A new year and new location for the Bash! Destination: Littlehampton – home to the late TV star Ronnie Barker, rock band Delirious but more importantly home to Britain’s longest bench….
So what happened as our group of lads made their mark on this truly historic town?……..
Shortly after arriving at the youth hostel and being assigned to their dorms, the lads clearly had one thing in mind… pillow fighting, and they were on top form. It was more than swinging a few green pillows at each other for a bit of adrenaline, these guys had purpose. Imagine ‘capture the flag’ except for one dorm it was more, capture every bit of green bedding you can find, hide it in your room and act with intent to harm if anyone tries to retain any of it; I think Rob was one of the most severely affected but I believe order was restored and everyone slept well, with their duvets and pillows!
But, before the night was over we ventured out into Littlehampton on a night hike where the lads had a game of something in the dark where it was difficult to see… anyone.
The following day began with a well prepared breakfast from Al and Rosemary who in fact cooked and served us amazingly throughout the weekend, so thank you!
Shortly after, the lads were taken to visit the RNLI lifeboat station just across the road from where we were staying and they had a chance to learn a bit about the history of the RNLI, ask some questions and have some photos taken of them sitting in one of the lifeboats.
The afternoon’s activity was “Geo-Bashing”. This is basically a treasure hunt except each team isn’t hunting for treasure but for general facts about the town. For example, question A reads “how much does it cost to hire out a bike for a week?” so then each team uses the map they are given to find where location A is, so that they can go and get the correct answer. The treasure in this hunt was an exceptional amount of sweets, although I believe Colin had a lot to answer for due to his bad performance on this occasion after leaving his team almost sweet-less.
Having braved the strong winds counting lamp posts and yellow huts, the next stop was a swim session which consisted of not much swimming, a slippery inflatable assault course and attempting to walk on water in the ‘waterwalkerz’… a giant hamster ball that floats on water.
As a spectator I didn’t see much walking going on but a lot of falling over! After an exhausting day, everyone relaxed to a showing of Monsters University accompanied by hot chocolate and popcorn.
As much as the weekend was a time for the juniors to have fun and spend time together, it was also a chance for them to learn a little bit about the Christian faith. Throughout the weekend there had been a number of small sessions that were led by different leaders, and this year’s theme was based on the parable of the lost son. And Sunday morning began with breakfast and the last of these small sessions.
As we headed home in the afternoon, we stopped by for lunch on the sea front and then travelled to Petworth National Park which gave the lads a final chance to explore some unfamiliar grounds before getting back to Guildford.
It was a great weekend away and good chance for everyone to get to know each other a bit more!
