53rd Trip to KISC Switzerland 12th - 23rd July 2017

Day 4 Saturday 15th July

Group 1: Today we got down to the kitchen at 6am because our group was duty for breakfast. After that we went on the Evolving Alps hike with a Pinkie. Our route lay along a beautiful river. During this hike we were told how the Alps were formed and how to identify different rock type. When we came back we had a sandwich and some free time. At 2:15 we went to do a Pioneering Competition. There we built a tripod and a Bridge. After that we had more free time to take a shower and get ready for dinner. In the evening we played volley and had hot chocolate. Finally we went to sleep. By Alexey. K

Group 2: We woke up at 6am and we had breakfast at 7am. The breakfast was cereals and a sandwich. After breakfast we got ready for our hike to Gastental. At 8:30 we left the centre and made our way. We had a pinkie that was guiding us. We stopped at a Hotel in the Forest for a 20 minutes break and we had some fun on a zip line. We continued walking towards Selden. Because of time limit we had to stop for lunch midway and then turned back. For lunch we had sandwiches and fruit. On the way back we stopped at the same Hotel and had ice-cream and we had some more fun at the zip line. Then we returned to the centre. We had showers and we went to the village by bus for 40 minutes. We returned back and we had dinner which was spaghetti Bolognese. After dinner we had free time in the Chalet then went to bed. By Stylianos. A

Group3: On Saturday we woke up bright and early and started to get ready for our hike. At 7 we ate breakfast and got split up into 2 groups one left at 7:30 and the other at 8:00. We started our hike by walking to one of the steepest cable car in Europe. After we went up the cable car we started walking through a lot of uphill. Our guide explained to us that the hike was separated in 3 parts the first part of the hike was all uphill until we reached the peak of Bundersplitz mountain. The next 2 parts were the downhill. The first part of the downhill was hard and the second part of the downhill was a killer downhill. When we came back from our hike we went and had showers because we were all very sticky. After we finished our showers we relaxed a little bit and then we had dinner. Then we had some free time so we can rest from our hike. A little bit later we all had some really nice hot chocolate and at 10 we all went to sleep so we could have energy for the next day. By Vassiliki

Day 5 Sunday 16th July We woke up at 6:30 got dressed in our uniform and went down for breakfast at 7. We had English Breakfast which was my favourite breakfast so far. At 8 we all took the traditional 53rd Group photo and then headed on to BPs campfire where Skip Presented the Republic Award to our new Five leaders and then went and did flag break with the rest of the Groups. Later on we headed back to the chalet and had free time. Today was a relaxing day for all. The leaders went and had a day to rest and recover and we had free time and a few fun activities. Then we all got on parade and went to the International sports day. It was a great way to get to know other scouts and learning a song or sketch from their country. When we got back we went to get ready for campfire. At around 8:30 we set off for campfire and the other groups went to bed. We had fun at the campfire, sang a few songs, cooked sausages, and toasted bread. At 11:30 we returned back to the chalet, had hot chocolate to warm us up and went to bed after a long day. We had a nice a relaxing day. By Stephanie. K

Day 6 Monday 17th July

Group 1: Today we woke up at 6:30 because we had duty again. One person from group one went with group 2 rafting. After breakfast we washed the plates and at 9 am we had a work shop Nature Explorers with a Pinkie. After that we had 15 minutes of free time. Then, we went into the forest with Maria to do the Eco-I-Spy. When we finished we had free time. After the lunch time we did the Alternative Energy Work shop. When we finished we had free time until the group 2 came back and we did the Green Chalet Trail. After, we prepared the dinner. Then we had to wash the plates and when we finished we had the International evening. At the international evening we traded badges and Antonis and Max danced the traditional dance of Cyprus. After we finished we had hot chocolate and we went to sleep. By Kyriakos A.

Group 2: On Monday morning we woke up at 7:00. We packed our backpacks and headed down for breakfast. After that we made our packed lunch and got a bus that took us to a train station. At the station we went on a train that took us to Interlaken. When we arrived at the centre we had a small snack before preparing ourselves to go white water rafting. The Rafting centre provided us with wetsuits, helmets, lifejackets and water shoes. We then walked down to the Simme river where we were instructed about the basic way to keep safe while doing the activity. The rafting was amazing and we all had lots of fun. At around 2:30 we finished and sat down to eat. We had to be quick because we had to catch another train back to Kandersteg. After we all got back we had our showers and then went on a trip to the village. When we came back to Kisc we completed the Green Chalet Trail which was really interesting. At about 6:45 we finished and went to have dinner, soup. After dinner we started getting ready for bed and started to receive our daily hot- chocolate after this we prepared our stall for International evening where we danced traditional Cypriot dancing. The night was great and we got to trade many badges. After we went bat watching near a pond but we didn’t see any bats unfortunately. We were all very tired after our amazing but long day so we all went straight to sleep. By Sophi I.

