Monday 11 April 2011
Presentations
So far I've done 2 presentations - the first to the Ulverston Townswomens Guild on 2nd March. There were over 50 members attending and the feedback was very positive. The second was last Thursday at the Hawkshead Brewery and about 60 attended. It was well supported by my family, friends, colleaugues and also members of the local canoeing community. We raised funds for the local Hospice St Mary's and I will let you know later how much was raised. Tomorrow I'm off to the Liverpool Marina to present to the Liverpool canoe club. The local club is up and running. All we need now is some young people to come and join ! Check out the temporary blog ( furnessoutdooradventureclub.blogspot.com ) - to be updated to a proper webpage at a later date. Bye for now and thanks for your continued support...
Tuesday 11 January 2011
2011 - New Year Update
As 2010 ended and the New Year stretches before me I have to wonder what adventures and challenges lay ahead. I never could have predicted all that I experienced last year and so it is with both excitement and trepidation that I look forward to the next 12 months. I feel fortunate for all the new friends I have made and also for my wonderful family and old friends that continue to love and support me.
In accepting the Winston Churchill Grant, I took on the responsibility of trying my hardest to make good the promises I made in my interview. Essentially these were to publisise my trip and the work of the WCMT and also to develop further opportunities for young people in the local area to pursue outdoor activities and especially canoe trips. This is obviously not something I can achieve all at once but so far I have made some progress.
I have so far had two articles published about my trip - in Decembers edition of 'Canoeist' Magazine and also February's issue of 'Canoe & Kayak' Magazine - links to these are in the side bar.
I have been invited to speak at the Ulverston Townswomans Guild AGM on March 2nd and I have arranged a presentation evening at the Hawkshead Brewery on April 7th, where all proceeds will be donated to St Marys Hosipice, Ulverston. I was looking forward to speaking at the Wilderness Canoe Symposium in Toronto this February but unfortunately personal circumstances have meant that sadly I have had to withdraw from this opportunity.
For the last few months I have been working with the Sports Development Officer and school teachers in the local area in order to establish a new Outdoor Adventure Club. We are hoping to have a schedule of events running throughout the Summer beginning in May. I am also planning a Canoe trip to Scotland with young people through the centre where I work later in the summer.
I thank you for reading my blog and wish you all many exciting times ahead in 2011.
Sarah x
In accepting the Winston Churchill Grant, I took on the responsibility of trying my hardest to make good the promises I made in my interview. Essentially these were to publisise my trip and the work of the WCMT and also to develop further opportunities for young people in the local area to pursue outdoor activities and especially canoe trips. This is obviously not something I can achieve all at once but so far I have made some progress.
I have so far had two articles published about my trip - in Decembers edition of 'Canoeist' Magazine and also February's issue of 'Canoe & Kayak' Magazine - links to these are in the side bar.
I have been invited to speak at the Ulverston Townswomans Guild AGM on March 2nd and I have arranged a presentation evening at the Hawkshead Brewery on April 7th, where all proceeds will be donated to St Marys Hosipice, Ulverston. I was looking forward to speaking at the Wilderness Canoe Symposium in Toronto this February but unfortunately personal circumstances have meant that sadly I have had to withdraw from this opportunity.
For the last few months I have been working with the Sports Development Officer and school teachers in the local area in order to establish a new Outdoor Adventure Club. We are hoping to have a schedule of events running throughout the Summer beginning in May. I am also planning a Canoe trip to Scotland with young people through the centre where I work later in the summer.
I thank you for reading my blog and wish you all many exciting times ahead in 2011.
Sarah x
Saturday 4 September 2010
There's no place like Home
After 10 weeks in Canada, I arrived home safely yesterday and had a wonderful surprise when Adrian was there to meet me at Manchester airport. I thought I was getting the train and a taxi home as I was expecting him to be back at work ! I arrived home to another surprise when to my amazement the back garden which was a open space of mud and weeds when I left is now a beautiful lawn and patio area. And, on top of all that the house was clean and tidy - and he has still managed to find time to climb the Matterhorn while I've been away - What a terrific husband I've got !
