Southampton SSAGO Summer Camp 2016
Lauren Whittaker (Southampton SSAGO)
Monday 20th of June 2016
Adventures to the Isle of Wight!
On Wednesday 8th June, 10 excited members of Southampton SSAGO set off for the Isle of Wight. Accompanied by the (always legendary!) SSAGO playlist, they made their way towards Lymington, hopped on the ferry and were soon being greeted by Camp Warden Barry at Corf Campsite.
The trip had a packed itinerary, from raft-building (and capsizing!) to exploring a Norman castle, with plenty of campfires in between. Thursday saw a trip on a steam railway from Wootton to Smallbrook, and then on to Shanklin for a devilishly difficult treasure hunt, with many of the members wandering baffled through the town and eventually hunting for ice creams rather than treasure! Friday was filled up with cooking on the fire and raft building at Newton Creek, where the rafts were entered into relay races before being majestically capsized.
Saturday meant the halfway point of the camp, but there was no let-up in the amount of things to enjoy. The group hiked from Yarmouth, walking along the coast through Victoria Country Park and towards the Needles, enjoying the multi-coloured sands of Alum Bay on the way before being refuelled with the infamously calorific camp doughnuts back at the campsite. Sunday was a more chilled out day, and time to go back to basics with backwoods cooking on the fire, starting with baked potatoes and finishing up with pizza (from scratch!).
Carisbrooke Castle was the star attraction on Monday, with highlights being the donkey wheel and when the entire group managed to squeeze into a medieval garderobe (toilet – you had to be there really!). The rest of the day was spent on Brightstone Beach, with a relaxed BBQ and a bit of cliff exploring thrown in too. The last day of camp meant it was time to pack up and head back across the Solent, but not before the group made a quick stop at Fort Victoria for some cream teas.
Everyone was sad to see the end of Summer Camp, but it had undoubtedly been a brilliant, action-packed week with memories to last for some time to come. Thank you to everyone who helped out, but most of all to social secretaries Lauren and Lexie for doing such an amazing job of organising Southampton Summer Camp 2016!
By Lauren Whittaker and Izzy Budleigh
