Summer Camp 2001
Day 1, 20th July 2001
29 people set off for Austria, 25 scouts, 4 leaders. We assembled at the ferry terminal. Everyone was excited, some more than others, Max made up for Geoffrey's lack of enthusiasm. The boat left Dœn Laoghaire at about 11:10am, delayed by a couple of minutes. The crossing to Holyhead passed quickly. The arcade machines entranced some of the more gullible members of the troop. The boat was packed with Spanish students and American students and tourists. Needless to say, there was a lot of tourist-baiting.
Arriving in that 8th wonder of Wales, Holyhead, we admired the local scenery before making quickly for the bus. The leaders put on a Father Ted video, and we watched two episodes, including the excellent racist-Ted episode. Then everyone except me watched Friends Unfortunately, the TV promptly died, and everyone was sad. I was vaguely pleased, if only because it meant no more Friends. Our drivers swapped at 6:15pm
Upon reaching the Leicester Methodist Centre, we crawled out of the bus. We were reloaded with tea (or orange juice) and biscuits. For this mild pleasure, we were punished with a troop of English scouts, who joined our bus, and sat quietly up the front.
It has come to my attention that most people have short hair-cuts. Except for Karl Kelly who is still moppŽd. Game Boys were passed round the bus.
Most people (hello James and Cillian) had brought packed lunches. These were combined with chips and processed meats from Burger King and food scabbed from easily-tricked youngsters. The leaders dispensed about £4 to each person to buy their dinner on the 11:30pm boat to Calais. In case you hadn't noticed, mealtimes are, shall we say, flexible, on Scout camp.
This crossing was far rougher than the previous one. Certain scouts gained a delicate green hue around the gills. Arriving in Calais, we once again fell onto the bus. Driving on, Cillian got his makeup kit out. Apparently, Cillian had invested a princely sum in the purchasing of a full set of lipsticks, eyeliners, eyebrow pencils and nail polishes, in all the hues of the rainbow. He put the nail-polish to great use, on the nails of those foolish enough to fall asleep, myself included. They discovered their vibrant blue nails on reaching a strangely giant service stop in Luxembourg, vaguely reminiscent of the Square in Tallaght. Vile aspersions were cast about, regarding gay porn. Geoffrey took a lot of flak. We got back in the coach, and, seeing Cillian asleep, fell asleep ourselves.