I am still in a bit of a daze and I'm sure it will take weeks and months for everything I've experienced to sink in. I've been fortunate to meet a lot of amazing people on my travels and to them all I say a huge thank you, and I will be in touch soon.
For now I am enjoying - you've guessed it - a home made cup of proper tea, some lovely sunny weather, just being with Adrian and am looking forward to catching up with the rest of my family and friends in the next few days.
Thank you for all the support I've had from those who have been following my blog, I will keep updating - albeit not as frequently - with developments as they happen. I have promised to do a lot of things on the back of this fellowship and I still have a lot of fun & hard work to come.
Take care all, thanks again for all your help & watch this space...
I am still in a bit of a daze and I'm sure it will take weeks and months for everything I've experienced to sink in. I've been fortunate to meet a lot of amazing people on my travels and to them all I say a huge thank you, and I will be in touch soon.
For now I am enjoying - you've guessed it - a home made cup of proper tea, some lovely sunny weather, just being with Adrian and am looking forward to catching up with the rest of my family and friends in the next few days.
Thank you for all the support I've had from those who have been following my blog, I will keep updating - albeit not as frequently - with developments as they happen. I have promised to do a lot of things on the back of this fellowship and I still have a lot of fun & hard work to come.
Take care all, thanks again for all your help & watch this space...
Tuesday 31 August 2010
A tribute to the Osprey Staff at WendigoLake
The job these guys & girls do is physically demanding and emotionally draining. Yet they remain understanding, caring and patient throughout. It was easy for me as a volunteer with no responsibilities to be all of those things, yet I saw them uphold these virtues throughout the most tiring and stressful of situations. I was constantly impressed that they were able to maintain a level of professionalism whilst silently dealing with their own frustrations. Whatever incident was unfolding they held both the physical and emotional well being of the crew at the forefront at all times. I've learnt a huge amount from the amazing staff I've been privileged to volunteer alongside and would like to thank you all for allowing me to share these trips with you.
Project REACH @ Wendigolake - TRIP 2
Here is an overview of TRIP 2 - there may be errors and there are definitely omissions, but this is as best I can remember it.
As before i will get around eventually to emailing Adi a more detailed account.
Day 1
-----
Incredibly, against the odds, we set of on trip with a full crew of 10 guys. Following usual shenanigans in the dorm prior to trip we managed to get away at about 11am and were on the water at 3.30pm. It had just about stopped raining at this point but was still looking ominous. Trip leader was Andrew again and was joined by two other instructors Caroline and Ian.
With seven canoes we made an impressive entourage and a somewhat noisy one at that too.
Temagami is a huge area about 3 hours north of Algonquin and is a series of large lakes with hundreds of islands, inlets and bays. It really is beautiful and has quite a different feel to Algonquin. The downside is the motor boats and jet skis which I found can make the area seem busy and crowded at times.
By the time we arrive at camp it's raining again. Although we've not paddled too far it's been an eventful afternoon with several discussions on the water and an brief incident resulting in a smashed paddle and several unfortunate inukshuks. When the tents are set up it transpires that one of the ground sheets is missing.
Day 2
------
Torrential rain in the night and the guys wake up around 5am, noisily complaining of being wet - especially in the tent without a ground sheet. Nothing like a wet sleeping bag & lack of sleep to cause grumpiness amongst the campers.
Our food barrels and one food bag which had been floated in the canoe last night ( bear float ) are retrieved from a canoe almost swamped with water. Our buns for the mornings sausage burgers have to be first wrung out but amazingly this causes very little issues. The guys get on with it, fry the buns in margarine and manage to serve a very acceptable breakfast.
