DAY 2 : The Opening Ceremony
We got up for a 7.30am breakfast and then headed for the beach - nothing planned until the opening ceremony in the afternoon! It was hot and sunny, and we really enjoyed our swim!

The Opening Ceremony was amazing : 26,700 Scouts and Guides, all in uniform, flags flying, singing, waving - most of the proceedings were (not surprisingly) in Swedish, so we just sat back and soaked up the atmosphere.

After the ceremony the patrols were mixed up and each village hosted a mixed group - ours was English, Swedish and American, and we finished the evening with a very enjoyable campfire.

DAY 3 : Global Development Village
LOTS of different things to choose from, all on a "One World" theme : everything from trampolines and a climbing wall to an Indian Scouts' tent teaching about leprosy, and all sorts in between. We learnt how to play (and lose at) the Swedish game of Kubb and visited lots of informative exhibitions. And after visiting the requisite number of displays and completing our allotted tasks, we collected our first special badge! (The first of many)

When the GDV closed, the "drop-in" activities opened - everything from making woggles out of reindeer horn to a Gospel Choir, crafts and activities to suit everyone so nobody could claim to have nothing to do!

After tea - Swedish meatballs, new to most of us but absolutely delicious, we hit the International Tent for a night of badge-trading and meeting Guides and Scouts from around the world.

Day 4 : Skåne Market day
Another bright and sunny day with lots to do - a traditional Skåne market to visit, with local craftsmen brought in plus traditional foods to sample, and the scariest funfair ever, all built out of wood and rope and with the biggest wooden Ferris wheel ever! Everything was driven by muscle power so we were constantly being called on to "volunteer" until we learnt to avoid eye-contact! The wheel was awesome, the swing-boats (Viking ships, naturally) were huge too, and the various swings and roundabouts were great fun - and all free! We tried pickled herring, pyramid cake and various kinds of pancakes and sweets, and generally joined in the fun and games.

In the evening we went to check out the "Golden Gate Cafe" which featured live music, and we ended up dancing the night away with our Swedish friends ......

DAY 5 : "Adventure"
Unanimously voted the best day! We were bussed out into the forest beyond Rinkaby, given the outline of the story of this VERY elaborate Wide Game and a map, and set off to solve a series of problems and tasks. We mixed the patrols up, half Swedish Scouts/half English Guides, with one leader from each group to each patrol, and it soon became obvious that ALL the tasks could only be carried out and the problems solved by team work. There was a sort of assault/agility course to complete, riddles to solve and codes to break, and two teamwork exercises.
At mid-day we stopped for a picnic lunch and were introduced to the joys of Blueberry soup. You either loved it or hated it!

After tea it was our turn for a campfire - along with 4,000 other Scouts and Guides! It was an EXCELLENT night - mostly in English, which was a bonus - and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (and learnt some new stuff to add to our repertoire....pity the "Naked Scout" song was in Swedish....)

Day 6 : "Rinkaby Day"
A leisurely morning for the leaders - the Scouts and Guides were once more in mixed patrols and spent the morning on a sort of scavenger hunt and didn't need us, so we used the time to tidy the tent; after lunch some of them went swimming while the rest of us watched a sort of "It's A Knockout" competition between the different sub-camps. Half the time we didn't really understand what was going on but the excitement was contagious and we cheered along with the rest. As an added bonus our sub-camp, Vestkanten, won!

The evening's treat was a concert featuring Swedish big-name groups (the Swedish Scouts had all heard of them, one of them is the current number 1) - Papa Dee and Tityo. They sang mostly in English and soon the girls were singing along with everyone else!

DAY 7 : "Environment"
The weather let us down at last - it was very windy and kept trying to rain - and we drew "Wood and Fire" and were directed to an area where we learnt different ways of chopping wood, laying fires, lighting fires (including one involving batteries and wire wool, which we were dying to try out!) only to be told it was too windy and we couldn't after all that work, light our fire!
After a picnic lunch (Blueberry soup again, but those who didn't like it filled up on bread, cheese and ham.....) we then learnt how to make baskets out of thin strips of wood.

At 4pm we joined large numbers of other Scouts and Guides in an attempt to break the record for the World's Biggest Hug : as the previous record was under 2,000 and we managed nearly 5,000, look for us in next year's Guinness Book of Records!!

DAY 8 : Crafts
Fine weather once more, and once again we were allocated our task - this time we drew "Edward Scissorhands" which for some reason denoted work with textiles. We wove bands for bracelets (some with more success than others) did batik printing and tied friendship bracelets in the morning, and then in the afternoon set off to complete our "Bridge-Building" badge for which we played a giant game of Jenga, completed our friendship bracelets, surfed the Internet and painted a patrol portrait!

The "Bridge-Building" badge, featuring (L-R) the Golden Gate Bridge,
Tower Bridge and the new Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden

The drop-in activities were also open, for the last time, so we finished off our reindeer-horn woggles and pendants, made a few more craft-y things, and also hit the Scout Shop for souvenirs before getting changed into full uniform for the closing ceremony in the evening.

The Closing Ceremony
THIS time we were at the front! Unfortunately it rained - poured down, actually, but the King of Sweden was there too, getting wet like the rest of us, so we didn't mind. The ceremony was partly in Swedish and partly in English : a mixture of campfire songs and skits (the Swedes loved "I found a little baby bumble bee..." and we had a reprise of the Naked Scout) and more serious stuff.
The king made a speech to cheers from everyone, and Baden Powell's last message was read out .

The camp was officially closed - and then it was on to the rock concert!! This time even some of our girls had heard of the performer - E-Type - and the Swedish kids loved it! The rain came down steadily and soon everyone was on their feet, jumping up and down, waving and clapping (the best way to keep warm when soaking wet!!)

When the concert finally finished - at close to midnight - we headed for the cafes again, which were staying open until 1.30am. After swapping teeshirts with a Finnish Scout leader, we finally got to bed at a quarter to 2!

DAY 9 : Striking Camp
Every group at the camp had an allotted "slot" for departure and ours was 4pm, which meant that we could have a lie-in after yesterday's late night! (Some groups had to leave at 5.30am - we were so glad it wasn't us!! ) We had breakfast half-an-hour later than usual then set about packing and striking camp. The weather was hot and sunny so the tents dried quickly after the overnight rain and we were able to get them away nice and dry. The equipment all travelled back to Norrköping by trailer and we followed on by train, a specially-chartered "Scout Special" and the journey proved a nightmare!

One train - five carriages - none interconnecting - and only TWO toilets! The train had to stop every hour to allow people to get off, run along to one of the carriages which had a toilet and get on again, whereupon the train set off again with them in the wrong carriage and they had to wait for the next stop to get back to their seats. Naturally it was a disaster. Some stops weren't at a platform so you had to jump down and climb up, sometimes people got into the wrong carriage, and at one stop luggage fell out and rolled down the embankment and into a ditch! A memorable trip but for all the wrong reasons!

But eventually we reached Norrköping and our host families were all waiting to collect us. ("Please can I have a shower? Use your toilet? Use your washing machine? Go to BED??")

For the story of our week in Norrkoping, click here