Monday was our last day in America so what better way to spend it than at America's 1st Theme Park - Knotts Berry Farm. We had to check out of our hotel at 10am and then our flight didn't leave LA until 10pm so we had some time to kill in between and didn't want to carry our luggage everywhere with us. We decided to spend a few hours at the park and leave our suitcases with the hotel lobby while doing so. It was a brilliant plan!

We decided to go on the water rides first so if we got wet we could dry out through the rest of the day. That was a really good plan coz we got soaked! First water ride was your typical river rapid which threatens you with getting wet but doesn't actually deliver. It was a nice little ride though. Then we headed over to the Perilous Plunge. Just looking at the drop this ride had made me a little nervous. Who cares about getting wet when my stomach would jump out of my mouth on the way down? This didn't happen but we did get off the ride looking as if we decided to go for a swim fully clothed, shoes and all. Little info about the ride - The Perilous Plunge is the worlds tallest, steepest and wettest ride ever. It drops you 35m on a 75 degree angle at 80km/h. Needless to say this ride was lots of fun and my stomach didn't even drop!

Next water ride we went on was the Riptide. This is just like the Wipeout at Dreamworld but Knotts Berry Farm decided to incorporate a little water into their ride so whenever you flipped over you would get water splashing you in the face and soaking your feet. Brian was actually a little nervous about this ride. First time he had ever showed any hesitance about a ride at all. He walked on it bravely of course but i think he was relieved when it ended! Me on the other hand? Loved it!

Other notable rollercoasters we went on - The Boomerang and Silver Bullet which both send you upside down 6 times or more whilst sending you threw corkscrews, twists and turns. The Silver Bullet was the best and we went on it twice but the Boomerang did do the whole ride backwards too! We didn't get to go on the Montezooma which is the other rollercoaster. It was closed that day

Photo of Brian and I on the Silver Bullet

Photo of the Boomerang.

This is Brian sitting by himself on a rollercoaster:

This is the reason why!

The Xcelerator is the ONLY ride I didn't go on throughout the whole trip and I bailed at the last minute of course. Brian wasn't overly happy with me but I really didn't think I could enjoy this ride at all! Brief overview - The Xcelerator launches you at 132km/h in 2.3 seconds up a 64m ascent and then drops you back down at a 90 degree angle. I feel bad for leaving him but I just couldn't do it! That picture of the rollercoaster is actually Brian on there. You can't see him of course but if you look closely I think he is sitting in front of the people with their arms up in the air.

After that ride I told Brian I would go on any ride he wanted me to except for that one! So we headed over to Ghost Town and went on the old wooden rollercoaster. This was the first ride we went on in the park that day and the last. It is also unexpectedly scarier than you would think! It was lots of fun but just because it doesn't involve loops don't assume that it wil be quite tame! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it!

It was getting late in the day by this time so we headed back to the hotel and had a shower and got into comfortable clothes for the long flight home. There are showers in the gym downstairs but we had to turn in our key at checkout so luckily someone happened to walk in to use the gym and we walked in after.

We got to the airport with some time to spare so we had a drink, ate some food and read some magazines whilst we waited. It was actually a pretty good flight home and our jet lag wasn't too bad as we slept that night on the plane and woke up in the morning when we reached Auckland for our 2 hour stop over. It was sad leaving the beautiful warm weather behind but nice to get home and FINALLY eat some Vegemite... oh, and see my parents of course! :P

It was a great trip we had and i'm glad we decided to make this blog. It's been good reading over what we got up to at camp and seeing the pictures again. I'll be making a new blog for the time Brian and I are up at Port Douglas but it will stay at this address. It should just open up a new travel entry so stay tuned for when that happens in a few weeks or so!

Thanks for reading!

Jess and Brian.

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Our first stop on the tour was of course Hollywood Blvd where Chinese Manns Theatre is and the Walk of Fame. May I add that the Walk of Fame is huge! There are 2,300 stars which are placed on Hollywood Boulevard: from Gower Street to La Brea Avenue, and on Vine Street: from Yucca Street to Sunset Boulevard. That's how big it all is so unfortunately Brian and I only got to see the Stars that were between our bus drop off point and around Manns Theatre sidewalk. We were able to see the Hollywood sign and have photos with our hands in famous handprints, have a look around the shops and unfortuanetly see no celebrities. We weren't expecting them to be there anyway!

