Water, water everywhere

It was hot and sunny on our first day of camp. Once we go to our campsite, we put our tents up and filled our water bottles.
All of us were hot enough we changed into our bathing suits, which led to flip flops and tank tops. Shortly after Kate brought the little kiddie pools out and filled them with water. We stuck our feet in to cool us off it was so refreshing. Brianne was having fun spraying her and others with a spray bottle. That felt refreshing too.


Our patrol leader let us have her sponges that she brought. The water in those kiddie pools didn’t last long. Each of grabbed a sponge and soaked someone with it. A few campers from other camp sites joined us. We took turns getting water. Thankfully the water tap was not far from our site. We played this for quite some time.


It was time to go down to get our swim test, because the ones that were supposed to be recorded in iMis apparently weren’t. The walk was long in flip flops but boy did the 50m swim that we did get feel really good. It would have felt even better if the water was a little colder than it was. We filled our water bottles a few times on the way back. Basically every tap that we came across we filled our water bottles.

Some of us took advantage of the free time we were given and worked on their tan. I do have to say after 10 days in being in the sun; I have got a better tan than I had before I went to camp. What are 2 more weeks going to do?

It wasn’t only the first day that we got to have water fights and swimming. The waterfront team allowed free swims on hot days after our sessions on the island. When the conservation area closed the beach because the bacteria was high in the water, they took us to another beach somewhere in Guelph but a leader had to go with you. In that case the whole patrol might as well go. If you were lucky your out trip was to Wasaga Beach. It would cool you off, and refresh you since you didn’t get to shower every day.

My patrol didn’t use the solar showers, we decided that we would wash our hair in buckets for the fun of it or you did what I did the first time and washed it under the tap like everyone else was doing. I had a minor brain freeze afterwards because the water was cold. But again, it was refreshing to the point you wanted to do it again.

You can say that the water adventures came about quite a bit at camp. Whether or not it was water fights, swim tests, washing your hair or going to the beach.

Rainy Days Please Go Away

** Rain rain go away come again another day**

There’s nothing like camping in the rain. That’s why we had to make sure everything was waterproofed and nothing was on the sides before we left the tent in the morning. It is a pain in the butt but it keeps your stuff dry. The first morning we woke up to puddles in our tent because there was so much rain the fly didn’t hold it. Sleeping bags and pillows were wet. Oh what a joy! Before we went to the island that morning we put the tarp on so we wouldn’t have to deal with this problem again.

We all walked in the rain, miserable wondering what we were going to do on the island in the rain. Friday we were ushered under the marquis to sing songs and then go do the programs that weren’t cancelled in the rain. Most of us were soaked and began to get muddy by that point. Lunch time the rain finally stopped but it got very humid out. When we went back to our tent there was one little puddle by the door. No big deal. The sun came out after a bit, just in time for the special event Reality Bytes.

Saturday there was rain. Sunday made up for it. In the middle of session 3 it starts storming and not just drizzling down pouring once again. There were crowds of people under the shelters and some were still doing sessions in the shelters. My group travelled over to the wooden shelter where we found most of the Windsor patrols. This was the perfect time to do some swapping, and that’s what most of us did. In a matter of about half hour I got rid of about half a bag of swaps because there was nothing else to do. We were stuck under the shelter for quite awhile. However, most of were now fed up with rain and didn’t want to see it for awhile.


We learned to become friends with it.... it rained Monday; it rained for our eco-day on Tuesday. Thank god for rain gear. Oh yeah, that’s if we remembered to bring it. By the time Thursday hit we were tired of the rain. It held off until dinner time. International night was held in the dining marquis so we were caught in the storm. All of stayed dry, we listened to the international event if we could, with all the talking and noise from the rain. The marquis soon turned into a mud puddle. The top leaked, and made it muddier than it already was. So when the night was over, we walked carefully not to sink in the mud. When we got back to our tent the rain stopped for a little bit, i ended up waking up to it in the middle of the night. Friday it was a clear day with a breeze but still humid at times. I think all of us were glad to see the sun and for the sun to stay out.


We can say that there was quite a bit of rain at GM. But, we all made the best of it. Some of us even danced in it when we had the chance. We have to remember when we are in Girl Guides: the show still goes on in the rain. What did you think of the rain?


