In the morning, merciless packing at our scout meeting place and we got going at 11:04. The trip to Helsinki was quite uneventful. After waiting a while in the port of Vuosaari, we were able to get on board the ship and we were able to find our accommodation for the first night. The evening’s program mainly consisted of eating, saunas and hanging around in the ship’s corridors. – Laura

On the ship, we got to visit the sauna and get to know new people and the cold jacuzzi. – Niklas

We watched the magician’s performance. We ate our fill at the buffet. The ship swayed and shook every now and then so that you had to really try to walk straight. – Anni

We had plenty of time a lot of board games. The highlight of the lunch was the dessert. We had a good laugh too. – Jenna

On Wednesday, we woke up from Hamburg’s sailors’ church and left towards Belgium. We sat on the bus, and then we sat more on the bus. The trip went smoothly, even though the day’s transition was long. In the evening we reached Bredene and were hosted by local scouts. The evening was topped by a walk to the beach, where many dared to take a dip in the fresh Atlantic water. At the camp, for the first time on the trip, we heated up our grill and had some sausages for dinner.– Timo

On the first long day of driving, we drove the motorways of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium about 650 km to Bredene on the Belgian coast. During the lunch break, the field kitchen was set up for the first time in the truck parking lot of the gas station. During the day, two national borders were crossed, and it became customary to announce the crossing of the border from the front of the bus and tell some fun fact about the country of origin.

We were hosted by Noordland Scouts Bredene scout group. We slept tents in for the first time on our trip. In addition to accommodation and dinner, the evening’s program included a walk to the shores of the Atlantic to get wet and collect seashells.

On our way swimming in the Atlantic

On the ferry, we got our first taste of England in the form of an English breakfast. The adults liked the breakfast just fine, but the spicy sausage and beans didn’t really sink in with the younger ones. – Timo

The Lego store was REALLY cool. There you could try out a motorbike and build legos. A huge Big Ben had also been built from Legos, which you could be seen from both floors. – Ilmari and Niko

As soon as we finished eating, we rushed to VS and Sephora, which of course were my favorite stores. We visited some other shops and then it was already time to leave. – Kaisla

The first morning porridge of the trip gave such strength for sightseeing in London. The day’s destinations were first the Natural History Museum, after which we headed either to check out the Tower of London or the London Eye. For lunch we went to enjoy Fish and Chips. – Timo

Using the underground and trains was a little intimidating at first, but during the day, we got a lot more confortable moving around (at least some of the lines). – Vicci

We had a great evening with the Sevenoaks scouts. We started the evening doing kindling, which were then made into a massive bonfire just for the marshmallows. After the evening meal, the actual evening bonfire began. – Bea and Nella

Friday was the second day in London. In the morning, we took the same train connection to the center of London to explore the day’s destinations. The return trip to Sevenoaks was stopped for almost an hour due to a track fault, but eventually we were able to continue the journey all the way there.

We spent the evening together with Sevenoaks scouts. First, we attended their scout meeting, where the program included fire-making. During the meeting, we also had time to talk a lot about everything from scouting to school and favorite candies. At the end of the meeting, Timo and one of their new adults gave their scout promises. Sevenoaks cubs were also there for a one-night camping trip with us in the yard. After the evening meal, we had a evening campfire together with the cubs, where we all performed and played campfire songs, games, shouts and we also performed our traditional play The Death of Elina (improvising in English of course).

Sightseeing in London

Evening campfire

Vaakun Vartijat and Sevenoaks cubs and leaders

After arriving in Wales we ended up on a detour that went high in the mountains as the motorway was closed due to roadworks. The roads for the rest of the journey were quite narrow and getting the coach to the small parking lot was a challenge. Our skilled driver finally got the coach parked. It was still hundreds of meters to the camping site. Tents and the field kitchen was picked up bu car to the campsite, but we had to carry your own things the whole way and the changes in altitude made it worse. However, the wonderful scenery on the way cheered up the rest of the evening – Aura

On Saturday morning, we said goodbye to our new scout friends in Sevenoaks and continued our journey towards Wales. Along the way, lunch was again made in the field kitchen on a parking lot of a gas station, food stocks were replenished and we got lost on a detour due to roadworks on the highway.

Our second main destination of our trip was the Brecon Beacon National Park in South Wales and there is a campsite in the middle of the mountains of the national park. Reaching the campsite was not exactly easy, but the location and scenery were amazing. By chance, a group of explorers from the CRAI Scouts district near Cardiff were camped near the campsite, and the least tired of us went to their campfire for the rest of the evening. We learned a lot about life in Wales and Welsh Scouting. They were also there to hike the National Park’s stunning mountain trails as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s programme.

Sidetracked (lost) on Welsh mountain roads

The morning in the mountains of the national park started calmly, which means we got to sleep a little longer. The night before, we had received tips from the local scouts about the treks in the area, based on which we decided to give up the most difficult summit and do the same hike all together.– Oliver

First, we walked along a dirt road on the mountainside. On the way we saw e.g. sheep and other hikers. The hike up the mountain was somewhat hard and we took breaks from time to time. On every side there were wonderful landscapes and a lot to see. It was very windy at the top, but it was refreshing. We took pictures together and talked to other hikers. Coming down after the peak, we cooked food with trangias. – Onni ja Lauri

Sunday was the long-awaited hiking day in the wonderful scenery of the national park. Our day hike was about 9 km of ring route, the highest point of which was the Pant-y-Creigau peak, about 560 m above sea level. The scenery on the route was great and the route suitably challenging. By the way, the cover photo of this story is from that top.

