This was a day that started out not so fun, but it was all good in the end. Very early in the morning our unit boarded a school bus. The bus took us south of Malpeque onto Route 104, which led us to the shore of Malpeque Bay near Lower Hamilton. Here we were going to the Dory Rowing event. We thought the event was just going to be some leisurely rowing on the water, so we didn't come prepared for what was to come! First, we were blindfolded and we acted as a "train" of Scouts looking for some hidden treasure. I wasn't keenly aware of what was going on, so I just followed along with what the guy in front of me was doing. We then went into a boat and rowed out to an orange buoy at the other side of the bay (not Malpeque Bay!). Our rowing was terrible, since we went slowly and we started going in circles! Worse yet, near the buoy there were some Venturers acting as pirates, who dumped buckets of water on us. We got dumped on three times, because we kept going around in a circle. We had no leaders in the boat with us, and unfortunately only one of the Scouts in my unit knew what he was doing. I was so soaked that I was really happy when that was over. The next part of the event involved building a cannon to launch water balloons, while two of us went aside to create a pennant for our unit that would hang near the cannon. I didn't feel like working hard because I was lazy, so I worked on the pennant. Becuase of how wet I was I took off my shoes and shirt. We actually made a nice pennant which I got a picture of. Eventually the bus came and picked us up, and took us back to Cabot Park.
Upon returning to the jamboree site, I got in line for the showers. This morning it was especially crowded, and people leaving the building were warning us that the water pressure was poor. After waiting at least 15 minutes, I heard yelling and swearing coming from inside the shower building. The water pressure was completely gone. Soon I found out that the main water line into the jamboree had been broken. Obviously I didn't get to have my shower. This meant that there was no water available to anybody. After lunch, our unit had free time on the schedule. We decided to do some laundry. I went over to Function Junction, a.k.a. the subcamp headquarters, and obtained a six foot tall piece of leftover hydro pole. I took it back to our campsite, where I dug a hole near the dining tent. I erected the pole in the hole, and then I took my yellow rope and connected it between that pole and another pole that was already on our campsite. The resulting structure was a clothesline! We had lots of clothespins with us, so I put my wet-but-not-dirty clothes from the Firefighters Challenge and the Dory Rowing on the line. Meanwhile, the other Scouts set up three basins to wash clothes, with some of the water we had left. We were being careful that we had enough for later, since there was no way of getting fresh water due to the broken line. I washed my dirty clothes and added them to the clothesline. A nice fresh wind was blowing off of Malpeque Bay, so some of my clothes dried very quickly.
By 4:30 p.m., the other two units from my troop had returned from their afternoon activities, and we boarded our charter bus from Great Canadian. We were going to Charlottetown for the evening. We went south to Kensington via Route 20, then east towards Charlottetown via Route 2. At Hunter River. we took a side trip north on Route 13 to New Glasgow (please click here to view map). There we stopped for dinner at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers, located just east of New Glasgow on Route 258. There was also a gift shop there, which we stopped in at while we were waiting for our seats. After being seated, we were treated to some fresh, warm dinner rolls. Then, we had soup, salad, and a main course. I decided to order their chicken nuggets. I wanted to have lobster, but I was afraid of taking one bite and not liking it. But, guess what? I didn't like their chicken nuggets! Nonetheless, the rest of the meal was excellent. It was a very nice restaurant. When we got back on the bus, we were lucky that one of the leaders made a head count because a couple of our Scouts were still in the gift shop.
We proceeded on to Charlottetown, via Route 2. We arrived in Downtown Charlottetown around 7:30. The bus dropped us off by Cow's Ice Cream on Grafton Street near Queen Street. We walked by the PEI Legislative Building, where the confederation meetings were held in 1864. We walked down to the waterfront, but by that point there was lightning, thunder, and a bit of rain. It was a very nice waterfront, filled with boats parked on the docks. By the time we walked back up to Grafton Street, it was pouring rain very hard! It was now 8:50, and we seeked shelter in Charlottetown Mall. But, a sign out front says it closes at 9:00! We went back out into the pouring rain, and looked for other stores downtown to seek shelter in. Unfortunately, almost all of the stores close at 9:00 in Charlottetown during the week. It was just after 9 p.m. and the city had basically shut down for the night. (In London at 9 p.m. during the week, the downtown is a busy place!) However, Cow's and an adjacent Subway were still open. The whole troop crowded into those two stores. I tried some of Cow's ice cream, and it was so good like people say it is. I also went into Subway to have a sub. The clerk that was on duty that evening was having a lot of difficulty. She wasted three bread rolls just to make one sub, becuase she kept cutting the rolls wrong. I asked her if she was a new employee, and she said she wasn't! Despite the weather and early closing hours of the stores, Charlottetown was a great city, and I had a great time. Running around on Grafton Street in the pouring rain trying to find a store that was open was awesome! Our bus returned us to the jamboree around 11 p.m. It did not rain at all at Cabot Park while we were away. We went straight to bed. This was a day of getting wet, but it was still fun. Please click 'next' to continue. |
