Scouts Summer Camp 2024 – Austria
The Scout section have returned from their second consecutive joint summer camp with Leeson Park Scouts. This year, we were led by Adam Byrne, Conleth Law, James Kinlan, and Luke Dee-Brown, along with the fantastic leadership team from Leeson Park.
After a bumpy start with rescheduled flights, due to airline cancelations, the Scouts flew a day early to the diverted destination of Milan and stayed there for one day and night before taking a bus to our final destination in Austria. Despite this detour, we made the most of our time in Italy, exploring the city before boarding a bus that took us on a scenic journey through the Alps to our final destination in Stanzach. Our home for the week was a Jeka hostel, where we quickly settled in for an action-packed week.
The weather was a mix of low 30° days, and thunderstorms. Some of our activities included a trip to the local pool, the Wally Blitz alpine coaster, BBQs by the river, high ropes, carbine shooting range, a trip to the zoo, the Via Ferrata rock climbing trail, several hikes, lake swimming, a day trips to towns, a short film making competition, and visiting Neuschwanstein Castle.
The scouts split into patrols, with a mix of Rathgar and Leeson Park Scouts, with daily jobs assigned – including preparing Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; Cleaning, and taking part in our daily reporting. To keep parents updated, a temporary website was set up where a different scout posted daily log book entries. This year, we also introduced a podcast, hosted by venture leaders Ronan O’Byrne and Adam Byrne, who invited scouts as guests to share their experiences and stories from the trip.
To wrap up the camp, the leaders prepared a grand banquet on the final night using all the remaining food supplies. It was a fun and festive evening, complete with table service, candlelight, and even a short TikTok dance performance by the leaders that had everyone laughing.
The next morning, after packing up and giving the hostel a final clean, we set off on a long bus journey to Munich Airport, where we boarded our flight back to Dublin, tired but brimming with memories.