Below is a comprehensive Camp Report from Feltham and District K2001 contingent. Pictures from the camp can be found HERE

MONDAY 13TH - LUKE
TUESDAY 14TH - LUKE
WEDNESDAY 15TH - JONATHAN/STEVEN D.
THURSDAY 16TH - DAVID/BEN
FRIDAY 17TH (UNDER 14's) - VICKY/WILLIAM
FRIDAY 17TH (OVER 14's) - DAVID
SATURDAY 18TH - BILLY/LUKE
SUNDAY 19TH - ADRIAN/STEVEN S.
MONDAY 20TH - JONATHAN/STEVEN D.
TUESDAY 21ST - DAVID/BEN
WEDNESDAY 22ND - VICKY/WILLIAM
THURSDAY 23RD - WILLIAM
FRIDAY 24TH - WILLIAM

QUOTES OF THE CAMP
OVERALL COMMENTS ON THE CAMP

MONDAY 13TH - LUKE
All the planning is coming to an end - we are on our way! Goodbyes were said and we boarded the coaches on our way to Dover. On to the ferry and we quickly set sail for Calais. The coaches took us to the Motorail terminal to get our train. There was a bit of confusion for a while as our train was not there, but it soon arrived. It then got very confusing as the numbering inside the carriages did not match the numbers we had been given. Everything was soon sorted and our bags all loaded and we were off on our way to Switzerland. Time for bed?!?
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TUESDAY 14TH - LUKE
After 12 hours of NO SLEEP, lots of chatting and plenty of moaning and groaning from the Leaders, we finally reached our destination. The train pulled up at the campsite and we quickly unloaded all our kit and walked on to the camp site. We had to look for our Group name attached to a tree and stand by it while Alison went to find out where we had to go. We soon found our site, which was covered in rocks! We put the mess tent up and then put our tents up while the Leaders unpacked all the boxes. After the camp site was set up we had free time - we soon found the football pitch and had a few matches. The Leaders cooked dinner and then we went to the opening ceremony at the camp fire circle. Some of the County Leaders went around interviewing people about the journey and then we were given a plastic pot with a candle in it. This was the spirit and life of Kandersteg, which we had to carry back to our camp site. When we got back we blew out the candles and put them somewhere safe because we would need them again for the closing ceremony. We all went to bed after that because we were all very tired.
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WEDNESDAY 15TH - JONATHAN/STEVEN D.
Apart from the people on duty, we all had a lie in. After breakfast we got ready for a walk around the camp site doing the Discovery Trail. This took us everywhere on the camp site around a set route and the Leaders told us what everything was and some of the history of the camp site. We came back for lunch and then got bottles of water ready because we were hiking into the village of Kandersteg and it was very hot. We walked along the river to the village, where we had some free time to look around while the Leaders went shopping. We walked back a different route which went high up a steep hill (A small slope! - Alison) at one point. Stuart said he was giving us a change of scenery but we think he got lost! After dinner we played football again until the Leaders made us all go for a shower - they said we smelled!
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THURSDAY 16TH - DAVID/BEN
We had to get up early today (6.30) but the Leaders overslept so we got up at 7. We had breakfast while some of the others made packed lunches. We set of on a rickety old bus to the waterfalls at Trummelbach. As we drove along we passed some wicked scenery. After an hour and a half we arrived at the waterfalls, which are the only glacier waterfalls in Europe that are inside a mountain and are accessible. There were ten falls starting inside the mountain and we were told that they drain the glacier water from the Eiger and Jungfrau and carry 20,000 litres of water per second. We all got very wet from the spray, but it was amazing to look at. We had a picnic and then got back on the bus to go to Interlaken. We were given free time in Interlaken and the first place we all went to was McDonalds! Some of us lost William and spent a while looking for him, but he was with the Leaders in a cafe! We all did some shopping and then got the bus back to the camp site. In the evening we went to the International BBQ. We had our food and spoke to some Dutch Scouts who came from Haarlem and joined in with some of the games that were being played.
