind was still not being our friend. This led to undercooked bolognese and chewy spaghetti. We packed all our equipment under a tarp and headed into the tents for some shut eye. A branch snapped and fell onto our tent almost hitting Oliver but the tree missed. Our night was then spent being half awake all night hoping another branch didn’t fall and our tent didn’t flood.
Day 2
I woke up. Checked my phone. Decided we all needed more sleep and kept sleeping. When I got up everything was wet and it was still raining. I took a desperate run to the bathrooms so that I could get changed and into my rain gear. We all got up and went on a proper exploration of the campsite. We discovered a newly made river which flooded the road below our campsite. It led to a staircase waterfall which Peter decided to climb. We then had breakfast which was french toast. Made by Oliver, Julia and Emily (Best french toast ever because it was made by Bats and not Kestrels). We then decided to do some pioneering and campsite development. We made a fence and put up the gate way peter had made the night before, we raised the gazebo and made a bench which was met with some concern as it had never been made before (designed by yours truly (Tim)) It somehow managed to stand (of course it did, there was definitely no doubt at all that it would). Lunch was chicken wraps followed by us painting. We each had a canvas and swapped every five minutes until we finished painting, our art was fabulous. We then attempted to do some cool knotting, we made DNA chains and then after being so great at that I taught everyone how to do monkey’s fist, which had a steep learning curve but was eventually mastered by ‘all’. After that me and Peter took down the gazebo and packed away all the equipment while the others made supper. When we went to check the supper we found out that the chicken we had bought was smelling quite SPICY. We also discovered that all the black bits in the food were not actually burnt stuff but pepper. But because we are Bats it was Obviously (Surprisingly) still absolutely amazing. We made a dessert which was baked apples and it was also great. To end off the night we had a scout’s own and then chilled for the rest of the night before heading to sleep.
Day 3
We woke up, had breakfast and then started dismantling everything. This didn’t take very long and we were pretty much ready to go when the cars arrived. We packed everything away nicely and then set off. We had a quick stop by the Palmiet river which we had failed to get to the day before because the gate was locked. I collected a rock for my collection and then we kept going. On our way through Betty’s Bay we stopped at Stoney Point nature reserve. Home to one of the only penguin colonies in South Africa. We took photos with the penguins, had hot chocolate and then set on our final journey home.