We paddle into a headwind today but choose a camp quite early as we have lots of drying out to do. A couple of the guys get a fire going quickly and we set about drying out at least half the crews sleeping bags which are literally sopping wet through. The rain has eased to a slight drizzle but this does nothing to improve the mood. We have several discussions for swearing, peer disrespect and on more than one occasion a crew member throws water on the fire in a temper. But it gets re-lit without much problem and we carry on drying out the sleeping bags.
When it comes to sorting out tent groups there is a 'heated' debate. Guys are supposed to change tent groups each day but since one has no ground sheet they eventually decide to change tents but stay in the same groups as last night. I ask whether they have all double checked their bags for the missing ground sheet and get shot down in flames ! An hour later one of the guys finds the missing ground sheet in the bottom of his pack. By evening check-in all the sleeping bags are dried out, it has stopped raining and the mood has improved.
Day 3
------
After a much needed good nights sleep we all awake in - slightly - better spirits. Camp gets packed up eventually and by 10.30am we are on our way. My paddle partner has informed me that I'd better be strong because he has no intention of paddling today. True to his word he flatly refuses to paddle. The group stop a couple of times in order to let us catch up and the rest of the crew give him lots of encouragement to paddle - in their own special way.
After about an hour we raft up for a discussion. He gets a lot of feedback but is stubborn and still refuses to paddle. Andrew informs him what many of the team already know - that if one of the crew refuses to paddle we wait until he changes his mind. So we wait, and wait and wait, pretty much in silence ...still rafted up - thankfully with no headwind but no real tail wind either. After about half an hour my partner decides he will paddle now after all and we are on our way again. Plenty more discussion on the water for the usual swearing, inappropriate sexual comments, peer and staff disrespect etc. After a brief stop for lunch we pull into camp. We plan to have a layover day tomorrow ie. to stay at same campsite and swim, hike fish etc. and the crew are very excited about this. The campsite isn't the greatest and needs a lot of work but the guys are up for it and set to work rebuilding the fire pit, finding benches etc. and generally doing a really good job of it all.
During the afternoon the crew are fairly stable and enjoy swimming, fishing and a bit of chilling out time.
Andrew confides to the staff that as well as the food bag, one of the barrels also leaked and we need to check all of our food to see if it is still all OK. Unfortunately the leak in the barrel was worse than suspected and a lot of our food has been ruined. We only have food left for 3 more nights and will have to arrange an extra pick up. Andrew studies the map and tells the staff that we will have to change our route ( which involves an unplanned 760m portage ) and that tomorrow's layover day will have to be cancelled.
He breaks the news to the crew at check-in - i think it's fair to say that it could definitely have gone better. Due to the fact I've not had any training in restraint, I watch from the sidelines.
At around 12.30am myself and Ian head to bed, Andrew and Caroline stay up for another hour or so.
Day 4
------
The guys are somewhat fractious this morning and a few are anxious about the impending discussion about the events of last night. We get on the water about 11am and paddle into a bay in order to raft up and conduct the discussion. Accountability is taken, feedback given and consequences ( 72hr OP ) are allocated. There have been many OP's issued on the trip so far and I confess to having lost track of them all at this point.
We continue paddling but unfortunately one of the guys involved in last nights incident is now refusing to paddle. We raft up for a discussion due to not paddling but unfortunately the person in question is in no mood for this right now. The upshot is that we split the group and end up on opposite sides to a bay, remaining in radio contact. While Caroline and Ian remain with the guy who needs some space and also one other peer who is trying to talk him round, Andrew and I take the rest of the group away from the situation. We have lunch, swim, play games etc. and a couple of hours later the group is reunited and appropriate discussions are held.
We paddle until late afternoon and find a lovely campsite by which time the crew are all stable and set about on various camp chores. With the exception of a few discussions which came about due to inappropriate reactions to the nude swimming of our camp neighbours, the evening passed relatively uneventfully.
The weather has improved and several of the guys are choosing to sleep outside of tents. However they must be in staff site and initial reluctance to comply with this adds another hour onto our bedtime.
