ballycastle – Ballymoney Scout Group

On Sunday some of our explorers seized an amazing opportunity to board the Tall Ship Phoenix whilst she was moored in the bay just off Ballycastle. The ship and her crew were in Ballycastle as part of the maritime festival. Before boarding the explorers had some free time to explore and enjoy the stands and artisan markets on the promenade. We then jumped into a small rib (which was an experience for some). After a short trip we were welcomed aboard the Phoenix by Captin Joel Foote and his crew. We where then given a tour of the ship along with plenty of sea worthy stories to go it.

One of our new members was due to be invested and we were honoured in the fact the Captin Joel presented Alfie with his new Phoenix necker. As a token of gratitude and the fact we share the same name we decided to present the Captin with a Phoenix necker for the ship to take on her next voyage.
After an amazing afternoon aboard we headed back to dry land which was a welcome end for some of our explorers who realised they didn’t have sea legs …..

On Friday the 29^th November the Scouts packed up and headed off in the minibus for their winter weekend away at Dunluce Guide House. Once there, after setting up the hostel and unloading all the goodies brought by the Tesco delivery van, everything was set for a great weekend ahead.
On Saturday the Scouts headed off for various hikes around the North Coast. The older end made their way up Knocklayd and on into Ballycastle unfortunately getting a little bit of the beaten track and ended up covered in mud (this is why, guys, planning and following your route is important). The younger end undertook a series of navigation tasks around Ballycastle forest, this allowed all participants to use and improve their map reading skills, as they each took turns to lead the group on the hike. Both groups met in Ballycastle for an ice cream before returning to the hostel.
Once back at the hostel the Scouts the PL’s & APL’s undertook the task of cooking Christmas dinner for everyone and what a feast we had. After the washing up it was time for party games such as the ‘After Eight Challenge’ and ‘Ibble Dibble’.
In the morning after a leisurely breakfast of eggy bread (French toast) the scouts undertook an incident hike, abseiling, blind trail, lighting a fire off the ground and the invisible assault course was the order of the day. Lunch and the cleaning of the hostel were the last tasks of the weekend.
A fun and full weekend was had by all.