Vermont Guides Campfire

Tonight, Jen and I took the train clear across Melbourne to the suburb of Vermont (it's even further out than the place we go trampolining!), to run a campfire for the Guides there. Their leader, Nina, had found me earlier via my website and invited us out.

It was a really lovely evening. Nina picked us up at the Mitcham train station and drove us to the Guide hall. Vermont is a lovely suburb, full of nice houses with big lush gardens. At the hall, we were introduced to the other leaders in the unit, including Raven (Katie?), who's from Toronto, of all places! She spent a good chunk of the evening commiserating with us about the differences between Australians and Canadians - much to the humour of the other Guiders! The ladies had put together a fabulous (and completely veggie friendly!) evening tea, which we enjoyed before the girls arrived.

We had a REAL campfire, too - none of this electronic, in-the-hall sort of deal like we'd be doing at home at this time of the year. Once again Jen and I found ourselves marveling that here we were, in December, in sandals and t-shirts and in daylight past 7pm! (No, we're not going to get tired of this.) The leaders pulled out a half-oil drum which had legs welded to it and set it up outside as a portable fire pit. The girls sat in a circle on groundsheets. We had a blast... I am continuing on my mission to infect all of Australia with "Today is Monday"... bwa ha ha ha. Jen and I both agreed that ending the evening smelling like campfire left us feeling a little on the homesick side, though. We miss our kids.

After the campfire, everyone headed back into the hall for another pair of special ceremonies. The unit had a new girl joining tonight, so we got to see a Promise Ceremony (equivalent to our enrollment ceremony). Then, another of their girls had achieved her B.P. award, and the whole unit participated in that presentation. The leaders put out a large bowl half-filled with water, with one of those huge three-wicked candles standing in the middle of it like an island. One by one, each girl in the unit came up to the bowl and placed a paper flower in the water - and on each flower was one of the challenges or activity that the girl had completed in order to finish her B.P. award. As the paper flowers got wet, their petals would unfold! The whole effect was really pretty.

What with one thing and another, and the inevitable chatting that always goes on between leaders once a unit meeting is over, we didn't get home until after 10:30 tonight. Our house was completely dark when we arrived! I find it kinda funny that the Girl Guide leaders are the ones who are coming home latest at night!