Mermaid with Fish and Chips

Another week of Freeman College in Sheffield started with a desire to catch a mermaid and eat it with chips. There were quite a few attempts of fishing one but none were successful. 

Although we had cold showers, we had lots of laughs and giggles going kayaking, abseiling, camping (or rather glamping?) and on Iona. One night we even had a wild dinner in Ardanalish – a beautiful sandy beach close to an organic weaving farm. 

After everyone got ready for camping on Wednesday morning, the group set off. Once at Market Bay the students started fishing, swimming, playing cricket (?), discovering the surroundings or transforming into a mermaid with a sand-fishtail. When the boat arrived, we hitched up the tents (even students who were keen on “sleeping underneath the stars”) and started cooking.

After a game of French cricket and a round of rounder’s, we watched the sun set and set and set... Well when it was dark enough we got back and let one of the Freeman leaders entertain us. Even now I sometimes hear one of the vollies singing “Bum bum, do you want to be crazy? Bum bum, do you want to be nuts, like us?” another favourite was “boom chick-a rock-a chick-a boom”.

After an amazing Camas challenge meal, one of the Freeman staff dressed up as an old Captain who lost his treasure. He suspected that the wild Camas Pirates had hidden it. But as there were some clues left, everyone helped by collecting the pieces of a big map, which explained the way to the treasure. The treasured Haribos and chocolate were eaten during more songs and poems.

Seals and dolphins

This week we had a week from Mussleborough near Edinburgh. Right at the start of the week we had some "bog incidents" were some young people went waist deep into the bog around Camas. Luckily everyone was rescued and no one was lost…

The entire group loved splashing in water during kayaking and coasteering. One of the kayaking sessions ended with two girls having a fantastic time capsizing each other again and again. They had a lot of fun even when the boats were full of water. “They fill up again anyway! Why should we empty them?”

Another highlight of the week was trip to Iona. The trip ended with a ride on Mark Jardines boat “Birthe-Marie”. One half of the group went towards Erraid and spotted some seals; the other half got taken back to Camas and spotted a dolphin. What exciting wildlife!

The week ended with a great Camas challenge. We had a fire at the beach, of course with hot chocolate. Another lovely moment was when they presented each staff member a bracelet that they had bought for us on Iona.

On Friday morning the group sang about ten times “Happy Birthday” for Avril. They also gave her a lovely birthday card.

The Way-Ay Den Jordies

I remember a time back in Spring, when the dolphins came calling across the blue sea.

Along with them came a group from the town of Hartlepool in the country of Englandshire  (who don’t have the best track-record with wildlife considering the most famous historical moment of said town is hanging a Monkey for treason!!!!!). However this group seemed to get on with the surrounding nature very well, and were very happy not to be sitting at their school desks. Instead they chose to spend their days wandering across Islands (shall we say Mull and Iona) gathering rocks at the seashore to identify their age and rarity – to take home some precious, and to skim & skip others. Sitting on the sands at North end of Iona seemed like a Caribbean holiday, along with a wee bit of authentic sunburn, and lots of football. Along with seeing the oldest gravestones in the new museum; we even took over one of the chapels at the famous Iona abbey to retell the story of Oz and the many monks who lived on the ‘Isle surrounded by Sea’ and when they first met the ‘Jordies’ lead by ‘Way-Ay-den.’

Back at camas we all dived into the classic activities that make the week so fun. Although the chores were more challenging for some than for others – when faced with the terror of ...... Pete the chicken (she’s a gentle feathered friend you know) – rubber eggs were flying all over the coup. But really the teachers did very well in leading the way with the rest of the group in jollity and enjoying the holiday (even if some of them were very chicken-wary).

The week was topped off in style with a tasty Camas challenge, and energetic game of sniper. The beautiful decoration echoed the reflection with words from the heart about what everyone had found positive on their holiday here.

WE ARE FAMILY

What happens when families from the Iona Community are let loose at Camas for a week? A lot, apparently. At the start of June, the very young, the young and the not so young, descended on Camas for a week of familial frolics. Although the families had all been to Iona before, for some, it was their first time at the Mull centre, or their first time in a long time, and the mix of ages and experience made for a fantastic week for all. 

As ever, there were heroics on the abseil wall (a highlight being the dads showing ‘no fear’ but only after their kids had already made it down the cliff) as well as kayaking and raft building antics on the water. There were also some really unique moments that made the week special, reflecting the wider range of ages we had than we are normally used to at Camas. 

For the Camas Challenge,  we were treated to a delicious 3 course feast in the Olympic themed dining room to kick off the evening, including specially made ‘Camas cocktails’. Then things got serious. The Camas Olympics saw the teams UK, Sweden, Canada and Dolphin (the latter due to that morning’s sightings of the animal!) represented in a fierce competition in such events as Ninja Mega Destruction, cup stacking and 10 cup bowling, with Canada bringing home the gold. Thankfully, it was all in good spirit, and no family relationships were destroyed during the competition!

We then all came together for a stunning reflection where we all wrote appreciation pages for each other, the community we had formed for that week and the nature that surrounds us here. This was followed by a medal giving ceremony with some slightly more spurious compliments, including titles such as ‘Best washing up singing’ and ‘Best capsizes’. We then all got ready for bed with a dramatic reading of Winnie the Pooh, which was a wonderful end to an action packed week.  A massive thanks from all of us to everyone who came, we were all one big Camas family for a week!