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FRIDAY 17TH (UNDER 14's) - VICKY/WILLIAM
Today it rained for most of the day. Jonathan, Steven, Ben and David spent the morning with Stuart and Edward getting ready to go on their overnight glacier hike. The rest of us spent the morning tidying up the camp site and playing cards. After lunch we said goodbye to the ones going on the hike and Alison took the rest of us for a walk. We went to the Sunnbuel cable car and Alison went to find out how much it cost. We all wanted to go on it so we went and bought the tickets. It went up very high and took seven minutes to get to the top (1936m). Half way up it was windy and the cable car started swinging. We went for a short walk at the top, but it looked as though it was going to start raining again so we went back to the cable car station and played on the swings and see-saw for a while. When we got back to the bottom of the mountain we thought we saw David and Steven, who were supposed to be out overnight. They had come back early, so the Leaders had to go out and try to find some extra food so that they could have dinner. We played football again with some other Scouts until it was time to go to bed.
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(OVER 14's) - DAVID
We left camp at lunchtime after saying goodbye to everyone. We walked to the Chalet where we met out mountain guides and collected out crampons, ice axes and harnesses. Donning our now rather heavy rucsacs we set off to the chair lift in the village that would take us to Lake Oeschinensee. Puffing and panting we clambered on to the chair lift which worked its way up the hill to the lake. After everyone had arrived at the top we made a quick toilet break - which would be our last in a proper toilet for 2 days! We then set off down a path that would lead us to the lake. We skirted around the lake to the path that would take us up to the mountain hut we were staying at overnight. As we puffed our way up it started to rain again. This made an already hard walk even harder. Everyone was finding it difficult and the now torrential rain wasn't making it any easier. Our guides spoke to us and made the decision to turn around and head back. We couldn't take the chair lift down so we walked back down the road, which was so steep that everyone ached at the end (and it almost killed Edward). As we got to the bottom the skies cleared and the sun came out - just our luck! It was too late to start again though so we walked back to the camp site, only to find that everyone else had gone out.
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SATURDAY 18TH - BILLY/LUKE
Today we got everything ready to go out on a hike for the whole day. We had to make our lunch and make sure we were dressed properly and had full water bottles. We got the cable car to Sunnbuel and followed the footpath that marked a circular route. The Guide Leaders came with us and we chatted to them as we walked. There were cows everywhere and one was very interested in us as we walked past it - Alison stopped to stroke it! This was when we found out that Billy doesn't like cows! After we stopped for lunch some of us climbed up another path that took us to a height of 2015 metres. There was a stunning view at the top and we all took lots of photos. At the end of the route we bought drinks and played on the swings. On the way back the cable car was very busy and we didn't think we would all fit in, but we did just about. After dinner we had a game of football and then a lazy evening and the Leaders made us go to bed early because we had to get up very early the next morning.
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SUNDAY 19TH - ADRIAN/STEVEN S.
We were woken this morning by birds singing and the Leaders telling us we had to get up quickly. Some of us still had to get our stuff ready for the day out because we hadn't done it the night before like we were supposed to. After breakfast we walked to Kandersteg to get the train. This took a while because it wasn't even 8am and most of us were still tired. We were also taking it in turns to give Steven D. piggy backs because he had twisted his ankle playing football. When we got to the station we had to validate our tickets in a machine on the platform before we could get on the train. When we arrived at Thun we got off the train and walked to the rafting centre with another Group who were going as well. I (Adrian) made up a rap on the way, but Stuart told me my rap was rap with a silent 'c' and Alison told me to be quiet! We found the raft, which turned out to be the biggest raft in Europe - and it was made in the UK! We got changed and put on life jackets and then listened to a safety talk. (Edward eyed up the girl from New Zealand who was pumping up the raft!) We got in the raft and I lost my paddle before we had even moved, but we eventually caught up with it and got it back! We were told that we could swim in the river after we had gone over the 'big wave'. Everyone pushed each other overboard and we took it in turns to pull people back in as only four people were allowed in the water at a time. We even managed to throw all of the Leaders in several times! The scenery along the river got VERY interesting at times, especially when we were going past secluded beaches! When we arrived at Bern (the capital of Switzerland) we had to pull the raft out of the water and help to deflate it. After that we ate our lunch and walked to the train station, which took quite a while because no-one knew where it was. We caught the train back to Kandersteg and walked back to the camp site. The Leaders made us get changed so that we looked smart because we were eating dinner in the chalet. We had a raclette for dinner. This involved cooking bacon and eggs, and melting cheese on a hot plate, which we then ate with potatoes. It was fun and we cooked things as we wanted to eat them. When we got back to camp, David got the shock of his life - he sat on a red ant's nest and got bitten.
