Barrytown knife making trip with scouts

Yup - it was this time of the year again where we are taking a group of scouts over to the Westcoast of New Zealand - Barrytown to be exact - and do one of the many wonderful activity on offer.  This time - same as last year - knife making with Steve and Robyn, although to be fair we took another troop across (Cust scouts)!!
We left bright and early on Friday and arrived shortly after 9pm, set up camp - munched on some pizza (even though the maths employed by Brush was a bit - urm - in-correct!!) and looked forward to the coming days activity!

Next question -- I KNEW we had packed a tin opener - it was just a case of finding it.  Eventually after a mummy look the missing tool was located and that opened the door for some 'wriggly worms' in Tomato sauce to be cooked for breakfast!!

Knife making starts at 9 am with the lighting of the fire.  Amazing what a couple of squirts of medicinal water can do for effect! wrooom and hey presto - we have a flame!!  Oh, did I hear someone suggesting we should have brought Marshmellows??? 

Soon there was no excuse and it was hands on deck for everyone.  I did warn the scouts that they better start lifting some weights - a 500 g tin of fruit would do the trick!!  In the end a two handed job was easier and required a bit of co-operation.  TEAM-work!!  Normally you hold the steel with one hand and hammer with the other.

After the basic forging and tempering of the blade you work on the belts, grinding away the un-wanted bits.  The steel coming away from the forge and tempering process is an ugly black or gray and as we want a nice mirror type finish we have to remove the dust and grime first!! The on goes the bolster / handle and vola - it almost LOOKS like a knife is being made.  At this point everyone gets excited - cause you can see the end product!!

There are many more steps in place before you get to have lunch and while 'the happy bunch munch on their lunch' (scouts grace - try and say that 3x really fast) Steve has to work of the xtra bits.  The gaps are filled with a polymer resin - food grade - and the dust can be quit dangerous, whence everyone inside the house eating while Steve is doing the final shaping!! Notice that Steve is wearing a complete self-contained breathing unit!! I loved taking this pic - sparks everywhere - which means that the steel is really hard and will take a good edge, and of course it looks spectacular!!

There is always time for some play time and apart from the chucking of some axes and ninja stars on a solid wall of timber - there is always time to go for a wee walk and use the big swing - and it is BIG!! To get some height everyone has to pull (Team-work again) and then let go and you start swinging from about 4-6 meters of the ground.  Funnily enough there is a little round pond in front of the swing - and the suggestion that this was NOT repeat NOT an invitation for some spectacular diving - worthy of Olympic status - was readily agreed too!!

After the handle was on and the basic shaping was done and well some more steps - came the final last step - wet polishing with a dry polish finish!! Time to sit in the sun and tell some jokes or share anecdotes of the days event!!

Hurrah's - all the final knives - laid out and ready.  Haven't done they well!?!? The timber used is Rimu - a NZ native tree - which you can no longer log - so comes from re-cycled timber!! I actually love the grain and color  of the Rimu!!
Each knive is very individual and as you can see there are some good for stabbing and some good for skinning!!  Having already made 3 knives from previous trips - I decided not to make one on this trip - rather I will be waiting until the Damascus Blades come on-stream and - uhu then watch out!!


The next Day we went on a short walk. There are some good 3-5 hour walks near Punakaki and  we had already been there before once - so knew the area well.  Basically we wanted to show the youth what was needed to organize a hike - in terms of gear / preparation / carrying all gear etc etc.  As it rained I did not bring my camera - but someone else did and I am waiting for some pictures to add here. Given the good and organized nature of the Cust Scouts (and the 1:1 ratio of leaders to kids ) we where finishing the walk (and the Duck soup for Lunch) reasonably early - so headed of the the Beach the light a beacon fire (4 pm).  We had to, as at 9pm time it was high tide and the Tide does come right up to the shore - leaving no room for any on beach activities!  Next day - by mutual consent we stomped around Shantytown for a bit - did the gold digging and had a ride on the Steam train, and sent th eyouth on a treasur hunt, before we drove back up to Arthurs Pass and had a good lunch there - and then back home by 4.30pm-ish!!  Yes - another successful trip to the West-coast completed!! A N D contrary to popular belief - this old gezzer did NOT repeat NOT cut himself on any of the knives or during the whole weekend.
Next year - Greenstone (Jade) carving in Hokitika.

Oh nearly forgot - there is this story that was started by one of the leaders - and sort of helped along by the youth - I shall endeavor to copy and paste here!!  Have fun 



The book of Sir G.H.