Along the route, we met many other hikers, with whom we exchanged news. A group of a few Canadians said they were hiking hundreds of kilometers across Wales from south to north.

Some still had extra energy after the hike, so they climbed up another mountain next to our campsite. In the evening, our field kitchen’s grill was hot and many delicious grilled dishes were served.

The hike up the mountain was quite a climb

We had to pack the tents and things under the rain cover before ten o’clock. The driver’s weekly rest didn’t end until 3 p.m., so the time had to be spent hiding from the rain. When the rain stopped from time to time, we were able to carry things to the coach and eat lunch. – Anonymous

After we had camped in the new location, we drove an hour to Three Cliffs Bay. There we walked to a large beach with huge cliffs surrounding it and castle ruins on the cliffs. The scereny was amazing. My group went climbing on the cliffs and got there pretty quickly. When we got back to the coach, it was already dark. – Salla

On Monday, it was time to leave the landscapes of the national park. Before leaving, we had planned to go hiking some more, but the heavy rain forced us to stay in camp. We were able to leave only at three o’clock, when our driver’s week rest ended.

In the early evening, we arrived in the village of Miskin, near Cardiff, where we stayed for the next two nights in the scout village of the 1st Miskin Mill Scout Group, i.e. in the yard of an old mill. In the evening we went to explore the wonderful coastal scenery of South Wales at Three Cliffs Bay. In the bay, everyone could go around in small groups and marvel at the magnificent scenery. Some visited the rocks surrounding the bay, some visited the ruins of an old castle on top of the cliffs, and some dipped their toes in the waves at the sandy beach.

Climbing the cliffs at Three Cliffs Bay

After breakfast, we drove St Fagans museum. The museum had blacksmiths’ stalls, old houses and small old shops outside. We were in the museum for a couple of hours, after which we headed towards the center of Cardiff. – Nimetön kirjoitus

In Cardiff we walked through the city to a restaurant where we ate pizza. After we had eaten, we went to a nearby castle, where we could tour. After the castle we went shopping and after that we went back to the campsite. – Iisa S.

We left early in the morning to drive to Brussels. We ate breakfast on the bus, after which most of us slept. We stopped at a gas station to cook lunch, after which we continued towards the port of Dover. We ate and shopped on the ship. – Nelli

Our group left to the city as soon as we arrived at the night’s accommodation. We craved for some karaoke, but we couldn’t find one, so we went for mocktails on a nearby terrace and to get French fries from the (allegedly) best restaurant in town. – Bea and Nella

In the morning we visited the European Parliament. We were hosted by Laura who is MEP Mauri Pekkarinen’s assistant. We all got visitor cards and went through security. Laura told us about her work and work in the Parliament in general. The coolest place was the chamber where some session was just taking place. I think the visit was really cool and a lot learned in school became concrete in a way! – Salla

After the afternoon city tour, I was already hungry, so luckily it was time for dinner. While we were enjoying the appetizers, Michele also appeared. The main course options were a couple of different pastas, lasagna and risotto, and baguettes as a side dish, yum! Almost everyone really liked the food, but the portion was so big that no one would have been able to handle any dessert even if there had been some 🙂 – Aura

On Thursday morning, we were greeted by some folks from Brysselin Tuulihaukat, with whom we talked about Finnish scouting and life in Brussels in general. In the morning we visited the European Parliament. We were hosted by Laura, a scout in Brysselin Tuulihaukat, who works in the parliament as a special assistant to MEP Mauri Pekkarinen.

In the afternoon, we continued to the old city center of Brussels to tour, shop, have a coffee and sightseeing. In the evening, we celebrated the end of the last main destination of the trip with a great dinner. We were also joined by our host Michele who came to greet us. From him we heard about the activities of BC 25 and Belgian scouting in general. He, in turn, passed on our greetings and tales from our trip to his group. After dinner, the young leaders took responsibility for the evening’s activities, while the adults got to spend the evening off.

About to enter the European Parliament

We left after morning activities to drive towards Maastricht. There we ate ice creams and walked around the city for a while. After the walk, the journey continued towards Germany. – Lauri

Pea soup was eaten in the yard of the gas station, even though it wasn’t Thursday. On the bus, we had fun playing card games and trivia. – Jenny

We spent almost the whole day on the bus and listened to a lot of music. We went to Denmark on one ship and to Sweden on another. After the ferry crossing, we headed to Ikea to eat meatballs. In the evening we finally arrived at the campsite, which was a really nice place. There we went swimming. The water was much colder than I thought it would be. Fortunately, the shower had warm water. – Anni and Camilla

After getting out of the shower, I walked around the place with the others. First we went to the playground and from there listening to a band perform, dancing and singing along. Then we went back to the tents to sleep. – Kaisla

The last long driving day was from Lübeck to Gränna, Sweden. On the way, we traveled on two ferries. After arriving in Sweden, we took a lunch break at Ikea. RuisRock music festival was going on in Turku, so we also listened to music from the main performers in the spirit of the festival on the coach! In the early evening, we got to the campsite, put up the tents for the last time and cooked food. In the evening, we went swimming in a big group, then washed up, and the rest of the evening was free time at the campsite. A live band played by the beach and many people went to listen to them. Hot air balloons also took off from the neighboring field, which many people went watching.

Camping at Gränna

The ship arrived at the port of Turku early on Monday morning. After a good night’s sleep on board, we got on the car deck and boarded the bus and drove from the harbor to Kolo. There, a large group of family members met the travelers. Before going home, the coach was unloaded, the cabin was cleaned and finally, of course, the whole group went through the highlights of the trip and ended the trip with a joyful shout: ”Good night Vaakun Vartijat, thank you for this trip, it was nice!”