This photo was taken uinder the shelter. This shows you how hard it rained somedays.

Opening Ceremony Pictures

The ushering crew- Handing out Glow sticks
Rainbow Hats

Special Events team
Glow Sticks
The countries represented at Guiding Mosaic 2010.

Opening Ceremonies

The fun began at GM 2010 opening ceremonies. Floods of rainbow color hats walked onto the island and received glow sticks. (that nine of us handed out and unwrapped, it was quite a job) There was a slight hold up on getting to the island first. The train that took people to and from the island flipped over. Thank god no one was severly hurt.

In between hat colors and glow sticks Guelph Lake was a rainbow. OPP police officer, and flag bearers made their grand entrance. Kris Burton, our chief commissioner spoke about the fun times we will have in the 10 days and some great experiences. She talked about the history in Guiding 100 years ago.
The special events team entertained us with some song and dance including Sisters for a Century.

2500 of us welcomed Maddie the Moose in his girl guide costume. Maddie went through some rules for camp. Such has water bottles, closed toed shoes, 11pm quiet time and most of all HAVE FUN!!!

It was time to say good night. We sang our taps and then made our way back to the mainland after a hot exhausting day. Glow sticks again were lighting up the trail.

I Thought the Motto is Be Prepared

There are 2500 girls coming into Guelph Lake Conservation Area to celebrate Canada’s 100th Girl Guide Anniversary. As much of a blast this was, you would think it would be a little more organized then it was when we got there. We realized this disorganization mess was going to occur at camp because most of us did not get our travel details until 3 days before camp. Despite schedules not being handed out on time, waivers not being sent to our parents and rain cancelling sessions a great time was there and well used.


The 291 Rangers that attended did not have their schedule of their sessions in their possession until late Friday afternoon. This is AFTER we were shuffled between marquis to marquis to figure out what we were doing on our first day of program. All of us had a bit of disappointment in us because we didn’t get what we wanted, but we turned it into a positive experience because we were now allowed to pick a session and join if there was room. However, there was a hard time getting into crafts because Core Crew was going out the night before and the morning of to buy supplies for the particular craft. Yeah ok here people, where are you expecting to find about 1000 large pieces of fabric for girls to make Pyjama Pants. That’s a lot of stores you have to hit up before the morning that these girls show up to their session because I am pretty sure you are not going to find one store with that much fabric. Not to mention, most girls had at least 3 wasted sessions because there wasn’t enough supplies or it was cancelled by the rain. Girls eventually did get to do their craft sessions hopefully, who knows with the amount of confusion and disorganized this part of the event was.


Two weeks prior to camp we figured out that waivers were needed for certain activities such as Zip lining, Rappelling, Dragon Boating, the Eco Adventure Tour, Scuba Diving and a few more. Parents waited and waited for these waivers to come in, then we were told if we needed one leaders would be getting a hold of your parents while you were at camp. 3 days past and my mother has yet to get a waiver, and I was told that they were sent out. Thank goodness that my program contact in my neighbourhood took care of it and made sure everyone that needed a waiver got a waiver from their parents. Girls were missing out on their sessions and out trips because these weren’t sent out on time like they should have been. A big event like this..... I think it wouldn’t be the first time that they were in contact with the company and the first time they heard about these waivers. At least things got a little more organized by the end of the week and more and more girls were going on their out trips. Along with the girls that missed their out trips because the wrong times were given.

The rain, oh the rain. Were Girl Guides, we can sleep, eat, cook, run, and play in the rain. A lot of the outdoor sessions were cancelled because of the rain. This left us with nothing to do even though we are Girl Guides and we don’t mind the rain, most of dance in the rain. We don’t care. It wasn't only the planning committee that was unprepared; there were times we weren’t prepared for the rain either. We should know by now when we go camping, it doesn’t only drizzle, it downpours. The day that we left for the island raining, we all brought our rain gear to the island. I failed to bring it any other day but the day I was going to the farm. Out of no where it starts to downpour and then it starts to thunder and lightning. Next thing you know were all under a shelter. This happened a few times, minus the lightning and the thunder.


