WRITTEN BY NINA AGUSTIN

I was recently invited to help at Hendré’s Springbok camp, which took place at Hawequas from 24 to 26 June. We all arrived at Hawequas at around 11h00 on the Monday and spent the next few hours setting up camp.

Tara, Oliver and I were helpers and our task was to oversee the various activities of the patrols. Our first patrol activity was a series of base rotations where we taught basic first aid and knotting skills. This took far less time than anticipated, which meant that everyone ended up with quite a bit of free time. 

By 17h00 everyone was hungry so we started supper preparations. Tara and I outdid ourselves in catering for all the special dietary requirements, whilst the others helped to make “potjiekos”. After dinner, everyone cleaned up and headed for bed because the wind was raging so fiercely. 

By the next morning the wind had not abated so we started the day with a sheltered breakfast in Robert Hall. This was followed by campsite development activities for the patrols and a much-needed lunch. Thereafter, we prepared first aid incidents and campsite planning activities for the patrols. This was hugely successful and a big learning experience for the scouts. Afterwards, scouting activities alternated between free time and the cutting down of black wattle, which was to be used for the patrols’ backwoods shelters later on. They built phenomenal shelters but these had to be abandoned due to the extreme winds that once again blew throughout the night. Backwoods cooking began at around 18h00 and by 20h00 we were all seated around a little campfire. 

Breakfast the next day was the same... windy and far too early for some of us. After breakfast, the patrols began to pack up and then everyone had a turn at Kim's game. By about 13h00 we were on our way back to Durbanville.

Despite a couple of hiccups, we all enjoyed this very relaxed camp. Well done Hendré!