Group3: On Monday breakfast was at 7, so we woke up at 6:30. For breakfast we had the traditional cereal and sandwich and then prepared our lunch and snacks for the hike we were about to conquer. We packed our bags, put on our gear and set off on what would be a challenging hike. We started by riding on the same cable car as we did to Bundersplitz and once again we could see the amazing views from the car. Instead of going straight up we turned left and continued onwards to the cow hut and also finding Geocaches. As we were heading to the hut, we came across beautiful views, landscapes and many cows. We got to the cow hut, had lunch and filled our bottles. When we finished we hiked back down the centre, had showers and then had free time. We went to the village, came back and completed the green Chalet Trail. During the trail we learnt about saving energy and materials. We then had dinner which was avgolemoni soup and prepared for International evening. We gave out sweets, swopped badges and watched traditional dances from the different counties. As we had to wake up early the next day we went straight to bed.

Day 7 Tuesday 18th July

Group 1: Today in the morning we woke up at 7:30 to eat breakfast. Later we went to do the World Scout workshop with a pinkie. After, we had free time. We did a requirement for our Eco- I-Spy and later ate lunch. After that we went on a hike to the Hoh view point which was amazing and had many beautiful views. Once we finished we ate dinner and we took the rubbish to the recycle bins. Later we did some Geocaching around the Campsite. Once we finished we had hot chocolate and went straight to bed. By Alexandros P

Group 2: We woke up at 6:30 and as we were on duty to prepare breakfast we were down at 7. We had breakfast which was cereal, toast, milk, ham and cheese. After we finished breakfast we cleaned up and we went to BPs Scouting workshop, which was mostly active games. The workshop finished at 12:30 and half an hour later we had lunch. It was Pasta with corn, tuna and mayonnaise. Then at 3 we started hiking to the hoh view point, but unfortunately it started raining heavily. Instead we went to the village and had some free time to buy food for the hikes. We came back with the bus at 5 and we started the Eco-I-Spy which was a requirement we needed to take pictures of specific things like animals and plants that would give us points to achieve the goal which was 50 points. At 6:30 we had dinner which was fish with potatoes and salad. We went to the recycling centre where we placed items in the correct bins. At 7:30 we went to the spiritual scouting workshop which made us think more about scouting. Then we came back at 8 and we got ready for the next day. At 9 we had a shower and went to sleep. By Demetra. K

Group 3: We woke up bright and early at 6am so we could eat breakfast and pack our lunch for a big day at the high-ropes park and white water rafting. We set of to the bus station so that the bus could take us into the village so that we could catch the train. Our first stop was to Spiez, which was half an hour away. After that we switched to a different train to Interlaken where the Outdoor Interlaken Centre was. When we arrived we struggled into our wet suites and hopped into a mini-van which took us to our destination. Our first rapid! We got our safety briefing and then climbed into our rafts and crewed down the river side, with a small break to practice what we would do if we fell out of the raft. We then flowed into a large lake and packed the rafts and stacked ourselves in the mini-van back to the centre. When we got back to the outdoor centre we ate our lunch and hiked to the Adventure park where we did the high-ropes park. We got put into our harness and were taught our basic skills on how to use each clip on the course. We then where tested and after everyone passed we were able to try all the levels of the high-ropes park. After a small hiccup with Stephanie. K and her go-pro falling (it is fully intact and still being used) And Max getting stuck on the hardest level, everything ran smoothly. We then made it back to the train station to go on our way back, when it started raining. When we arrived at Kandersteg we all, even Skip, had to run for the bus so we could be back at the International Scout Centre just in time for dinner. After dinner we had our hot chocolate and got ourselves ready for a goodnights sleep, ready for another early but exciting morning. By Stephanie. V

Day 8 Wednesday 19th July

Group 1: We woke up for 7:30om for breakfast. Then we had and exciting Solar workshop for a badge we all got at the end, it was really fun. Group 3 set up lunch and then we had a pinkie with us for the Backwards workshop. Unfortunately, it rained so it got cancelled and we tried the short ropes park, it was still raining. We got back at 4:30 and had free time until dinner. We had a campfire after dinner in a camp area. It was so much fun but sadly ended and we had our usual hot chocolate before going to bed. I Loved this day. By David.

