Hello! Leader Mike here.

This blog post comes from a cosy coach cruising up the French motorways, just North of Strasbourg. By the time you’ll have read this the sun will be coming up and the crew will be preparing to board the ferry.

Just across the aisle to me is a snoozing Marlon and just behind him is Annie, wrapped in her fetching Disney Princess blanket. The positions that some of the Explorers have contorted themselves into for the coach are impressive to say the least. A buddy to cosy up to seems to be key for this final leg of our epic Kandersteg trip.

Spirits were high this morning with everyone up bright and early to strike camp. The team pulled together fantastically making light work of dismantling our home for the past week and a bit.

We wished Alex, Will and the kit van farewell and loaded up the coach with kit bags packed with ten days of wet, smelly and dirty clothing – always a sign of a good week (Tuesday could be a good time for a refresher on how the washing machine at home works).

Just after lunch we jumped on the train for Brigerbad and the Aquapark.

Pro Scouting tip: traveling with a group of 52 people? Send your most persuasive leader to get the local transport provider to lay on a special, one-off shuttle using the Swiss taxpayers’ busses (good work Mr Marton-Bell).

Brigerbad’s naturally heated outdoor pools are a glorious sight, surrounded by Swiss mountains and bathed in warm August sun.

There was no way the Leaders were letting the Explorers have all the fun and we were soon flying down one of Europe’s longest waterslides and whizzing around the rapids. I was coaxed atop one of the park’s diving spots and pressured into jumping the three meters into the pool following some mild name calling about my apprehension to step from the edge.

Feeling refreshed, and most importantly clean, our private chauffeur returned us to the train headed for Kandersteg.

What better way to end a mammoth camp than with pizza? Or in our case, 63 pizzas. Each and every slice was devoured and we all savoured the final hour in our incredible surroundings.

I could fill this last minute blog with a host of memories, quotes and belly laugh moments from the past ten days, but I’ll let the Explorers relay you their own stories – they’ll tell them with real enthusiasm. It’s that enthusiasm that has been central to this trip and made it so much fun.

Explorers, if you’re reading this – I’ve had an amazing time. Thank you.

Time to nap until we hit the next toll booth. The snoring from the back of the bus is weirdly relaxing.

Mike