Lake Days and Trail Ways
On the 4th of August, 9 Ventures and 3 Scouters packed their rucksacks, loaded their bikes and set off for their 2025 6 day long camping expedition full of story’s, paddles, peddles and a whole lot of fun!
The first day was all about setting up and settling in, The Ventures and their rucksacks loaded onto the train and set out for the week away at Lough Keel Scout campsite After a 2-and-a-half-hour train journey of cards and puzzles we helmeted and high-vised up ready for our 45 minute peddle trough the town of Boyle, and we made it!! Energy high and belly’s rumbling we set up our site and the camp chefs were off cooking up a storm before everybody got hangry. Belly’s full, Laughs had and eyes closing we were ALL ready for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning the ventures woke up at the earliest time all summer, 9AM. The smell of something delicious was drifting through the air, the camp chefs up bright and early to brighten everyone’s morning. After a morning of relaxation we were off sight-seeing, The stop? Lough Key Adventure and Activity Park. The lake shimmering and the grass as green as ever we knew we chose a good location, a lovely stroll through the trees and it was time to head back to get ready and fed for the activity of the day, canoeing!! This was no small canoe trip though no, we got packed to hammock under the stars on an island for the night! Once again, we were of. Gear locked and loaded into the canoes we set off on our journey. The original island Castle Island we were planning on was already occupied?!? None other than Kevin the Billy goat was watching, laughing as we canoed further into the lake searching for a new spot, then we seen it! Orchard island the (second) perfect spot, we were at it again setting up yet another site this time, hammocks after a quick rush before daylight left, we were settled, ready for our campfire and singalongs for the night! After late night snacks and story’s, we were all sing-songed out and headed to the trees for a good night’s sleep.
Day two we were up bright and early yet again to head back to site. Camp clean and canoes loaded, we were off on the morning lake. We shortly made it to the pit stop Castle Island to say good morning to our newly made friend, Kevin the Billy Goat. A photoshoot and a few pets later we were back at it, rowing to shore. We EVENTUALLY made it back loaded up our gear and a few brave souls jumped in for a chilly swim and water gymnastics. Tired and damp we decided it was time to head back to our new home. Some had naps some went cycling but overall, it was an amazing adventure and we were all set for slumber.
The next morning came fast, we got our daily adventures in and cycled trough the scenery, the sights trough the forest was something to see! 10KM later we made it back and decided to go to lough key for another dip in the lake! Once we went home, got set, cleaned and dressed we were back on the bikes, this time to Zip-It!!! Harnessed up, excitement rising we were off! Climbing to the tops of trees, completing the obstacles and zipping trough the greens. This was definitely the high light of the week for most of us and everyone had a such a blast! Tired after our day everyone was excited to go back to camp, get the belly’s full and enjoy a campfire with the youth group that came earlier in the day before heading for a well-deserved night’s sleep.
The last full day on camp everyone was a bit energised-out, but we still got our adventures in! A Morning canoe on the lake got the grumpiness out of us then we went for a lovely tree top walk and audio guided tour in lough key but not before we got ice-creamed up! Everyone was walked out so it was time for yet ANOTHER dip in the lake as the weather picked up, some got in, some’s toes only made it and some chilled under the cool shadow of a tree. Once we made it back to camp it was nap time for some of the ventures while the chefs worked hard once again to put a smile on our faces, after a nighttime quiz and laughs everyone was ready to tuck into their sleeping bags.
The day came, home time. We were all getting home sick and excited to head back to our own beds, a morning of a delicious breakfast, taking down and packing up site it was time for the closing ceremony to thank all the hard workers this camp, the Leaders for keeping us safe and energy high, the Chefs for keeping us full and the Ventures for keeping it fun . Then the Ventures were off, snacked up we were ready to catch our train back to Kilcock. We made it home!! A successful trip we unloaded all the gear and headed home.
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