All of these little discouragements warred off by the end of the 10 days and they turned into positive experiences. Myself and many others had a blast and would do it over again in a heartbeat

Smiles and Goodbyes

Smiles and Goodbyes
July 21, 2010

A month ago we were all looking forward to the friendships, memories and experiences we would make during our time at Mosaic. The day came when we all arrived with our smiles and cheers, even though there was some disorganization. The walks to the island 2 times a day and 2 times back. You were lucky if you didn’t have any sessions back on the mainland or you would be walking the 2km one extra time.

Together we shared negative experiences thunderstorms, random downpours, and schedule mishaps, out trip waiver misunderstandings. These soon turned into positive experiences because there was always something better that was waiting for us. Much Music Video Dance Parties, Celebrity Theo Tams as a judge for GM Got Talent, NASA communication with the International Space Station, Out Trips. All of these wonderful events and sessions that took place made up for the disorganization.

The 10 days whipped by, like you wouldn’t believe. The day before we left was spent cleaning and getting our stuff together to go home. Before we knew, we were on the island saying goodbye to all of these wonderful experiences that we took part in. Boom whackers were smacking in cheer of the fun we had, the crowd was going crazy. We said good bye to Maddie the Moose who was an amazing judge at the talent show. Our last walk to the mainland was a fun one but yet a short one knowing that this was our last time on the island. We went back to the tent, 8 people sat in it, while our stuff sat under tarps. 3 of us took a bag to the leader parking lot that weighed about 100lbs and took the golf cart to lift. Trust me we didn’t get far. RUN FOREST RUN, we yelled at Lauren. Who was running in front of the golf cart. Once we were done yelling dirty jokes across the campground and in the leader parking lot, it was time to pull an all nighter. Didn’t happen, 2 am we all fell asleep.

Morning came, and this was it. We had to say good bye. To our wonderful marquis ladies: Robi, Andrea, Chantel, and Deb. Our Irish friends Niamh and Laura. Pen pals: Hanna and Lyndsay. Hugs were given with held back tears. Not only goodbye to our friends and ladies that made this happen but also the great time we had, the food that was disgusting by the end of the week because you were so tired of barbecue and chicken meals. We boarded the shuttle to get on our train, as we took our last tour of the conservation area we said our goodbyes to the non flush toilets, the lake, water taps and we said hello to civilization.

Note: Following this blog there will be many more posts that are going to be posted about our experiences, friends and memories that we made at camp. Don’t go away and I will keep you posted.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

You be thinking of the movie when I say “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” but I’m actually talking about the travel confusion everyone has had on getting to and from Guiding Mosaic. It sure has been an adventure, yet I do have to say a frustrating one. The story begins back in March.

Windsor Rangers were told that they were going to go on a bus with the 4 Windsor patrols. The bus ride is the best part to the start of trip. You get to laugh with your friends and have a blast when you’re not even at camp yet. This was back in March. This past June Rangers were told that they be going up a few days earlier than the rest of them and finding their own way to Guelph. We were then running into some issues. We contacted national and said that travel information would be out soon for Ranger/Core Crew members. But, we had to fill out travel information sheets in order for that to happen.

Last week, 3 members of our patrol got an e-mail stating that the 3 will be going on a plane. Here’s the kicker, they were possibly going from 3 different airports. Isn’t that just pathetic? The issue was solved shortly after we contacted national office. Now we are all going by train. Meanwhile, the Windsor bus is picking girls up in Sarnia. I wonder why Rangers weren’t put on that bus in the first place. The 9 of us waited..... And waited.... and waited for this travel information to come. We were all calling national and emailing wondering when we’re getting this information.

Finally, the day came. Friday we all received the same information. No one was taking a plane; no one was driving up there. We were all put on a train. A sigh of relief that email was. The train is leaving at 5:45 AM Thursday morning and we have to be there an hour early. I wonder how over tired were going to be? Overtiredness leads to craziness and fun. I don’t know if I’m going to go to bed Wednesday night,
I will have to be up pretty early to be at the train station and I may be too excited to sleep anyway. It’s all going to be worth it in the end. Even though all 3 planes, trains and automobiles were used to try and get us there.

See you in 4 days!!