Day 5
------
It rained overnight and one of the guys sleeping outside went into a tent in the middle of the night but for some reason left his sleeping bag outside. He is not a happy camper. There is a lot of arguing going on but eventually breakfast in cooked. Breakfast is oatmeal ( porridge ) which the guys hate so this could be contributing to the arguing. We are on the water eventually and by lunchtime the sun is out. We hope to have a quick lunch as we would like to make some distance up today but events during lunch mean it ends up being about 2 hours. We get going eventually when yet another crew member refuses to paddle. This is resolved relatively quickly and as the wind picks up we have a much needed tailwind. At 5.30pm after having done a short portage of 70m ( which was planned ) the guys are starting to get tired and hungry.
We still have a few km to go and in addition the 760m portage. We raft up for a vote and it is decided 6:4 that we will camp tonight before the portage and aim for a slightly longer day tomorrow.
Of course we now have 4 unhappy crew members.
We find a camp and two of the crew start throwing and then eating unidentified berries. We circle up for a discussion and they are given a 48hr OP for a safety concern. This doesn't go down well and the rest of the crew are advised to 'disengage' from them whilst they throw rocks at the canoes, eat more berries and according to one unconfirmed ( and not particularly reliable source ) bite the heads off frogs.
By check-in we are all stable once again albeit in a somewhat subdued mood. The leader of the day starts check-in by a roaring rendition of the repeat after me song 'Toast' which raises everyone spirits and we all go to bed much much happier.
Day 6
------
The layover day goes well until after dinner.
As before i will get around eventually to emailing Adi a more detailed account.
Day 1
-----
Incredibly, against the odds, we set of on trip with a full crew of 10 guys. Following usual shenanigans in the dorm prior to trip we managed to get away at about 11am and were on the water at 3.30pm. It had just about stopped raining at this point but was still looking ominous. Trip leader was Andrew again and was joined by two other instructors Caroline and Ian.
With seven canoes we made an impressive entourage and a somewhat noisy one at that too.Temagami is a huge area about 3 hours north of Algonquin and is a series of large lakes with hundreds of islands, inlets and bays. It really is beautiful and has quite a different feel to Algonquin. The downside is the motor boats and jet skis which I found can make the area seem busy and crowded at times.
By the time we arrive at camp it's raining again. Although we've not paddled too far it's been an eventful afternoon with several discussions on the water and an brief incident resulting in a smashed paddle and several unfortunate inukshuks. When the tents are set up it transpires that one of the ground sheets is missing.
Day 2
------
Torrential rain in the night and the guys wake up around 5am, noisily complaining of being wet - especially in the tent without a ground sheet. Nothing like a wet sleeping bag & lack of sleep to cause grumpiness amongst the campers.
Our food barrels and one food bag which had been floated in the canoe last night ( bear float ) are retrieved from a canoe almost swamped with water. Our buns for the mornings sausage burgers have to be first wrung out but amazingly this causes very little issues. The guys get on with it, fry the buns in margarine and manage to serve a very acceptable breakfast.
We paddle into a headwind today but choose a camp quite early as we have lots of drying out to do. A couple of the guys get a fire going quickly and we set about drying out at least half the crews sleeping bags which are literally sopping wet through. The rain has eased to a slight drizzle but this does nothing to improve the mood. We have several discussions for swearing, peer disrespect and on more than one occasion a crew member throws water on the fire in a temper. But it gets re-lit without much problem and we carry on drying out the sleeping bags.
When it comes to sorting out tent groups there is a 'heated' debate. Guys are supposed to change tent groups each day but since one has no ground sheet they eventually decide to change tents but stay in the same groups as last night. I ask whether they have all double checked their bags for the missing ground sheet and get shot down in flames ! An hour later one of the guys finds the missing ground sheet in the bottom of his pack. By evening check-in all the sleeping bags are dried out, it has stopped raining and the mood has improved.
