Topic: Tuatara’s dare

[piersdad]

more scout adventure

Scout and cub camps are a time for adventure and cub leaders are not exempt
We had set up camp in a bush land area where there was plenty to do.
There was some 20 boys of all ages both cubs and scouts.
The tents were assembled in record time and the fires set up for cooking the dinner.
After dinner of a lovely stew of veggies and meat the evening was about a good chat around the camp fire with songs and stories.
Soon we were discussing abseiling down cliffs and as there was a good cliff nearby we decided that it was a great place to practice.
A strong rope was soon set up round a tree and several scouts were assigned to hold the rope and feed it out when the person attached to the rope was to go over the edge.
First over the cliff was one of the leaders and he was one of those chicken sorts that panicked at the slightest danger  as he disappeared over the cliff he panicked and instead of being able to raise the rope we found that the only way was down.
So the frightened leader was lowered to the base of the cliff.
Well several more boys enjoyed their first primitive abseiling trip down the cliff.
What they did not say to the following adventurers was that as you dropped backwards off the cliff there was an overhang and the first experience was that there was no support except the 6 boys holding onto the rope wrapped around a tree at the top.
The boys at the bottom would signal to each brave lad not to tell of this scary hazard.
Well tuatara was the cub mistress, a large lady she was, several of the boys dared her to go down the cliff.
The dare was on and the brave cub leader secured the rope with the required bowline knot around her waist, expertly tied with one hand, (a required skill you know)
And by this time it was getting dark in fact so dark that the bottom of the cliff was totally out of sight.
Carefully tuatara walked backwards to the edge of the cliff and looking down saw nothing but a black abyss.
  Not wanting to appear chicken to the now gathering crowd of boys, she gingerly stepped backwards off the edge.
There was a sudden swish and twang as she dropped some 3 feet into the blackness and the slack of the rope was taken up.
Sudden panic from the boys holding the rope as they realized the 90 kg cub mistress was a bit too much for them to hold.
A few more burly boys quickly grabbed the rope and her fall was slowed.
At this time some choice words were heard from the dark abyss and slowly the reluctant cub mistress was lowered the 40 feet to the bottom of the cliff.
Back on top of the cliff the cub mistress was greeted as a heroine and from that day on when a boy was reluctant to try something new they would be reminded that if tuatara could do it so could they


 

Postet at: November 25, 2005, 07:39:10 PMat the same camp i scalded my foot with a spilled billy of boiling water.
the nearest cold water was in a large 10 litre cooking pot.
so as soon as i got my shoe off i put my foot into the cold water.

well the amazed looks i got as each scout comming into camp from a trek as they saw their brave scout leader in resplendent uniform  standing to attention with one foot in the 'cooking pot'
many a joke about cooking scout leaders etc was made that night

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