Girl Guide Notes

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 42, 19 February 1938, Page 10

Girl Guide Notes

SWIMMING SPORTS These are at the Girls’ High School baths at 2 p.ra. this afternoon. Rangers, Guides and Brownies wear uniform, of course, and Mrs Wilson, now acting Commissioner, will be there in hers to see you all. Bring all your friends to cheer you on, and don’t forget your threepence entry fee, or your cup for your drink. We hope for record entries for these sports, from Palmerston as well as from Rongotea, Shannon and Feilding, so you’ll be assured of plenty of excitement. Bring your strongest cheering voice to help on your members. Church Parade. The Thinking Day Church Parade is to be held at St. Paul’s tomorrow. Kangers, Guides and Brownies assemble in the Church grounds at 10.45 a.m. Your parents, your committee and our local executive are all asked to make an effort to attend this annual Church Parade for Thinking Day, so we hope you will all gather in full companies and packs to register your love for Guiding. Neat uniforms and tics aud shiny badges are the order of the day. Don’t forget your Thinking Day pennies for Captain and Brown Owl. Remember every member -of the Guide movement, be they Girl Scout, Banger or Guide or Brownie, gives ono penny on Thinking Day to keep the good ship “Guiding” afloat. Thinking Day is on Tuesday so remember someone especially for that day, won’t you! First Palmerston North Guide Company and Brownie Pack. Although heavy rain drove us halfwards from the garden of Mrs G. A. Eliott, Fitzherbert, last Saturday, w* still spent a merry afternoon with our parents, friends and committee. Guides were fortunate enough to be able to present their pageant, showing the building-up of the Union Jack, in the ideal setting of the garden, but rain rudely interrupted the ceremony of the presentation of the Brownie Golden Bar, which had to be continued in the ball. After this five Brownies, two from first pack and two from Hokowhitu • pack, climbed the Brownie staircase , into Guide-laud. Of these four hopped up, and one earned her Brownie wings « and flew up. Afternoon tea and ice-cream dips ( were followed by a pretty fairy dance by Audrey Cooper. Then came a Brownie ball game, a Guide book balancing game aud a relay on the Guide Law. A combined sing-song, followed by a hearty clap for all the lovely things our , committee had thought out for us, ana one for Mrs Eliott, who sailed for England on Saturday, prepared the way for . Brownie and Guide Taps, which closed our very jolly afternoon. FIRST RONGOTEA COMPANY CAMP

About a year ago the first Rongotea Company decided that they would like to camp afield this summer and so it was that wo eventually decided on Picton. A camp of this kind naturally required more money than our district camps and so we worked all the year for a garden party held in November when we raised sufficient to realize our obpective.

On January 29 fourteen of us left our homes at Rongotea about 6 o’clock t 3 journey to Palmerston North and catch the 7 o’clock train for Wellington.

We reached Wellington about 11 o’clock and after morning tea on the station, we set off for the shopping centre where we did a variety of shopping and then on to the D.I.C. for dinner. Dinner over we collected a few immediate stores and arrived at the hoat a little before sailing time. Going up the harbour all was peace and we thought it was great to be on deck. We were, however, warned by Captain that it would probably be quite a different story when w r e reached the heads. Well! What a chauge! Really, without any warning the boat began to rock very badly and the waves to break over the deck. One by one we went staggering into the lounge where Captain was seated with the odds and ends. Captain started to laugh at the first one approaching and as each one fell into a seat she turned around aud laughed at the next one coming—result —laughs upon laughs. The laughter had not really subsided when one Guide said she felt sick and then two, three and four quickly followed. The home was no longer happy—in fact people—not only Guides—were sick everywhere aud the stewardess told us it was what they would call a very choppy p. However, all bad things, just like all good things, come to an end and once in the Sounds we had a glorious hour’s run to Pieton which wc reached at 6.15, and then transferred all our gear a launch for the final lap of 16 miles to Resolution Bay which we reached at 10 o’clock. Now you must use your imagination! Eight boxes of gear, five boxes of groceries, and about the same of vegetables. Which contained the lantern?—Where was tho tea?—Did you say groundsheets?—Could you find the matches please?—and so the fare went on with the aid of only one lantern for most of the time. Still, “a Guide smiles and sings” and so it was that at 11 o’clock we were all safely tucked in bed with Captain handing around hot tea, biscuits and bread and butter.

Needless to say there were no early risers next morning, but it was remarkable just how quickly, when once wo started, we transfered the open space to our home for the next fortnight. The site was a very picturesque one, having to the right, left and back high hills which ran down to a rather rocky shore, and to the fore, hills in the distance with an island here and there to relieve the monotony ofthe line of hills. The view looking across the bay was ever a joy, but most beautiful of all iu the very early morning before the sun peeped over the hills. It was on the side of one of these hills that we made our home, while an empty, but not old house proved very useful on the three wet days.

At first we thought that we would not have enough flat ground to pitch any of our tents, but gradually with a little manoeuvering we did manage to get three erected even if you had ro crawl under guy lines every time you wanted to get to your tent or down to the jetty, but this we thought this more than worth while to sleep in our tents. Under the tall shady trees we , had an ideal cook house and a very nice tin shed with a wooden floor served as a store tent. A little dairy, which you reached by a dear wee bridge, was very useful for the cubicles as it was right on the edge of the stream which provided water for all the camp as well as washing. When ever washes were on, this was easily the noisiest spot in camp—the water rushing over the big stones seemed to provide an accompaniment for all the shouting, yelling, singing, whistling, laughing, etc., that you could possibly imagine. A pretty piece of bush beyond the cookhouse provided ample scope for games and nature study. The camp-site had one drawback—stones. No, not small ones—anything from the size of your head to the size of your