We then headed down Sunset Blvd, passed all the celebrity hangouts, saw Johnny Depps night club called the 'Viper Room' where River Pheonix died out the front of, plus Chateau Marmont where Lindsay Lohan often stays when she's not in rehab. We then went through Beverly Hills and saw the street that was used in the Beverly Hill Billies and we had an hour stop on Rodeo Drive to peruse through the ridiculously expensive designer shops.

Our driver and tour guide was a funny old guy who cruised around the town on his rollerblades while everyone on our bus got off and had a look around elsewhere. So when we went to Venice Beach he fit in quite well! We drove past Santa Monica Beach first and saw all the rides at the pier and drove past THE Hotel California (in the Eagles song).

Venice Beach is then at the end of it (or beginning, which ever way you look at it) so we got about an hour and half to look around the shops and go for a swim for those who dared. Brian and I didn't. I wanted to put my feet in the water until Brian told me how dirty and polluted it was so I settled with just looking at the water instead.

We both got Venice Beach Lifeguard jumpers which are pretty cool (Brian bought mine for my b'day) and we had a look at guy's playing basketball (where White Men Can't Jump was filmed) and of course the body builders at Muscle Beach, where Arnie used to pump weights. The shops are your typical touristy t-shirt and postcard selling stores that are all owned by Mexicans. The sidewalks are filled with artists, musicians and some people openly trying to sell marijuana while smoking it too. It's a very colourful place and a great place to go to experience it all. Venice Beach is exactly how they show it in TV shows and movies!

After that it was getting fairly late so we all got back on the bus and drove past Marina Del Ray, saw some canals (which is why Venice is called Venice - although there's only about 6 canals remaining), drove past the airport and saw the planes fly VERY low over the highway and past a few other places where celebrities were murdered or stayed at.

It was a great way to spend my birthday and I had lots of fun. I don't think I am ever going to have the chance to spend my birthday in Hollywood again so I'm kind of glad our plans had changed and we were able to go on the Sunday!

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The actual plan he had so sneakily concocted was for us to go to Medieval Times on the 22nd and do our Hollywood Tour on the 21st. So he went downstairs one night while pretending to get ice and booked the bus for us to go to Seaworld San Diego and then booked the Hollywood Tour through the same company. After Thursdays trip to Seaworld he was unimpressed with that company (well we both were), so he spilled the beans on his plans and re-booked the Hollywood Tour for the 22nd (we couldn't get it any earlier) thus changing Medieval Times to the night of the 21st. I was happy with the plans either way it turned out and thought it was sweet that he wanted to surprise me, but cancelling and re-booking caused us to have a few problems with getting deposits back from the sneaky little bell desk boy downstairs who was dodgy to begin with. We got our money back and everything worked out fine in the end.

Anyway, on to Medieval Times. Medieval Times takes you back to the 11th century where Knights once existed. You are greeted by the King on entry and get given a specific coloured crown representing the Knight you are cheering for. Ours was the Green Knight hence the green crowns. You then sit down for a 4 course meal (which you eat with your fingers as they didn't have cutlery back in those days) and watch all the different Knights go head to head in order to win the tournament. It was a pretty cool way to spend my birthday dinner!

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Universal was a bit like our trip to Seaworld in how we got picked up from our hotel, put on another bus at a depot and then got to the park around lunch but at least this time we knew it was going to happen and we got 8 hours at the park instead of 6.

There is just soooooo much to see and do at this park but Brian had been before and knew where to go and what to do first so upon entering the park (where we got our fingerprints recorded with our ticket details!!) we ran straight to the Studio Tour. This is where we got shown around the Hollywood backlot and saw the sets for War of the Worlds, Desperate Housewives, Fast and The Furious Tokyo, Skull Island from the new King Kong, Jurassic Park, Psycho, The Grinch and much more. We got to see flash flooding, be in the subway for an earthquake, see Jaws, King Kong and drive through the fake city which they transform into New York, London, Chicago, Paris etc, depending on what is needed for the movie. It was very cool!