Day 3------
After a much needed good nights sleep we all awake in - slightly - better spirits. Camp gets packed up eventually and by 10.30am we are on our way. My paddle partner has informed me that I'd better be strong because he has no intention of paddling today. True to his word he flatly refuses to paddle. The group stop a couple of times in order to let us catch up and the rest of the crew give him lots of encouragement to paddle - in their own special way.
After about an hour we raft up for a discussion. He gets a lot of feedback but is stubborn and still refuses to paddle. Andrew informs him what many of the team already know - that if one of the crew refuses to paddle we wait until he changes his mind. So we wait, and wait and wait, pretty much in silence ...still rafted up - thankfully with no headwind but no real tail wind either. After about half an hour my partner decides he will paddle now after all and we are on our way again. Plenty more discussion on the water for the usual swearing, inappropriate sexual comments, peer and staff disrespect etc. After a brief stop for lunch we pull into camp. We plan to have a layover day tomorrow ie. to stay at same campsite and swim, hike fish etc. and the crew are very excited about this. The campsite isn't the greatest and needs a lot of work but the guys are up for it and set to work rebuilding the fire pit, finding benches etc. and generally doing a really good job of it all.During the afternoon the crew are fairly stable and enjoy swimming, fishing and a bit of chilling out time.
Andrew confides to the staff that as well as the food bag, one of the barrels also leaked and we need to check all of our food to see if it is still all OK. Unfortunately the leak in the barrel was worse than suspected and a lot of our food has been ruined. We only have food left for 3 more nights and will have to arrange an extra pick up. Andrew studies the map and tells the staff that we will have to change our route ( which involves an unplanned 760m portage ) and that tomorrow's layover day will have to be cancelled.
He breaks the news to the crew at check-in - i think it's fair to say that it could definitely have gone better. Due to the fact I've not had any training in restraint, I watch from the sidelines.
At around 12.30am myself and Ian head to bed, Andrew and Caroline stay up for another hour or so.
Day 4
------
The guys are somewhat fractious this morning and a few are anxious about the impending discussion about the events of last night. We get on the water about 11am and paddle into a bay in order to raft up and conduct the discussion. Accountability is taken, feedback given and consequences ( 72hr OP ) are allocated. There have been many OP's issued on the trip so far and I confess to having lost track of them all at this point.
We continue paddling but unfortunately one of the guys involved in last nights incident is now refusing to paddle. We raft up for a discussion due to not paddling but unfortunately the person in question is in no mood for this right now. The upshot is that we split the group and end up on opposite sides to a bay, remaining in radio contact. While Caroline and Ian remain with the guy who needs some space and also one other peer who is trying to talk him round, Andrew and I take the rest of the group away from the situation. We have lunch, swim, play games etc. and a couple of hours later the group is reunited and appropriate discussions are held.
We paddle until late afternoon and find a lovely campsite by which time the crew are all stable and set about on various camp chores. With the exception of a few discussions which came about due to inappropriate reactions to the nude swimming of our camp neighbours, the evening passed relatively uneventfully.
The weather has improved and several of the guys are choosing to sleep outside of tents. However they must be in staff site and initial reluctance to comply with this adds another hour onto our bedtime.
Day 5
------
It rained overnight and one of the guys sleeping outside went into a tent in the middle of the night but for some reason left his sleeping bag outside. He is not a happy camper. There is a lot of arguing going on but eventually breakfast in cooked. Breakfast is oatmeal ( porridge ) which the guys hate so this could be contributing to the arguing. We are on the water eventually and by lunchtime the sun is out. We hope to have a quick lunch as we would like to make some distance up today but events during lunch mean it ends up being about 2 hours. We get going eventually when yet another crew member refuses to paddle. This is resolved relatively quickly and as the wind picks up we have a much needed tailwind. At 5.30pm after having done a short portage of 70m ( which was planned ) the guys are starting to get tired and hungry.
We still have a few km to go and in addition the 760m portage. We raft up for a vote and it is decided 6:4 that we will camp tonight before the portage and aim for a slightly longer day tomorrow.Of course we now have 4 unhappy crew members.
