It's been a pretty busy fortnight here since Maddie, Autumn and Rachel arrived at the end of the track. Maddie has joined us from Bristol, Rachel from Reading and Autumn all the way from Oregon, USA-Camas' favourite west coast state! For the first week we also enjoyed the company of Chris, our Glasgow based member of the team and altogether fun guy with an abundant knowledge of all films.
Amongst other training we enjoyed the delights of the company and expertise of Camas hero George Fell for 2 days who took us through our First Aid paces and made sure we are all up to speed and prepared for any outdoor emergency we might come across in the coming season. Throughout the two days we all suffered from several broken limbs, falls, concussion and heart failure but we all saw an amazing recovery thanks to the brilliant skills we now possess.
Friday saw the whole team (as it was) travelling over to Iona to meet the team there, enjoy a staff lunch and an adventure to Columba's bay.
This Tuesday heralded the arrival of Rob and Keiran to complete our 2011 Camas staff team and a trip to Tobermory by many of us to enjoy the fantastic music of Lau!
Wednesday kicked off with yet another arrival: another Camas hero, Kenny our technical advisor, braving the track to train us all up on the outdoor activities. The following days were filled with training for kayaking, navigation, walking, abseiling and raft building in all sorts of adverse weather. Abseiling in high winds and hail stones and building rafts in torrential rain making sure we're all prepared for the season ahead!
We're all enjoying getting to know each other and are looking forward to welcoming people to enjoy their week at Camas in the months ahead. We've also spent a lot of time getting to know Camas better too. I've been particularly enjoying the antics of the chickens, cats and lambs. Apparently the cats aren't too keen on playing with the lambs but it doesn't stop the lambs trying!
Wildlife highlights include a seal in the bay earlier today while we were launching out indestructible raft, many seals bathing on the rocks just off Erraid during our all day walk yesterday, lapwings protecting their nest from sheep along the track, lots of deer at the side of the road during our midnight drive home from the gig and I'm sure I've missed some! We've also experienced the first midges of the season-worth noting! Hamish has been patiently teaching almost everyone chords on the Ukulele, most of us have been singing together and many of us were inspired by the amazing Lau to pick up Rachel's piano accordian and have a go too!
The new Camas walkie talkies have been tried and tested too, very good for sending a tea order ahead from a cold abseiling session!
Looking forward to meeting many of you over the coming months,
Rachel
Below are a few photos of us doing various training things...