After that we decided to go on the Jurassic Park ride which they describe as "Now Wetter Than Ever!" The line for this was huge so we decided to buy hot dogs and eat our lunch while waiting in line to save us some time. You get put in a boat of about 25 people and cruise past the nice dinosaurs before heading into a dark tunnel with raptors, spitters and of course a massive T-Rex. Just when you think you're about to get eaten you get dropped down the slide (which is actually pretty steep) and absolutely soaked with water. This is Brian and I after getting off the ride!

We then thought it would be a good idea to dry off while watching Backdraft. You walk through several rooms where they tell you what a backdraft is, how the shot the movie and of course show you a "blazing inferno of heart-pounding heat and fury in a 10,000 degree blast furnace of searing pyrotechnics and special effects excitement!"

Next up we headed to the Special Effects Stages which were pretty cool and we got to see alot about the new Evan Almighty movie and how they filmed alot of the scenes. Brian also took me to the House of Horrors which only was scary when they had people dressed up as Chucky and Frankenstein chasing you and trying to touch you. I screamed, it was horrible.

They have a Fear Factor Live Show where during the day you can audition to be on it and actually compete later that day which Brian wanted to do but unfortunately we didn't have the time for. We did get to watch a show which consisted of the usual strength and endurance rounds and of course making the contestants eat really gross things. I'm glad Brian didn't do it but he reckons he would have been ok about it. Eeeww!

The Waterworld Show was really cool and also had a soak zone set up. The actual show doesn't leave the crowd that wet but they have actors walking around 15 minutes before the show and spray people walking to their seats. Very funny!

With only about an hour left we managed to squeeze in the Universal Animals Actors Show which left Brian now wanting a monkey and of course the Back To The Future Ride which is a technology simulated ride, probably one of the best I've been on. This ride will be closed down soon to make way for the new Simpsons ride so it was pretty lucky we got to go on it. The only other ride we really wanted to go on was 'Revenge of The Mummy' but sadly we just couldn't fit it in

We had about 10 minutes at the end before our bus came so we did some shopping and took some pictures. It was a great day and we slept the whole bus ride home!

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Apart from that little hiccup, Seaworld San Diego is a pretty cool place. It's a lot like our Seaworld back home - lots of animals and not many rides, which I'm glad stayed the same.

First up we headed to the dolphin show which was cool to watch. Brian tried to get a photo of me next to the big tank with a dolphin swimming behind me. He was successful but as he took the picture the dolphin kicked up its tail and splashed me. At all their sea mammal shows they designate the first 10 - 16 rows to be the "splash zone." Basically if you sit in these rows you won't just get a little bit wet, you literally will get soaked! They make the dolphins and whales swim close to the crowd, turn around and splash down with their tails soaking the crowd. It was hilarious watching people get soaked!

We then headed to the Shamu Show which was probably the highlight of my day. Killer Whales are so beautiful and it's amazing how well they are trained. Shamu is the big attraction of the park so they allow for plenty of photo taking opportunities. This show also had a designated splash zone and of course it was more hilarious watching a huge whale splash people compared to a few dolphins.

It was then a rush to squeeze in as many animal habitats as we could before the other shows but we managed to see baby killer whales, puffins, penguins (even emporer penguins which are so tiny!!), sharks, seals, a walrus, flamingoes and many more.

Other shows we saw included the 'Cirque De La Mar' show, which was just like Cirque Du Soleil but intergrated water slides and jet ski's into their show, then the 'Navy Seal' show - with your typical seal tricks but set on a marine sub.

There was also a pet show on where the had trained dogs, birds, cats and a pig to compete in events and show the crowd how having a "normal" pet was as much fun as having a seal or whale and is alot easier to train (obviously). Brian walked away wanting a pet dog and I walked away wanting a pet parrot which I thought was fairly hilarious as we had just been to SEAworld

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California Adventure Park is part of the Disneyland Corporation and is positioned right across from the entrance to Disneyland. The monorail goes from Disneyland into California Adventure Park and you can arrange for your ticket to be a park hopper so you can go between both parks throughout the day. CA Adventure is a fairly new park. I think they said it was opened in 2001, so they've looked at the way Disneyland works and improved it with this park.