Chapter One

Verse 1:  The inhabitants of Cust built a scout den.
Verse 2:  Following the word of the scout leader Hamish, a large food store was built for the purposes
               of scouting.
Verse 3:  The foodstore was moved from scout camp to scout camp and it was lent to some scout 
               leaders who used to go to a scout den in Christchurch but they had left when it was taken
               over by an evil empire.
Verse 4:  To support the annula pilgrimage to the West Coast, the Cust scouts prepared a mighty
                food parcel that contained:
Verse 5:  24 Pre-cook sauages frozen
Verse 6:  8 tins of 420grams of beans to keen the scout leaders of Christchurch regular
Verse 7:  8 tins of spagetti as the scouts of Cust did not like eating worms
Verse 8:  3 tins of beetroot as Cust scouts like beetroot
Verse 9:  1 420 grm tin of peaches
Verse 10:  12 litres of Raro drink mix as scouts drink nothing less
Verse 11:  Enough tomato sauce for the weekend and maybe even enough for a tomato suce fight!
Verse 12:  Half a big jar of raspberry jam and the same of marmalade
Verse 13   Enough coffee to see Sir GH through the weekend
Verse 14:  A roll of foil
Verse 15:  A big bottle of meths for Broom (in case he forgets his medicine)
Verse 16:  A big bottle of white vineger (for salad dressings)
Verse 17   A little bit of veggie oil but not much (see above)
Verse 18:  A box of cardbox ...... no its Weetbix 1Kg
Verse 19:  Full bag of sugar
Verse 20:  A pack of Bin bags
Verse 21:  Loads of washing up liquid
Verse 22:  approx 24 tea bags
Verse 23:  and loads of hand wash
Verse 24:  Sir G.H was tasked by Ladle to bring 4 cooked ducks (tomorrow evenings job)
Verse 25:  And would you like me to bring some meat for Saturday and Sunday evening meal?

Chapter 2:
 
Verse 1:  We arrived on the mini bus with the smell of vomit all the way and passed through
               Kumara and made a big fuss.
Verse 2:  We also got pizza.When we got there we had to unload a thousamd bags (well which
               seemed like it) then sat down and ate the pizza.
Verse 3:  And they went and made knifes in Barrytown.


Chapter 3

Verse 1:  They went and made their knives and even Reinhold did not cut himself!
Verse 2:  When we arrived at the knife making place, we got out and went to the house to get the
               shirts, goggles and gloves, as we waited for the other people we grabbed some throwing
               stars and hatchets on the veranda and through them at this massive board.
Verse 3:  Meanwhile, Vinnie was put to work under the glare of a mystery star in the North.
Verse 4:  The Norse Gods came to Hokitika and sent a massive flood to the sleeping quarters but only
               managed to get one person in hot water.
Verse 5:  Despite the moist misty weather we walked into the bush and cooked a duck soup
Verse 6:  The Cust Scouts enjoyed the alfresco meal
Verse 7:  After the hike we tried to burn some timber on the beach
Verse 8:  Sir GH decided some fresh mussels would be in order = so we offered some weight training!!

Chapter 4
To be continued . . .  .

 
 

Annual Westcoast Camp - Denniston Incline part three

They say a watched kettle never boils - but I dunno - this one did its job just nicely and as a result we had a nice hot cuppa (Milo for me and Tea/coffee for the other gents)
See the steam rising??? Oddly enough (can't think why) the boys where not overly impressed when we suggested to them, to use the hot water to wash their dishes ^^








LUNCH - a time honored tradition - lunch on the run - while we could have eaten inside the "Friends of the Hill" Museum - it was an unusually sunny day for Denniston and we decided to make the most of what little sun we saw - ergo cooking and eating outside.
Lunch must have been good as this is/was the only time the boys stopped chattering . . . .










The endless Rope Road - from Coalbrookdale mine via Burnetts Face to the Binns on top of the Denniston Incline. One can walk along it now peacefully - but in it's heyday there was a wagon every minute or so and with the houses being literally only meters away from the rope way - it was a tricky business living there. Many a small kid got killed due to a moments carelessness. The only danger to ourselves was for tall people - and one of us collected a scar when he failed to stoop down low enough . . . . Must have something to do with being a Sir . . . (working in the lofty heights of his own peers:P ?? )







Gathering the driftwood for our Campfire. One of the many pleasures on our trip is that we still can have these scouting traditions on the westcoast. Here in Canterbury we suffer from Fire restrictions almost year round. Given the amount of rain overnight and the storm we had - I checked next day the place and the sea had washed it nice and clean - not a single trace of a Campfire ever having taken place!! The funny thing was - we had just lit the fire and we heard the siren going for the local fire fighting crew!!! We were having kittens that they would show up here and urm - well - give us a hard time urm - and present us with a rather large call out fee to be paid!! Thankfully the call out was for another area (maybe a flooded house??)

