Ten Coffies Please

Hiking The hiking between bases was totally cool, especially hiking over Wolfberg. On the 15/12 we went via Gabriel's Pass up to Wolfberg Arch, across the top to the Cracks, and down through the cracks to Sanddrift (see Itinerary). Wolfberg Arch can be seen in the picture on the left. This is one of the beautiful natural wonders that the Cederberg has to offer. Jippo Guts The Adventure was tough, but we enjoyed every bit of it. The vomiting, isn't something you want to remember, but when I look back I laugh, I was lucky enough to survive without puking. The heat just gets the better of some Scouts. The heat really got to some people, one guy Threatened to dig our hearts out with a spade if we didn't stop singing one night at the fire, But we just laughed and carried on having fun, we called him Spade Man, but I don't think he knows that. "Hi Spade Man" Food The food on the Adventure is totally cool. They give you stuff like: Oats So Queezy, Pasta and Sauce, Meat Balls in Rich Gravy, and lots more. But the only thing that tops everything is PROTONS. Protons are biscuit type things, more like dog biscuits, but they taste really cool and you can eat them with anything, even the pilchards they gave us. I must have eaten about 5 carrier bags full of Protons in 12 days.

Click here for our Itinerary

Activities
The Activity bases were really cool, here is a short summary of the ones we went to:

• Assault Course
  This base was our first base and probably the muddiest. We had to complete a Commando Assault course. It was tough and we all had our share of injuries, Curtis fell out of a tree, I fell of a rope and hurt my ankle, and others had similar incidents. We were full of mud when we finished the course

• Gold Rush
  We wanted to see if what they say about Gold Fever is true. We packed our Donkeys and headed down to the river where we panned for gold. It was lots of fun and we just wanted more gold so when it was time to leave, we wanted to stay, I guess they weren't lying about Gold Fever.

• Rocketry
  This base was relaxing compared to the others. We built a rocket and fired it from a launch pad, it was only a small one, not an atomic warhead and not capable of bomging Hiroshima.

• Electronics & 4X4 Adventure
  This was two bases in one, first we went for a 4X4 adventure in a Land Rover, Rally Style, We had to tell the driver what to do and how to get across obstacles. It was great fun. After that we went to the base tent to build a small bicycle light, eight led's that flash in a circle.

• Treasure Diving
  This was fun, we got geared up in diving equipment, two at a time, and dived in the water for cokes, there was a 6-pack waiting to be found, and cokes in the Cederberg are like gold, they are so cold and refreshing.

• Marksmanship
  Everybody wants a chance to shoot, and here we got to do that. First there was Clay Pigeon Shooting, we got five shots each with a shot gun at five clay pigeons. After that we went to another place to do silhouette shooting, we got another five shots each with a pellet gun at shadow targets in the field. Lastly we got to use a magnum with .22's toshoot rapidly at targets. At the end we got to total our scores to see what we scored overall. My favourite was the clay pigeon shooting, they shoot disc into the air and then you must try to shoot it as if it was a pigeon.

• Mountain Biking
  We only did the first part of this base because it started to rain, which doesn't happen often in the Cederberg, so we raided the bicycle repair tent for shelter. The base staff were in the dry observatory, and when they came to tell us to get out of the tent we refused, it was quite funny, but they let us stay as long as we didn't destroy any of their equipment. The part of the base that we did was a mountain bike ride in the mountains. They took us up a long road to a water fall and then back again. It was really fun, especially when it started to rain before we got back, that's why we never did the second part which was an obstacle course for mountain bikes.

• Astronomy
  This obviously took place at night, it started with a talk on stars and the planets. It was really interesting and after the talk we got chance to look through the telescopes at the planets and the moon. We were locky enough to be there on a clear night with a almost full moon. We stayed there all night looking up at the stars.

• Ultimate Challenge
  This had to be the best base on the entire adventure and I am sure everybody will agree with me. You compete against anothere troop in a capture the flag game, only you each get gass powered gun loaded with paint balls and of course goggles to protect your eyes. We played two games and then there is a free for all, where youcan shoot anybody to finish off your bullets. Now we had a guy in our patrol, we called him Space Cadet, because he always looked spaced out, He was on the one side of the clearing and we were all on the other. We were stalking towards the enemy and suddenly we heard a shot, everybody dived to the ground and when we looked around we saw Space Cadet limping away, he had shot himself in the leg - Oh No. Lucky it was only a paint ball - phew.

• Water Activities
  Eveybody gets to do this base bacause it's the only time you can really cool off from the Cederberg heat. The tents were on the river bank, so if you wanted to go cool off, it was right there. At this base you could swim when-ever there was base staff there and that was most of the day. Here we went abseiling, water skiing, tubing, sailing, wind surfing, canoeing, and lots of other water activities. It was a fun base because you just mess around in the water all day and then they give you fresh chicken to braai in the evening. We were lucky to score 2 chickens, the one we received when we got there and the next night our truck came in the evening, so they gave us another chicken that night.

• Bass Fishing
  This was a calm base, we got a lecture on fishing and then they took us out in their little boats to a good fishing spot and then we sat and fished for a couple of hours, not that we actually caught anything.

• Flying
  Cuba took us each up for a flip in a Cub, we all had a turn to sit in the cockpit and fly the plane for a while.

• Canoeing
  After a boaring lecture, we all took canoes and paddled to the other side of the dam to a high rock to dive into the water, not as high as MaalGat, but it was nice to swim in that heat. After that we paddled back to the base. There were Canadian Canoes and either 1-seater kayaks, or 2-seater kayaks, we tried the kayaks and it was great fun.

• Archery
  At this base we saw who of us are Robin Hoods and who aren't. We each got a bow and three arrows, At the base staff's signal, we sot the arrows at the targets set and then went to retreive them again. We each got 6 practise rounds and then 6 scoring rounds to see who is the best archer.

Camp Fire
To end off the Adventure, they held a camp fire to bring all the Scout together that were on the Adventure. As per tradition, they scattered the ashes from the provious years camp fire over this years fire, and as the flames danced up, we sang camp fire songs and watched the other teams put on skits and lead us into song. Thanx to team 36 & 37 who led us in many a song, the camp fire was really cool. The camp fire really brought us all together in the end.
At the end of the adventure we were all very tired and glad to be home to a soft bed and flushable toilets.
It was an experience we will never forget, there are so many stories to tell. but not enough time to tell them all.