We find a camp and two of the crew start throwing and then eating unidentified berries. We circle up for a discussion and they are given a 48hr OP for a safety concern. This doesn't go down well and the rest of the crew are advised to 'disengage' from them whilst they throw rocks at the canoes, eat more berries and according to one unconfirmed ( and not particularly reliable source ) bite the heads off frogs.
By check-in we are all stable once again albeit in a somewhat subdued mood. The leader of the day starts check-in by a roaring rendition of the repeat after me song 'Toast' which raises everyone spirits and we all go to bed much much happier.
Day 6
------
We woke up early today and thankfully it's good weather although the crew are in a fractious mood. One of the tents have to be taken down around them in order to encourage the guys to get up. We've the 740m portage to do and extra supplies to pick up today. My paddle partner refuses to wear his wet shoes and then becomes furious when his hiking boots get splashed - his response is to paddle with his boots fully in the water hanging over the gunnels of the boat. A similar incident in another boat results in one of the crew refusing to wear anything at all on his feet for the next two days.
We stop at a beautiful sandy beach for lunch whilst one canoe heads off to the pick up point. Once we have our supplies we start looking for a campsite. This causes much unhappiness since we end up paddling further than anticipated to find a suitable site that is not too close to any families. The crew take umbridge to the fact we don't want them close to other campers (@$?) and after much swearing and threatening and several refusals to paddle, we are once again on our way.
We head out further into the lake and with a fantastic tail wind raft up all 7 canoes and get the kitchen tarp flying ! It was awesome. We had three man overboards to deal with - one took 6 throwlines tied together in order to recover him we were going so fast ! 
We finally reach a really nice campsite where we are to spend our layover day tomorrow. Everyone is stable for a while and we have fun swimming and fishing. Late afternoon one of the guys goes to lie down and sleep in their tent - this is not allowed. They can bring carry mats out onto the rocks and in the sun but not in the tent during the day. We have already had a previous issue with this in the trip and if warnings from staff are ignored the consequence is that the tent is taken down around the person still in it.
We finally reach a really nice campsite where we are to spend our layover day tomorrow. Everyone is stable for a while and we have fun swimming and fishing. Late afternoon one of the guys goes to lie down and sleep in their tent - this is not allowed. They can bring carry mats out onto the rocks and in the sun but not in the tent during the day. We have already had a previous issue with this in the trip and if warnings from staff are ignored the consequence is that the tent is taken down around the person still in it.
After more than enough warnings and chances, the tent is taken down. The sleeping chap and another of his tent mates who had put the tent up are furious and rage towards the staff tent and start taking our tent down in retaliation. I watch on in amusement ( it takes 5 minutes to put the tents up it's really no big deal ) as the tent is dismantled. However, this does not seem to be giving one of the guys enough satisfaction as he then takes one of our tent poles and launches it javelin style into the lake. Oh dear. Not to worry though because we are fortunate in having the rest of the crew on side at the moment and trying - unsuccessfully - to calm these two fellas down. Almost immediately our pole has been retrieved by one of the crew, only to have it thrown straight back in, this time further !
Eventually everyone calms down, discussions are held and after dinner the crew play a game of 'hunt the tent pole' which was found just before sunset !
A short incident involving the fire and lots of wood being thrown in the lake followed later on, but by the time everyone went to bed all was calm.
Day 7
-------
-------
I have definitely & totally lost track of all the OP's going on right now - the staff update the official log book ( a legal document ) every half hour and are obviously on top of it all ! I can say that out of the 10 there was only one young man who didn't get a single OP all trip - well done !
Today is our layover day and so we all have a lie in. We wake to blue skies but it's quite windy and chilly too.