Group 2: We woke up at 7 and got ready for breakfast. We had a really good breakfast which was baked beans, sausages, toast and cereal. After this delicious breakfast we packed our hiking bags for the Sunnbuel hike which was approximately 4 hours. At the start of the hike we took a cable car which had a beautiful view. During the hike we also did some geocaching and we found more than five with some being really hard to find. The hike was a bit difficult as Switzerland is completely different to Cyprus but it was worth it as at the end of the hike there was a large lake where we had lunch. We took many pictures and relaxed. After resting a bit we headed back to the cable car station. Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that we had to wait at the cable car station for one and a half hours until the storm past. When the weather got better the cable car started working again so we took it and went back. Then we walked back to the campsite where we had dinner at 6:30 which was chicken with mashed potatoes and salad and for desert we had chocolate mousse. Afterwards we showered and put on warmer clothes for the 53rd campfire in which we sang many songs that we had learnt from the international campfire. At the beginning of the campfire we saw the large Swiss toblarone which we all bought and we had a small piece each and at the end of our campfire two scouts from Denmark came , Maya and Mess and preformed one of their own sketches and we invited them back for hot-chocolate. We said good night and we went to sleep to get some rest for the next day. Today was difficult but we had loads of fun. By Sotiria.

Group 3: We woke up at 7 for a nice cooked breakfast by Group 3. After having breakfast we had some free time and then at 9 am we started our service. For the service project we met with the pinkie Pepe from Spain and he sorted us out into groups and assigned us different duties one team had to cut the low hanging branches off the trees, another was cleaning a path of weeds, my group was collecting wood chips and placing them around the crate stacking area to make it more safe. It was really fun and our Pinkie was fun, giving us breaks in between for him to get to know us a bit better. After we finished our service project at 11:30 we went to prepare for lunch which was great and then at 2 we set off on a hike to Hoh view point. It wasn’t a long hike and when we got to the top we could see the whole village of Kandersteg, but once we got up it started to rain. We had to run down the mountain to the village. When we arrived, not too drenched, we bought the 4 kg toblerone we had ordered and hurried our way off to the bus. Once we arrived we had some free time and then dinner which was delicious. At 6:30 we went to the campsite for campfire, we had a great time singing songs and eating our toblerone, not forgetting the great company we had of our Danish friends, who joined us. After that we all went to get hot chocolate together with our Danish friends and got to learn a little more about them, which was really interesting. All in all we had a great day and we all can’t wait till tomorrow. By Anastasia.

Day 9 Thursday 20th July

Group 1: We woke up early in the morning at 6:30 because we were on duty. After we ate and cleaned up we got ready for our interesting trip to Tun. Once we were all ready we went to the bus station and waited for the village bus to take us to the train station where we got on a train that took us straight to Thun. Our first activity was a question game were we had to go to the church then to the castle and finally to the town square. After we went near the river in Thun and had a ice-cream and lunch. After we had free time and we got the train and came back to Kisc. We had dinner then we went to the light trail, which was very fun. Then we had hot chocolate and a shower and went to bed. By Celia I.

Group 2: We woke up at 7:45 to eat breakfast. We then had some free time and did some geocaching. Next we helped with the shopping in the village. We had lunch and walked up to a cable car. We then hiked to the cow hut where we were to spend the night. We arrived at the Hut at around 5:30. It was super cosy and nice in the hut. We played some board games and card games. We then finally had dinner which was mac and cheese. It was a fun day but also tiring. At ten we went to bed for gain energy for the hike back the next morning. By Joss

Group 3: Today we had to wake up at 6am to have breakfast and get ready for our busy ahead. After breakfast we got our bags and our guide checked if we had all our equipment for one of the longest, highest and hardest hikes we would have done in our lives. At first we took a 15 minute bus ride to the starting point and then set off on our journey, about 30 minutes in we reached our first stop where we were already about 1847 meters above sea level. The first stop had a hut where we could fill up water and go to the toilet. While we were relaxing Ioanna found Edelweiss and everyone was very excited since it was one of the last requirements for the Eco-I-Spy. We then continued up the Lotschenpass taking multiple breaks. After a few hours of walking we reached the glacier. We thought we were walking on rocks but then we saw a thick layer of ice under our feet. After another hour of walking uphill climbing rocks pushing through clouds and taking in the beautiful view we reached the top and everyone rushed into the café to warm up except mac and I. We took our shirts off and took some amazing pictures. After an hour at the top we headed back down with a lot less breaks but it started to rain, luckily we had our waterproofs. Once we finally reached the end we collapsed to the floor and some even fell asleep. After 40 minutes of waiting we got on a bus that took us to the train station then we took a train back to Kandersteg. When we reached the centre most of us showered and unpacked. We then had dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Today was an exciting, action packed day with many unforgettable experiences. By Michalis.