Jamboree Life (pt 5)

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4

Well here we are, almost done this blogging adventure! This is the fifth installment of my trip, and I think it may be the second last. If you've come with me this far - holy shit, you're still here?

On the right here you'll see the entrance to Excalibur subcamp, which was where Offer Of Service stayed. The OOS subcamp comprised of Ventrurer Scouts, Rover Scouts and Scouters from all across Canada and even some people from beyond!

Offer Of Service is when someone goes to camp to volunteer and "work" camp. You get placed in a work detail which could be in food services, site services, medical services, transportation, programming, security etc. The list goes on and on, it takes a lot of volunteers to run a high scare jamboree like this. I believe there was around 700 staff at the jamboree.

Each subcamp runs with the theme of the camp, this year it was Myths and Legands. As you see here, this is the entrance to Saga subcamp and they had this amazing ship built there. Each subcamp has its own team of OOS to help organize, set up, tear down, and be there for the participants whenever needed.

I've added some photos of some of the OOS food and the food line up that was the staff feeding area. We were very well fed, but it's needed when so many of us were working very hard burning calories, I did lose about 10 lbs when I returned home.

Next up is opening ceremonies. I don't have a whole lot to say about that, it went about as normal as any opening I've ever been to in my life. They did hold back OOS, then made a joke about us being late - I'm guessing that was on purpose. We waited in line to enter the field for about 45 minutes.

On my travels I found the fuel prices a lot higher than I expected. I figured that they're closer to the source of oil that the price would be better, but boy was I wrong! When I left home I think the price was $1.08 per liter for regular fuel.

Well, I think that's about it for this one, if you're still sticking around, there will be one more to finish  installment of this story that will consist of our final day in Vancouver before boarding the plane and heading home on our overnight flight.. I'm glad I'm writing this down so that I can remember it later when my memories fail me.

I'll leave you here with a picture of a deer I saw during one my shuttle shifts to Sooke, BC to and from camp. We did a last minute shuttle daily so people could visit a nearby town and access stores, transit to Victoria, and all the town had to offer. Anyway, I was astounded at how many deer we saw, they were everywhere! They'd just waltz right into town and walk up on peoples lawns and eat their gardens. To the point that deer were bordering on being local pests. I don't know if there's just so many of them or if they have nowhere else to go, but it was very strange seeing them so up close all the time.

On The Way To The Jamboree! (pt. 4)

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3

We spent some time up on Grouse Mountain in British Columbia as one of the activities the kids chose to do before we left the mainland.

We took a trolley up the mountain. It was basically something like a larger scale chair lift at a ski hill.

They did this lumberjack show. The fog was thick but didn't really change the show at all. Afterwards we found the beavertail truck and had lunch. I say that because our bodies were still confused on when we should be eating.

There was a birds of prey show which was pretty neat. Although we have those here too, I've never actually sat and watched one!

The view from Grouse Mountain was, well nonexistent. It was a very cloudy day and half way up the mountain we went through a layer of clouds and it stayed there pretty much all day. On our way back down Grouse Mountain we caught a glimpse of Vancouver but it was very short lived.

We met some scouts and venturers on the ferry so we all ended up sitting near each other and the kids did teenager things.


Next up life at jamboree!

Canada Day in Vancouver (pt. 3)

This is Part 1
This is Part 2

This is actually going to be quite difficult because there was so much to see at the aquarium so I took hundreds of photos!

On Canada Day we started the day with Crepe's at a nice place called Cafe Crepe. We then spent the morning at the Vancouver Aquarium.

One of the first things I saw that I thought was really cool was the jellyfish. They had so many different kinds and the presentation was amazing.

shark above me

There was a tank that had a huge turtle in it, stingrays and some sharks but the really neat part was the tank went up and over your head so it was like they were sometimes swimming right above you.



There was a rain forest type room with lots of butterflies and birds and frogs and stingrays in the stream.

dubbed "Big Chonker" by the teenagers

Outside they had some seals and penguins and dolphins, and you could see them from the top or the underwater which was pretty neat.

We rented bikes and rode the seawall in Stanley Park. I think I would have actually liked to spend more time in Stanley Park.

After all that we went to check out the festivities at Canada Place. There were vendors so I definitely got myself a tornado potato! The kids mostly spent their time inside at the military exhibits and new and upcoming inventions thing. There was also a stage and live music, but after a short while the kids decided they wanted to go back to the hostel and rest before coming back to see fireworks.

Next up will be PART 4 Grouse Mountain and the trek to Camp Barnard on Vancouver Island.

Vancouver Jet Lagged (pt. 2)

 Click here for part one

We started off jet-lagged as fuck. The first night it was like 10pm and I was passing the fuck out. Then to wake up at 5am not able to sleep any longer because my body's all like "selfdude it's like 8am, you're late for work and have slept wayyyy in, get the fuck up already."

Chinatown

So I wait around because we planned on meeting at 7am. Then finally we meet and decide to go for breakfast, which I covered in the last blog, when I found the garden. So by the time we walked to this place (with teenagers leading the way) and ate our bodies were like oh thankfuck food because it thinks we missed breakfast.

