Saturday Sunrise

It is generally accepted that nobody sleeps much on the first night. However, our neighbours at 1st Binfield were noisy at 4.40am which prompted Akela to get up. This is 6am and all is quiet at 2nd Bracknell

Wakey wakey

However, the peace and quiet couldn't last. Jack heard the rattle of pans in the kitchen and thought he'd see what was going on.

Nice cup of tea

Unaccustomed to being up in time to cook breakfast, Tom has a nice cup of tea to start his day

Nearly time for breakfast'

Tom prepares the cooked breakfast - sausages and beans

Betelgeuse'

This is the view on Saturday morning. None of the boys in Betelgeuse have camped before and yet their tent is spotless

Vega'

Meanwhile Baloo is having a quick word with the residents of Vega

Polaris'

It appears we are interrupting the card school in Polaris

Pollux'

Things were not quite so tidy in Pollux

Tent Inspection'

We always have tent inspection at camp. This is to ensure that tents are (hopefully) tidy and also to find out if anybody had any problems during the night

Little Green Men

Our planet was Mars and so our t-shirt design was based on "Little Green Men". We were joined by a real alien for this picture.

Opening Ceremony

Alan leads the Grand Howl to open the camp

5-4-3-2-1

Two rockets were fired to open the camp

Woosh

There goes one of them

Martian Bases

After the opening rocket the Cubs visited each of the planets to do space activities. We had our asteriod shower and a rather tongue in cheek chance to meet the Martian Moose

Asteroid Shower

We were very grateful to Bracknell's Downshire Golf Complex for the loan of golf balls for this event.

One bucket is weighted down and the cubs had to get balls into the other bucket until the balance tipped

Success

It took a while but eventually some Cubs managed to complete the challenge

Martian Moose

Ok, it was just a chance to use up a base that we made for last District Camp but the idea was that the Cubs had to get balls through the holes. It proved harder than it looked

Clay aliens

Meanwhile, over at Venus (1st South Ascot) the Cubs were making clay aliens

Disappearing Mars

Not a total eclipse but a disappearing chocolate bar. By throwing a 6 on the dice Cubs were allowed to cut a chunk of the Mars bar with a knife and fork

Blast off!

The Mercury contingent were running a base with pump rockets. Plastic bottles were flying all over the field!

Mission Control

During the activities Carolyne was kept busy in Mission Control where there was always a supply of drinks for the Cubs - and tea for the leaders too

Space Walk

After lunch we changed to sports activities. Our base was space walk with spiky shoes which sink into the ground as you walk. However, the Cubs were running in them and it didn't really work

Space Walk v2

So we tried a different approach. The Cubs had to walk by raising their knees so that they hit on their hands

Call in the expert

Version 2 didn't seem to be going too well either - even though Baloo demonstrated the way it should be done

Space walk v3

So we moved to another version where movement down the course was by kangaroo hops

Martian stomping

Walking on the stomp boards was a bit more succesful than our space walk

Space Suit Race

1st Binfield were running the space suit relay where you had to get dressed up into your space suit

Saturn Shuttle

It's all about rings. This was another activity that looked easy but proved tricky

Space hop

The space hoppers were very popular

Aqua race

The object here was to transport the precious cargo of water through the course and have the most left in your cup when you got back to the start

Crowds watch the finals

After the heats each of the events had a final which was watched by a cheering crowd

Winners!

The winners of each event got presented with a glittery medal

Water slide

There is a nice valley at Youlbury which lends itself to a waterslide - or slopway into space as it was called

Slider

Cubs slid down the slide on rubber rings

We know where you've been

Even though the Cubs went down the slide on the rubber rings they were left with some telltale marks

Dinner time

All the packs were supposed to cook the same meal for Saturday evening. We called in Carolyne to advise us as we cooked our pasta and (lamb not beef) mince

Tucking in

All the Cubs sit down together for their space meal. Our little green men from Mars had theirs on little green plates!

What's for pudding

We served up banana flavour angel delight sprinkled with energy pills (smarties)

Washing up

It is a standard rule at camp that the leaders cook and the Cubs wash up

Camp fire

After dinner it was time for a camp fire. We'd asked 2 leaders from Windsor to come along to lead it for us.

Camp fire's burning

Sing along

Sleeping beauty'

Not everybody was up with the lark on Sunday morning

Pollux revisited

Oh dear, things have not improved

Full kit inspection'

We started Sunday morning with a full kit inspection. This helps the Cubs find all their gear before they start packing

Follow the star

On Sunday we worked on the Adventure badge. One of the activities is to follow a trail of tracking signs. We chose to mark the trail with stars. Some bits were a bit overgrown.

Up the hill

But other bits were across open fields where it was hard to leave a trail of stars

At the end of the trail

The end of the trail was at the top of Jarn Mound

Jarn Mound information

You can read more about Jarn Mound and why it is there

On the steps

Betty briefs the Cubs for the return journey as they sit on the 32 steps at Jarn Mound

Fire lighting^

Meanwhile, back at the site the others were doing a spot of fire lighting and cooking marshmallows

Yes please^

The Binfield leaders were issuing the marshmallows

Tents down^

While the Cubs were doing their badgework our hardworking team of Neil, Tom and Rhys were busily taking the tents down