I have a short time to lie in my hammock and relax before we wake the crew up. The Temagami region is really quite beautiful with hundreds of islands and lots of bays and inlets. We are surrounded by forest and small little hills. The highest point around is about 600m and the lake is at approx 300m. As lovely as it is, I find myself - not for the first time since I left - missing the Lake District fells and the Scottish mountains. The campsites here don't seem quite as well maintained as in Algonquin, for example, the crew have needed to rebuild fire pits in most of the sites, make benches round the campfire and we haven't always had thunder boxes. When we have, they've not always been the most pleasant. Talking of thunder boxes this site has two - very close together and in full view from the firepit/kitchen area. The guys absolutely love this and head off in pairs so they have a friend to chat with at the same time !
The layover day goes well until after dinner.Unfortunately we have another physical altercation, a couple of awols ( technically not proper awols ie. actually trying to leave the group and go home - but just 'out of staff sight' if there is any serious concern of awol then staff must stay up all night !, an incident with a burning tree and a couple of hours with several of the crew going a little bit wild in the forest. There is a point when I seriously wonder if things will ever calm down and I ask Andrew - "it always calms down eventually" he said, "it's just a matter of time".
Sure enough, a couple of hours later the crew bring the discussion in themselves. We have check in and then all are settled in bed.
As I mention in the first trip report, check-in is an end of day review. Check in questions are decided by the leader of the day in conjunction with the trip leader Andrew. Sometimes it's a fairly quick affair and not much is said, the guys just want to get to bed. But sometimes the questions strike a nerve and answers really come from the heart. There has been more than one occasion when answers given by some of the guys have left me with a lump in my throat. For all their problems and issues, these guys have had a tough start in life and have been through a lot of things that children really shouldn't have to. During my time on trips I have warmed to all of them and have the utmost admiration for the fact they are working hard at this therapy program and trying to change their negative behaviours in order to ultimately improve their lives.
Day 8
-------
Not a great start to the day, we have a force 4 headwind, a 'non-compliant' member who is on breakfast duty and another minor altercation, this time involving a staff member being punched in the leg.
I should mention that in terms of the distances we paddled and even the strong headwinds, neither presents an actual real problem for the guys. For some this is their 7th or 8th canoe trip since about May and they are overall an excellent group of very strong paddlers. The weather is hot today and most folk have a lunchtime swim which is a rare treat.
From review of my journal, today is one of the least eventful of the trip. Our barefoot camper finally agrees to put his shoes on, the guys on one occasion circle up themselves and deal with some swearing issues, it's really hot and sunny and we have a gorgeous sunset and check-in on the beach. The guys have found a discarded afro wig somewhere along the route which is hilarious and we get some great photo's ( although I don't think I can share them here )Day 9
-------
We only have 5km to our final campsite but Andrew decides we need to tire them out more and doesn't want to have a long afternoon at camp. We therefore paddle round an Island in order to make it a 10km journey. I only here one of the crew say in a slightly puzzled voice - " haven't we just paddled round in a circle " - we all ignore it and no more is said. We have an hour or so of calm and I get chance to chill out in my hammock again. Not for long though. Following a discussion which one member of the crew thinks is unfair he storms off round the corner and we hear a loud splash as he begins jumping off rocks into the water in an area which has not been checked. This takes a while to sort out but eventually we are all sitting round the campfire as Caroline runs the end of trip debrief. This is wonderful and leaves everyone feeling really good about themselves, it's definitely something I am going to use as a review tool in the future.
Day 10
--------
The van is only a short 1km paddle away and we plan to have a final morning swim to try and reduce the odour in the van for the 3 hour drive home. But you know what they say about the best laid plans...A stupid little incident gets out of control and one guy ends up with a head injury which has to be bandaged up. He later is taken to hospital where he has a couple of stitches (I think) and a mild concussion.It is an unfortunate end to the trip which, despite it's ups and downs has been a terrific 10 days. I don't view the fights, sulks, arguments, awols etc... as incidents which have spoilt the trip in anyway. I think of them as necessary and integral parts of the healing process. It's a long and hard journey for these young men and I wish them all the best of luck.
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