Canal framed by Mountains

We honestly never really got to eating at normal times there until probably the last few days before we came back. Upon waking our stomachs were growling in disappointment with missing the normal food time, by the time we fed ourselves it was lunchtime in Ontario. When it was lunchtime in BC, we wouldn't eat. We might eat or sometimes just snack around 2-3pm and then again at like 8-9pm.

The kids didn't plan this trip, as in what to do once we arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia. So we just had to find things to do within the budget day to day and it didn't turn out horribly. We spent a lot of time just walking to destinations or navigating the transit system there.

The first place we went was Granville Island. There was a pretty cool market there and we spent the morning getting there, the afternoon there then heading back and having some food. We ate a lot of sushi while there, luckily most of the group liked sushi lol.

Next up : Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium!

Pre-Jamboree - Vancouver (pt. 1)

Well hello! I just got back this morning from our beautiful west coast, British Columbia! We had an overnight flight so I had very little sleep on the plane and on the ride home after. If something doesn't make any sense, well you've been warned!

I'm not going to jump right in to the jamboree because I still have a lot of writing to do and deciding what photos to share so I don't overload the blog. I also have a vlog to do on the Tiny Garden here because it has been over two weeks and wow are things really growing!

hostel

I just wanted to touch on some of our visit to Vancouver. We left here on a Saturday and headed down to the airport for an afternoon flight. Once we arrived in Van, we headed for our hostel to get all checked in. After a short explore we went to bed.

outside my window

There is a three hour time difference that completely fucked with me and I'm paying for it now. So by 9pm our bodies think it's midnight and that's well passed my bedtime.
Our first night some of us overheard the actual robbery that brought these police. Other's heard the robber get tasered. Welcome to Vancouver!!


On Sunday morning we went to a place called Joe's Grill for breakfast. It was quite good, and I found this little community garden just down the block from it. My excitement is due to the fact that I'd never seen anything like it so I took a quick video about it. It may seem silly but just seeing a bunch of green in the middle of the concrete jungle blew my mind!

This is continued here

Another Jamboree

Well, we are leaving for a couple of weeks go to another Jamboree. We will be going to British Columbia this time, and of course I will post all about it when I get back.

If you want to read about my last jamboree you can find it HERE.

And here's the garden vlog that I did earlier today.

Where Does The Time Go?

I spent only 15 days in the east coast, but by the time we got home and settled it felt like half my summer was gone. Now, only weeks away from the beginning of the school year I look back a little and boy was it fun!

Coming back home and getting back into the routine of (summer) life was unfortunate. I say summer life because I am only working one job for July and August. Only days after being home I was thinking of camping again already. Only a few weeks after being back we went to our annual Show n Shine and Race event where we camped over at the track for the night. I am now considering buying a small tent trailer for our family.

Back to work, has been a slower pace compared to last summer. Where I started working late July and we were crazy busy most of the summer. I like this summer better.

Tomorrow we're going couch shopping. I am excited to actually buy a couch set *new*. If you can't tell, it's a first for me and I hope nobody ruins my new couches too soon lol

There was no real point to this post, I only felt like writing something, so if you're reading this, sorry for time waster lol

My First CJ

For over a year now our scouts have been fundraising for a week long Canadian Jamboree that is held every 4 years in different locations across Canada. This year was held at Camp Nedooea, Nova Scotia. This was an excellent opportunity for our group (many of us anyawy) to visit the east coast of Canada for the first time. We planned a 15 day adventure for our group to visit New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, with 7 of those days at the Jamboree.

As a Rover Advisor, I went to camp as an Offer Of Service and worked with the Transportation team. The Minions went in two separate patrol units of our scout troop. We left on the Monday before the Jamboree and flew into Fredericton, NB. We rented 4 vans for the 26 of us to tour around. The OOS left the group and drove to camp on the Thursday before camp.

I began my work detail on Friday and helped over 2000 scouts and scouters arrive at camp via, plane, train or automobile. On Saturday the remaining 3000 (approx) people arrived at camp. We had many long days and nights trying to get everyone to their subcamp (close to 1000 people in each of the 7 subcamps) as best we could and as safely as possible.

Programming for troops began Sunday afternoon and included many fun things. I saw/heard of archery, mud pit, drones, giant bubble balls, bmx course and many things I can't remember but every kid I saw seemed to be having an adventure. Unfortunately it rained pretty good on the Friday and into Saturday morning so the rest of the week the campsites were pure mud.

On Wednesday of the Jamboree I had my day off and a couple of friends I met at camp and I went to Halifax. We had a nice meal, visited the harbour and boats, and the Citadel. Another long day of walking around on tired feet but lots of fun nonetheless. The time difference is only one hour, but I'll tell you something. When your body clock is used to getting up a certain time, it is very hard to change that, especially when its 5am Ontario time that you're trying to change it to!

I feel as though I now have a new addiction. I want to go to more camps, more jamborees and overall more travelling our beautiful country. I had such an amazing time not only in the maritimes but at camp, I miss all the people I met/spent time with. I miss the great times we had with the people I worked with. I miss the ocean. It calls to me. I can't wait for our next adventure!

I also felt like I came home with new eyes. I just spent 15 days living out of a backpack. I spent 9 of those days sleeping in a tent. I now see all this junk in my home that I just don't need. I want to clean out so much stuff right now it's insane.