Scouts camping on a wet and rainy weekend

Well - s'pose I should be thankful for some small mercies - like a waterproof tent. We took some scouts out camping and the weekend started fine but then it became a wet and rainy weekend. - (I unpacked my suitcase and found gear I had taken there, but not worn, quite DAMP - so yeah). Just as well that I took James and not Brodie (who has a reputation for going camping only in gumboots!!!)
Anyhow the youth came together from our Scout Zone and about 100 youth bunked down for the weekend. They had a ball. From our Group only 4 where brave enough to face the two madcap leaders and a camping experience away. I have to say - well done guys -you survived with flying colors. Seeing that what happens on camp stays on camp - I can't tell you some of the most funny stories / jokes we had - suffice to say - competition giggles has - more to work on her humor she needs.
Pics below - enjoy

So after we set up the campsite, we build the first part of the framework for the afternoon wide game - some water battle that needed a observation tower - a derrick for more supplies, a flag pole and urm stores. The platform also doubled as a local prison and while water-boarding was no longer an option some "prisoners" did get a free shower. - urm we also placed ONE sticky plaster in the middle of the floor and told scouts that if they fall down they have to aim for the sticky plaster - if they miss - they dont get to use that for whatever damage they would have done to themselves!! Suffice to say - they all decided to give that part a miss.

LOL - never mind the cars - the scouts did a good job themselves running round at speed!!




After a half day of running round in cold and drizzly weather - my cooked lunch was described as "Da Bomb" and "Papabears Super special" I have to admit - it was rather tasy and went down well. Nothing left over here!! Maybe - just maybe here is a new burger waiting for McDonalds to be "discovered"?? I am sure it would be a great hit!!

Mothers take NOTE - They DO KNOW how to wash up - so its up to you to utilize their newly acquired skill at home!!













The day finished with a camp fire and sing songs and stories and jokes - a good time to show of your camp blanket and all your badges and dear I say it - some warmth!!

Sadly Campfires are a endangerd species in Canterbury - with almost year round fire bans in force, the youth today no longer get to learn the skill in how to light fires / cook safely on fires and just basic fire safety eticette. Shame really because it is becoming a lost art very soon . . . .








The next day saw all the scouts competing in some games - we had a very intense wheelbarrow race (where listen and following instructions came at a premium) to the old gum boot toss/ tow a tractor / set up a electric fence (hehehe sadly no juice running through the fence - shame )/ to see how many hits it takes to pound in a 4 inch nail and how long it takes to cut a piece of a 2x4 / to tossing over a high rope a decent hay bale!
















Camp has finished with a traditional Scouts own and flag down.













Time to pack up and head back home - and a WARM shower and my very own comfy bed!
Oh and I got to watch the last 40 min of rugby before I crashed in bed- seems the All Blacks have re-discovered a way of winning - playing a decently game - so all in all a great weekend.

:)

More Camp Antics

Everybody CALM down - this is not what you think - although I have to admit there where some interesting camp antics and Sir G.H. does cut a rather dashing figure in his new outfit. I loved the comment from his own son attending the camp - quote "I no longer have a DAD!"
Jorja - just wait till the ballet tights arrive in the country! I am wondering if the Scouting Uniform review taskgroup should receive an image of this to consider the new outfit for all Scouting NZ members!!!! :-)

The Campfire set up! You should have seen it lit - flames where about 4 meters high and everyone moved back 5 meters! Scouts provided entertainment and songs. However - I could not help wonder if we should have had a sheep/pig on a spit while we where at it. Suffice to say that once the campfire had finished, and after 20 liters of water there were still hot embers left 20 hours later.


Will he or wont he fall in??? What do we have to do to make the journey across the lake more dangerous for him? When is my turn? Will I get wet? Can I swim?? Will this count towards my shower? Did I bring some pegs to hang up my wet clothes afterwards? Most importantly - will I look like a fool falling in??????? It should be noted that Papabear did make it (falling in that is).


After a hard days work - digging - swimming- story telling its time to sit down and wait for dinner to cook!
Eeeek look at the gray hair! I feel old now.





"Schick" (ex Mr Bishopdale-Harewood) - working hard on his smile. He's hoping to impress a good scouting woman at Staveley - and to be honest - with a smile like that - who could possibly resist him? (or is that an embarrassed smile for not bringing the promised claret???)
Ladies - he is available and for a fee of urm $ - - - - .-- or thereabouts I can introduce you. Regular pin-up boy, and rumor has it plenty of pictures are hanging in various rooms. (bummer - if I had a decent photoshop program I could have added a little bright * on his 3rd tooth top left . . . . .