The park is based around all things Californian so you enter the park under the mini golden gate bridge and have options to visit the Hollywood back lot, Paradise Pier, The Golden State, Sunshine Plaza or a Bug's Land. All of these areas recreate either landmarks, culture or history of California.

Brian and I caught the shuttle from out hotel and got to the park right on 10am when it opened. We went straight to Paradise Pier where there are 2 rollercoasters, a giant drop type ride, big ferris wheel and chair-o-planes. The big rollerocaster "California Screamin" wasn't operating so we went back to the park later on and rode it at dusk. It was lots of fun and I took a picture of the picture they take of you on the ride. I was lucky to take that photo too because we forgot to get stamped on the way out and when we went to go back into Disneyland we almost weren't allowed in. The lady let us through only because I took a picture proving we did come from CA Adventure.

Brian and I then headed to the Hollywood back lot and had our picture taken with Sully from Monsters Inc. and then headed to the Hollywood Tower where the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride is. The ride is themed to resemble the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel. The storyline of the ride is that in 1939 the hotel was struck by lightning, transporting an elevator car full of passengers to the Twilight Zone. So the ride is where you are seated in the elevator in pitch black and get dropped up and down between different levels. I've never been on a ride like it and I don't think I've screamed so much on a ride before. It was lots of fun though!

Another cool ride was a "Soarin' Over California" that simulates a hang glider tour of California. We got a fast pass ticket to this ride but still ended up waiting over an hour to get on it. It was worth the wait! This ride lifts you high up in the studio and it's as if you are flying directly through the screen. It's a 4D type ride so when you fly over the ocean you feel the breeze, get sprayed with some mist and smell the salty smell of the ocean. It was very well done and Brian and I were very impressed!

Another notable ride was the Grizzly River Run. It starts off as your typical river rapid attraction where you spin around through rapids in a giant tyre. The difference with this ride is that everyone gets wet and there's a few big drops throughout the ride. It was nice and refreshing too to get wet as Tuesday was a nice hot day.

A Bug's Land was cool to walk through as it is set up just like the animated movie but it's more of a kids section so we didn't bother lining up to go in the kiddy rides. We didn't spend the whole day at the park as we didn't have to wait long in lines for rides so we did pretty much everything within a few hours. We ended up heading back to the hotel just after lunch, ate at the restaurant downstairs and then did some shopping in the nearby mall.

*Apologies for taking so long to update the blog and photo gallery! We only have limited space in the photo gallery as we have a limit on how many pics we can upload every month so unfortunately you aren't seeing ALL our photos from our LA trip. It may take awhile for the pics to upload... it may even go into next month for me to put them all up but I will update the blog so you can at least read everything we did!

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Our hotel has free shuttles to Disneyland so the next day (Monday) we woke up, had some breakfast and jumped on an early morning shuttle and headed to the park. The mornings in LA start off overcast and a little cool so it's a bit hard to tell what the weather will be like for the rest of the day. That morning was a little cloudy until lunch but then fined up and turned into a nice warm day to spend at our first theme park in LA.

Disneyland was a good theme park to start off our LA trip with. It's your typical family theme park so not only do you have rides but you also have lots of shows like float parades, laser shows and fireworks for the kids. It doesn't have any big thrill rides but there still are some pretty exciting ones.

Our first ride was Space Mountain then followed by the Mattahorn. We then figured out that the popular rides have "fast passes." This pass allows you to skip the long line-up for a specific ride and go straight to the front in the designated time thay have set for you on the pass. This was very helpful for such rides as Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain which were all very popular and the lines would have been over an hour long.

I'm pretty sure we did all the rides except for the Finding Nemo Sub. The line-up for this was HUGE (about 2 hours long) and to us it didn't seem worth the wait. We did however go on the spinning tea-cups, the carousel, Storyland boat cruise and the lamest ride of all - 'It's a Small World.' It was an experience though!

