Martin - our Slovakian organiser
Hike into the High Tatras
By Rob Nichols
We got up at 7:00 am but Andrew Boulcott’s patrol had to get up at 6:30 to make everyone’s breakfast, which they didn’t know about until Brett woke them. As soon as we were up it started to rain so everyone complained that they didn’t want to go hiking but Robin got into strop mode Alpha and said we were GOING FOR A HIKE ALRIGHT!.
After a beautiful breakfast (because Dave G cooked it) we were told that some of the Slovakians had got up at 4:50 am to meet us for the hike so we had to go. We got on the coach and travelled to the High Tatras. When we got there we met the Slovaks. Made ace way up the hill. After about half an hour the Neal twins decided that they would be so ‘ard by trying to run up but Dave and I said Sod That and walked slowly at the back because we didn’t care. There was a stream running parallel to the path, so every time there was a waterfall everyone had to take a photo.
Once we were near the top we could see a Chalet which was a restaurant. One of the Williamson’s rang along the path saying he was going to swim in the lake at the top, but when we got to the lake and Chalet, he said he wouldn’t go in. Everyone took photos of the lake and the falls coming off the mountain and ran into the Restaurant for a drink and something to eat. Most people bought chips or ice creams but Graham Page decided he would buy a big plate of chips, salad and sausages which was probably quite insulting to Martin as he had prepared a nice packed lunch for everyone!
After this we started to make our way back down and so Graham Toole, Barry and Rob Neal, Matt and Scott and Jon Neal decided it would ‘ard running down (in fact this was just sad because they had to wait ages for us), but the rest of us walked down at a reasonable pace. Robin told us about his business so David, Rob Neil and James Bewley offered to buy it out but he said no, so we carried on. At a bridge, Martin decided to try and get us wet but we soaked him with our water bottles. When we got to the coach we found the Neal twins and Co. and Robin had a go at them and we chucked Rob Neal’s hat in a puddle. When we got back to the site we were astonished. All the kits of the Highcliffe tents had been ransacked. Everyone’s kit was all over the place, but not much was taken. We sorted it all out and then we put on our Scout uniform, and then made our way to the Restaurant which was about 2 miles away, for Dinner.
We had to eat in patrols in the Restaurant. Starter was Noodle Soup with vegetables. The main meal was Veal and dessert was a Puff Pastry with cream. We then tried the Slovak national dish of sort of Macaroni cheese. I sat next to Yana - he was the founder of the Slovakian Scouts
The WI who were downstairs got drunk on 50p’s worth of alcohol. We then walked to the campsite of the Slovak Scouts. Because it had been raining, the path which was quite long, was very muddy. Everyone had their best clothes and shoes on, so when they got muddy they got very annoyed We then had to walk over a slippery, muddy bridge and then up a muddy, slippery hill. Rob Neal said he couldn’t walk up it and when he did go up he slipped up as did Dave the driver in his nice clean uniform! Then we finally got to the campsite we found out they weren’t expecting us and so we were allowed a look around. They had done a lot of pioneering projects such as a Tower which was very high and 3 Teepees. It was much better than what we can do! After that the Slovak Scouts said they didn’t have a camp fire ready, so we had to walk back in the dark with one torch along the slippery paths. A lot of people fell over. When we got back to the coach, everyone was complaining about the mud. When we got back to the camp, we found everyone’s tents, except one, had been jumped. They had gone in and everything had been emptied out of their bags. Some people had things stolen, like Dave Geddes, who had a present for his brother stolen. When we had finally cleaned the tents up we had supper and went to bed. Everyone was talking to each other about what had happened.