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MONDAY 20TH - JONATHAN/STEVEN D.
Raining again today! We got up, had breakfast and then went to the camp site flag break. After the flags were raised we had to play a silly game where we ended up sitting on people's knees! We were supposed to be doing abseiling today but it was cancelled because the rocks would have been too wet. We spent the morning doing all the theory work for our High Adventure Award. We did some first aid and learnt about mountain safety and what to do in an emergency. We also learnt about avalanches and the damage they can cause. After lunch we did some more work and then went to see the Portuguese Scouts who had arrived. They challenged us to a game of football and we just had to accept! After dinner the Leaders made us get our bags packed for our hike and go to bed at 8pm because we had to get up at 2.30am for a dawn hike!!
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TUESDAY 21ST - DAVID/BEN
We woke up at 7am, very confused because we should have gone out on the dawn hike at 3am, but that suited us just fine!! The Leaders explained that it had been raining during the night and the route would have been very slippery in the dark, so they decided to wait until daylight. As we were supposed to be at the cheesery by 9.30am we decided to get the cable car to the top of the mountain at Allmenalp and then walk back along the route we would have done. The trip up was fairly uneventful, but when we got to the top there were two llamas - Adrian and Billy tried to make them spit at people but it didn't work. We didn't have far to walk as the cheesery we were visiting was right next to the cable car. The first thing that hit us as we walked in was the smell. The man at the cheesery spoke a bit of English and tried to explain to us how he makes the cheese each day. We had a break when he gave us fresh milk and cheese to try - we scoffed the lot! We then watched the next stage of cheese making until he told us to come back in 90 minutes because that was how long the cheese had to be stirred for. Some bright spark (Stuart) had the idea of us doing a short circular walk so off we went. Back at the cheesery we tried to ask some questions but his English was not good enough to understand us, although we did try. We said goodbye and split into two groups for our hike back down the mountain. The faster group, led by Stuart, sang songs all the way down and we even did the conga down a grassy slope! Alison complained that she had the slow group and all they wanted to do was sit down every two minutes. We watched some paragliders flying around and then got to a steep path climbing down the side of a waterfall - very glad we hadn't come up this path in the dark! Me and Ben went to the Programme Office to let them know we were back off our route so that they could cancel our route card and then Alison bought us both a Coke. After dinner we joined with the Kander games, where we played lots of silly games and got very wet. Ben injured himself while playing football - never seen Stuart and Alison run so fast (Edward followed with the first aid kit). He was OK though - a bit bruised and had a huge bump on his head. Stuart kept shining a torch in his eyes to make sure he wasn't concussed.
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WEDNESDAY 22ND - VICKY/WILLIAM
Today we spent the morning doing craft activities in the chalet. We did stone carving, leather work and badge making. After lunch we walked to Kandersteg and got the chair lift to Lake Oeschinensee, which was very beautiful. We all had several goes on the toboggan run and then went for a swim in the lake, which was VERY COLD! We then had some free time until it was our time slot for the BBQ at a big hotel. After that was the closing ceremony. David Griffiths was leaping around and singing when some cows appeared over the hill and started mooing and chasing people! Lots of certificates were presented and we watched a slide show of pictures of the camp - we all laughed at one of Alison sitting in the bar! We then had to light our candles from the opening ceremony and carry them back down the hill. It was very steep and we had to watch where we were going very carefully as it was dark.