At night they have a Fantasmic Laser and Lights Show, followed by fireworks. The Fantasmic show is set on the water and they set up a huge spray in front of the middle of the stage where they project the screen on to. Then they have boats sailing past plus fireworks so it was a good show to go see. The fireworks show over the castle was well done too. It's themed according to the park rides so the show varies from Star Wars to fairytales. The fireworks were really well done but unfortuantely I couldn't get the setting right on my camera to show the firworks and the castle in one shot clearly.

Then after the show we headed home at about 10:30pm and had some dinner. They say the average person walks 9 miles in one day at Disneyland so needless to say we slept very well that night!

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After saying goodbye to everyone and hitting a few golf balls in the lake for the very last time, Jason (one of the guys that worked in the kitchen) drove us to the Atlanta airport. Our flight from Altanta to Vegas was at 10pm landing us in Vegas at 11pm thus having about 7 hours to see as much as we could.

As soon we landed in Vegas we caught a shuttle to the end of the Vegas strip and went up the Startopshere which is a very tall building (like the Sky tower in Auckland - that was Brian) and has 3 extreme theme park rides on top of the tower. We went straight to the top taking plenty of photos as well as going on two of the rides. The first ride we went on was called the Big Shot which shoots you off the top of the building straight up the needle in 2.5 seconds and then drops you back down (Jess loved this ride haha). The second ride was a mini rollercoaster that tilts down and shoots you right off the edge of the building so you have nothing but buildings and a HUGE fall beneath you. We were a little nervouse before going on this one as we got told that it had broken down over the edge once before. It was pretty scary! The 3rd ride wasn't running as it also hangs off the side of the building and it was a pretty windy night so I think it was a good idea to have it shut off.

We then walked from the Stratopshere 3 miles up the strip to all the famous casinos and toursity places in the sweltering heat! We went to Circus Circus and then popped into the Frontier Casino which was open for its 2nd last night as it was getting blown up in 2 days to make way for a new casino. Maybe Packer's new one haha. We then stopped at Treasure Island, Paris, The Bellagio, New York New York and Excalibur... to name a few. By the time we got off the plane and into the city it was midnight, so from 12pm until about 5am was when we were sightseeing/drinking and gambling - not such a busy time out on the strip. Because of this we missed out on a few casino shows and rides but luckily we arrived in time for the Statopshere to be open! Our last stop was the Excalibur Casino where we had a drink or two and I had a go at gambling, which i did pretty well winning $75. We got the shuttle from there just in time to make our 6am flight and got to see Luxor and Mandalay Bay on the drive to the airport.

By this time we hadn't slept since leaving camp on Saturday so as soon as we got on the plane to LA we were asleep and woke up 5 mins before landing. We were dying to get to our hotel at Knotts Berry Farm Resort to get some sleep. Vegas takes it out of you!

• See more Vegas pics in the album!

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My last week has been fun as I only had morning golf classes so that gave Jess and I the afternoons off to do a few fun things around camp that we hadn't had the chance to do yet. Tuesday we went rock climbing (which I did last week) but it was fun to show Jess how to climb. She was a little nervous with finding where to put her feet but she did well. I still hold the camp record for the fastest up the wall which was 26 seconds, beating the climbing instrutor by 4 seconds.

Thursday Jess and I went over to the rifle range and shot some guns while there was a break in between class periods. Jess has never shot a gun before and wasn't sure which eye to look out of and she didnt have her glasses either which made shooting for a small target hard for her. She did ok for not being able to see though! That night we drove a van load of kids down to Stone Mountain (which is close to Atlanta) to see the laser and fireworks show. The laser show was awesome and so were the fireworks as you can see from the photos.

Today we went down to the COPE course and went on the zip line. I went first as Jess was a little scared and wanted to see how it was done. It's a lot better than the one we had out the back of our old house! Jess had to be pushed off the platform because she was too chicken to jump herself but she enjoyed it once it was moving.

Campfire is about to start now and it's our final one so i'm going to give out a few awards and present Peter (the program director) with my scarf because Charles (camp director) already has a NZ scarf from when my troop was here and is rubbing it in Peter's face.

