THURSDAY

Bright and early on Thursday, the usual pre-camp prep begins at Scout Park. A system that has become very efficient over the years means we soon had wheels rolling after throwing bags into trailers, and hooking up canoe trailers to buses. The journey to the Welsh coast ended as we pulled into St Brides, a gorgeous campsite surrounded by castle walls and only a stones throw from a quaint cove. We began making it our home straight away, erecting tents, the jurte and a mess tent. 

FRIDAY

After our first night at St Brides, we all woke up ready for our first activity of the weekend, coasteering. A firm favourite at WWESU, coasteering involves swimming in the sea and jumping off cliffs, so it was perfect to get us in the mood for a long weekend of fun. Breakfast eaten, we piled into the buses, ready to get suited and booted on the beach. 

Everyone had an incredible time scrambling along the Pembrokeshire coast, doing flips into the choppy sea, and working our way up to the highest jumps into the ‘Blue Lagoon’, a beautifully still, abandoned slate quarry. Although chilly, by the end, the grey morning had cleared up into a gorgeous sunny afternoon, which we spent on a nearby beach, munching on our lunches, and treating ourselves to ice creams from the cafe. Some of the bravest of us even got back into the icy sea, this time without the full wetsuit get-up, just in swimming costumes! 

The fun wasn’t over yet though. With our bellies full of dinner, we headed into town for some bowling. Two hours of competitive games later, some of us had really mastered our techniques. Some of us, not so much…. Check out our TikTok we made during the evening here: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLpGatXb/. 

SATURDAY

Saturday’s objective was to complete an incident hike. With various lengths on offer, boots were laced and the first group led the way right after flag break. Along an either 18, 24 or 36km route, groups arrived at checkpoints to be tasked with a challenge. At checkpoint one an egg was handed to the group to be looked after all the way round the course. Shelly, Eggbert and Degg all had a cracking ride, although they all eventually came to a sticky end.

The sunny evening provided the perfect setting for a BBQ, cooked by the leaders, and enjoyed by everyone. Despite being slightly weighed down by full bellies, an evening wide game commenced; a twist on the usual capture the flag, in which the PLs hunted down the patrols in order to intercept their flag capturing. However, the patrols quickly outsmarted the PLs and successfully returned the flags to the Jurte. 

SUNDAY

In true WWESU style, we spent Easter Day getting stuck into adventure, this time on the River Cleddau. A windy paddle down the estuary, with stops on very muddy banks for lunch and snacks. Although it was tiring paddling  against the wind in the exposed estuary, it gave us the opportunity to try tidal canoeing, which was something new for everyone. Plus, it meant we had all worked up a real appetite for chocolate….

Once back, and showered, eggs were stashed across the campsite, and as darkness fell, the true Easter fun began. Chocolate treats were found in the strangest of places, including on trees, unders canoes and balanced on tents!

MONDAY

Before we knew it, the weekend was almost at a close. An incredible effort from everyone (likely fueled by Easter chocolate!) meant camp was down by 9, and we were all waving goodbye to St Brides. Although sad to be leaving, we had one more thing to look forward to before returning back home. To break up the journey, we stopped in Swansea, paying a visit to the water park. A much warmer swim than that of Friday’s, we zoomed down water slides, and relaxed in the jacuzzi. Eventually it was time to hit the road for the final stretch of the journey, and to return to London. Check out our video of the weekend here: