The second day of our Dublin trip took part at Larch Hill Scout Campsite. The party of 28 Cubs, Scouts and Explorers were split into 2 groups of 14 for the day. One group would go to archery whilst the other group would take part in grass sledging, an assault course, maze and bouldering wall followed by some orienteering around the site.
In the morning the group that went to archery had great fun it was clear that there were some Robin Hood descendants among us. It also became pretty clear that there were also some Friar Tuck descendants among the group. After some practice the group took part in a competition to see who could put an arrow through a water bottle. After numerous attempts Cub, Ciaran, got the arrow through the bottle not once but very impressively twice in a row to claim a 2 Euro prize. The group then split into 2 teams of 7 to see who could burst 4 balloons the quickest. There was then some friendly competition between the participants with bragging rights at stake.
In the afternoon the teams would then swap over. The team of 14 got split into 3 groups to do 3 different activities. These was a mini assault course which tired out the fittest of participants. Grass sledging which was unfortunately slow paced but the participants had fun pushing one another down hills. The bouldering wall is like a small climbing wall where the participants had to get from one end to the other in the quickest time. After a round robin of these 3 activities the group then stayed in their 3 teams and got given different maps where they got a chance to explore the campsite whilst taking part in an orienteering competition.
After the afternoon activities were finished, the participants got an opportunity to spend their money in the Scout Shop. The shop is usually closed on a Monday but the friendly shop owner, who also owns Dublin Scout Shop, opened it up for our benefit. I reckon it was record sale for the shops in the confectionery department. The shopkeeper will be regretting not having any ice cream in stock now!
The second day for the part time participants took us into the centre of Dublin to the Castle. We went on a self guided tour of the state apartments and saw lots of interesting sculptures in the exhibition that was on. We then went to the coffee shop for babyccinos and walked around the castle gardens. From there we walked to a park where we had our packed lunches, just like being at home and enjoyed the scenery!
After lunch we got on the Viking splash tour and had a hilarious tour of Dublin- by road and water! The majority of us got the full benefit of the tour, some of the beavers were a bit sleepy. From the Viking tour we then delved into the world of Irish folklore at the Leprechaun Museum. The kids loved the over sized furniture in one of the rooms and we had another hilarious tour guide. We went to Captain America's for dinner which was an authentic American diner and the kids enjoyed the cuisine on offer. Then all too soon it was time to come back to the camp and after eventually finding the bus we had a hilarious ride back!