Camp has been fun and at times but I have also been wishing it would finish. I've been to a few summer camps now and have liked different parts from each camp so the experience was good. This camp i've enjoyed seeing how much a camp can change in 14 years and seeing how much scouting in America is still going strong. Every camp I go to though is like being back in High School. You have the people you get along well with, people you can't stand being around and then you have those weird kids where all they say to you is "hi Brian" and then you see them 5 mins later and they say the same thing again.

It will finally be nice to know that Jess wont be sick from a dirty med lodge or bossed around by Sandy anymore. I think she'll be happy that she won't have to clean that place anymore or clean out the toilet bowl after Sandy cause she's sick of all the flies on the toilet! Most unhygenic person ever!

I've enjoyed teaching Golf and I hope to get to play alot more when i get back home. Next stop...Vegas!

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Scoutland had 1 team, Woodruff had 2 teams and Rainey Mountain had an A and B team. So being athletic and being from another country I was in the A team plus they liked the fact that I use to play rugby (to rough up the other teams). I played in the first game against Woodruff's A team and played ok for the amount of time I was on the field. I intercepted a frisbee and then threw it in for a goal. We won that game but Woodruff pulled a sneaky one and made their B team the stronger team. So in the final we played Woodruff B for the trophy. Tension was high so people like myself didn't get any game time as the guys who play Frisbee at College played the whole game so Rainey Mountain could retain the trophy. Rainey Mountain won the game 13-1.

We left the tournament early and headed off to a place called "The Fun Factory" which is full of video games, mini golf, bumper cars, ten pin bowling, go-karts and a batting cage. Jess and I had such a good time getting away from camp and acting like kids again. We paid $20 to play unlimited games of anything we wanted for as long as we wanted. I kicked Jess' butt again in Ten Pin Bowling and the arcade games but she gave me some pointers in the batting cage. On top of all that we won a bunch of tickets on the arcade games so we could get some prizes - in total we won 899 tickets. By the end of the night we both were buggered from running around so we headed back to camp after about 5 hours at the Fun Factory.

Sunday we were able to leave camp again to hit up the Mall so we bought Mark and Jason a thank you gift each (they picked us up from the airport, took as around Atlanta, put us up in that nice hotel and also took care of us at camp). Jess also bought her 30G ipod which she had done alot of umming and ahhing over and also did some other shopping before we head to LA. I bought Jess and I nitrogenised ice-cream - i'm not sure if that's the correct term for it but it's ice cream that has been nitrogenised into little ice cream balls that looks like crumpled up biscuit but tastes and actually is ice cream. It's pretty cool cause it doesn't melt easy and it's crunchy and fun to eat. We then stopped in at Habersham movie theatre on the way back to camp and saw Fantastic Four. Jess was tired of putting up with Sandy's crap back at camp so she didn't want to go back too early. It was nice to chill and watch a movie.

This week Jess and I both have the afternoons off so we can go sailing, rock climbing, shooting and do other stuff around camp together. It's a nice way to end our time at camp. Jess also has photos from the Rainwood tournament she will put on the net and hopefully we will have more pictures of what we get up to this week.

Brian

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Brian has no kids in his morning class this week so he's been roaming around camp and helping people out. He went rock climbing that morning while I was teaching and Kevin took some photos of him climbing the tower for me. (Wednesday is my day in medlodge so I couldn't go but I have the afternoons off this week so hopefully I can rock climb tomorrow afternoon.)

After classes and formation the staff headed to Corneil's house (the Ranger who takes care of camp and lives up the road) for a big feast and some running around time. Dinner was 2 large turkeys a ham, potato salad, coleslaw, garden salad, bread and other side dishes. Everyone ran around and played frisbee and I swear it was as if they hadn't been outside for a year. I have never seen so many hyped up kids running around! Must be all the testosterone from being in a boyscout camp, who knows.

After that we headed to camp fire and Sandy and Diamond sung 'Our lady of America.' Then there was the flag retiring ceremony which consists of folding up old flags and burning them in a fire. America has a big thing about their flag and how there is a specific etiquette. When the flag is lowered it can never touch the ground, it has to be folded in a specific way and when it is no longer fit for duty it has to be retired in a ceremony. There's alot more to it but that's all I know of.