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THURSDAY 23RD - WILLIAM
In the morning it was cold and damp. Everyone was on duty and we had to get ready to go back to England so we took the mess tent down and packed it away. Then we put the tents in the sun to dry. When they were dry we started to take them down. We put everything in to boxes and put them on the lorry. Then we got changed and had some lunch. Stuart presented us with our High Adventure Awards. On the way out to town we went into the shop and bought stuff to take home. We walked into town to do some more shopping and to have dinner before going on the train. Everyone gave each of the Leaders a present while we were having dinner. We got our bags from the Ice Rink and went to the train. We found our beds and put our bags there. The train left Kandersteg in the evening and we were ready for our journey. There was someone selling food and drinks on the train. We played cards and moved about the train seeing other people but didn't really sleep.
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FRIDAY 24TH - WILLIAM
In the morning we had to get our things together ready to leave the train in France. Our coach met us from the train and took us to the ferry to go home. We got our ferry and it took about 1½ hours to get to Dover. On the ferry I went to buy a drink of Coke, I didn't want any breakfast. Later I had another drink of Coke. We played on the machines in the games room which was good fun! When we were close to England I went outside and saw the white cliffs of Dover which was good, then we had to go downstairs to get on our coach again for the journey back to Isleworth. When we got back we got our bags from the coach and we went home after saying thank you to the Leaders.
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QUOTES OF THE CAMP
On being told to keep clear of the railway track where the train arrived - 'What railway tracks?' (Adrian)
When explaining that we would get the train to the start of the rafting - 'Don't you use a boat in white water rafting?' (Adrian)
When driving along a road winding down the mountainside - 'Why doesn't the road just go straight down the mountain?' (Adrian)
'I need some underwear, my waterproofs are getting stuck to my bum!' (Adrian)
While rafting - 'Are there sharks in this river?' (Adrian)
'Will it be dark when we go on the dawn hike?' (Adrian)
'Stuart, have you ever survived an avalanche?' (Jonathan)
When asked to put the plastic bags in the bin... Adrian: 'Where?'
Stuart: 'Are they biodegradable?'
Adrian ' Are they?'
Are bananas biodegradable?' (Steven S.)
Jonathan to 5th Feltham Guiders - 'Kiss my ****' Reply - 'Which part? It's so big we wouldn't know where to start!'
'It's daylight - are we not doing the dawn hike then?' (Adrian)
'I can't stop flashing and write at the same time!' (Edward) ???
'I have finished packing - I just need to do my second bag!' (Vicky)
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OVERALL COMMENTS ON THE CAMP
'Wicked'
'I loved it!'
I give Kandersteg ten out of ten.'
'The rafting was wicked.'
'Brilliant'
'When are we coming back!'
'Overall it was class.'
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Alison
The scenery surrounding us was amazing - snow-capped mountains towered above us on all sides. An excellent camp where everyone gained new experiences and one that will be remembered for a very long time.

Stuart
The fantastic location and beautiful rugged scenery were just part of this overall excellent experience. I believe the Scouts have got a great deal out of the expedition and gained an introduction to mountains and hillwalking which I would be only too happy to develop in the future.

Edward
The County Expedition to Kandersteg was full of fun and new challenges in a new and dramatic country. There were chances to mix and make friends with Scouts from other Districts within the County and Scouts from other countries. This camp was a huge success and will be remembered for a long time. I hope to be available for the next trip to Kandersteg for more new adventures and experiences.

Paul
A fantastic setting for camping and experiences which are almost impossible at home. Asta la vista Kandersteg - we'll be back!
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