There were a few war veterans in the visiting troops so they came down to the stage and burnt a flag each after some of the staff folded up a flag on stage and Peter went through what each fold meant.

After that there were fireworks (some of the scoutmasters had bought from South Carolina) which were fired off across the otherside of the river whilst American celebration music was played. After the ceremony alot of the kids hung around the campfire the flags were burnt in and stood there salluting for ages. It was pretty interesting to watch. My take on it all was that the 4th of July is more a day of reflection as apposed to a day of celebration. It was pretty intense at times.

Well it's staff night out tonight so I better find Brian and see what we're gonna get up to. I've also updated the photo album so remember to check that out too.

Cheers

Jess

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My golf class this week wasn't as good as the past week, which makes my job harder but fun. I make all the kids that cant play too well tee off at the ladies tees which they didn't like (haha). I have scoutmasters that come along every week to be an extra adult (boy scout stupid rules) which this week wasnt helpful at all. At the driving range I show the kids a basic swing as well as 3 things to work on (for most kids thats alot to work on). But the scoutmasters that came along this week thought they knew everything about golf and stuffed up my program. They pulled kids aside and told them the opposite from what im trying to teach which is far from basic technique. Ohh and then one kid broke 3 golf clubs in 2 days.

Jess didnt have the best week, i havent seen anyone sick so much in my life. She was just getting over the flu until she started throwing up on thrusday night and all through the night. She wasnt feeling any better on friday and had pains in her tummy so we went to the ER. They put her on a drip and gave her a pain relief which when it hit her she was in Disneyland haha. After 2 bags of IV drip she was feeling alot better so we headed back to camp.

Its saturday night at the moment and everyone is out of camp until tommorrow but we stayed at camp so Jess could start to get better. So today i found a site online that you can download pretty much any rugby game you want, so i downloaded the lastest game between NZ and Australia. Which in the end was not a good result for me but Jess was happy and it gave some of the American boys a glympse of rugby.

JESS says - Hey. Mum and Dad if you are reading this before I call you it is because the lines are down. Everything is ok and I am feeling much better now. My head is a little sore and i'm still a bit weak and tired but apart from that i'm feeling 110% better than the other night. Brian is taking good care of me I will try calling again in the morning and I'm sorry if you have read this blog first and freaked out!

Lots of Love

Brian and Jess

Know-it-all scoutmasters and another trip to the hospital remains copyright of the author Brian_H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The sun didn't last for long and we got a HUGE amount of rain in the first few days. So much rain that it stirred the lake up and the water went from green to murky brown. Then I started getting a sore throat which turned into the flu

Luckily Chris (a new staff member at camp) has taken over my Space Exploration classes so I taught Athletics in the morning and got to rest in the afternoons. I was probably at my worst on Wednesday but that's the day I spend in medlodge so I got to sleep alot. Then came the blood noses. I was getting about 4 per day from blowing my nose too much and today has been the first day I haven't gotten one which is great news! Touch wood. I've been to the doctors and I'm on antibiotics to clear up a chest infection. I stopped blowing my nose coz of all the blood so instead the mucas went down to my lungs hence the infection. I'm feeling better though!

Brian had a pretty cool afternoon golf class all week. He had one kid to teach and they got on well so on Friday his Dad shouted them both to a game of Golf at an expensive golf course (different one to where he teaches). I got to come along and drive the golf buggy for them which was fun. New pics are in the album!

Friday night camp fire Brian was awarded with Staffer of The Week and was presented on stage with a cool wooden plaque. Staff members get nominated by Senior Patrol Leaders and then they take a vote of who was the best one for the week and then they get awarded. So to win this award is a pretty big deal, especially when Brian is not a regular at camp.

Saturday Brian went kayaking on the lake to practice rolls and turns. Then the White Water boys took him down the Chatooga, the river that is featured in the movie deliverence. I stayed at camp and slept and then had to look after a staff member with an extremely high fever! He ended up going to the ER and is now at home.

After the boys got back from their day on the river, they picked me up and we all went to a Mexican Restaurant and then headed to a "rafting party" where all the river guides throw a huge keg party and get drunk. It was lots of fun and your typical "american party" that we see on the movies. Eg - naked guys running around, bands, kegs and keg stands. (A keg stand is where you get held upside down and have to drink out of the keg. It goes everywhere and is fun to watch!)

In the morning (yesterday) Brian woke up with the flu - thanks to looking after me all week and also from kayaking the day before. He's not too bad now but he was feeling pretty rotten that day.

I also had my first real medical emergency. Sandy was out of camp so I was left to deal with a kid who broke his wrist. I was actually pretty nervous when I got the call coz Sandy had left with the medic bag and I had no supplies to take with me so I pretty much turned up empty handed. I've never had to deal with something like that before but we put his arm in a sling and took him to the ER and everything turned out ok.

Hump week has now started (half way basically) but we only have 3 more weeks left at camp and then a week of theme parks and fun!

We'll write more on the weeks to come so keep checking our blog out and hopefully I will get another chance later this week to add some more photos.

Love Jess and Brian

The flu, a raft party and a medic emergency remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The White Water department wanted water so they could have a better flow for kayaking but then copes and climbing wanted no rain at all so they could actually teach the kids their rock climbing merit badges. The rain was greeted by mixed emotions from the staff even though Atlanta and surrounding areas are in drought. Their drought is nothing like Brisbane's though!

Everyone has to march at formation whether it is raining or not so most evenings we were marching in the rain. Luckily we have rain coats. Tuesday afternoon there was a storm and some hail but it was almost over by the time we got to the parade field.

Staff week is on Thursday nights but Jess and Sandy alternate so there is always someone at med lodge. This week we went out on Wednesday night and went to an Italian restaurant called Mama G's which was really good but very filling. I've been driving the van around a bit so I picked Jess up and took her out. Me driving on the wrong side of the road -

Friday night campfire was good. Jess recieved 3 awards from different troops and had to get on stage and accept them. A troop that everyone wanted a shirt from gave her a bright green one, and she also got an orange one from another troop plus a pocket knife which one troop had their details engraved on. She was pretty happy.

Saturday we went to the Mall of Georgia (again) and saw Oceans 13 and looked around the shops. We came back to camp that night and had an early night which was good. Camp tires you out alot so it was good to finally have a sleep in.

Today is Fathers Day over here so Happy Fathers Day from America! Sunday is where the camp prepares for the new week of troops coming in but we helped out the Waterfront guys and spent most of the afternoon on the lifeguard tower and swimming in the water. We both got a little bit burnt.

This week is not as big as the last two but we still have to act like it is the first week to the new campers. I hope it doesn't rain for my sake cause teaching Golf in the rain is not fun. Here's to a good week and we will write more later.

Brian

The week in review remains copyright of the author Brian_H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This is the view from our hotel

After the Aquarium we walked back to our hotel got settled and then caught the shuttle to the Underground to have a look around. We had lunch at Johnny Rockets and I bought some postcards and an Australian Flag patch to sew onto my scout uniform.

We then walked back to our hotel and stoppped in at the Hard rock Cafe. We were going to have some drinks but the place was packed out with lots of people drinking prior to the Braves Game.

Some of the guys from camp picked us up from out hotel late that afternoon and they came with us to the Braves game. Alot of them are around 20 years old but that is still under the age for them to buy alcohol so we had some drinks beforehand. We stopped in at this fast food place called Checkers which was the worst fast food I have ever eaten! I only ate half my burger.

The Braves game started at 7pm but we ended up getting in at about 7:45pm. There was a bit of traffic plus a line up to get into the stadium so we missed the first pitch and the first few innings where the Cubs were playing well.

It was a pretty good game and there's lots of things going on between each innings. It was a pretty big crowd and they have lots of cheers and things thoughout the game. When someone hits a homerun they shoot fireworks above the Coke can which looks pretty cool. At the 7th inning the crowd gets up and sings that Baseball song which I forgot the name of. I seem to be forgetting alot of stuff lately. Must be the air up here! :P

After the game Brian bought me a Braves Jersey which is pretty cool. We're going to go to another Braves game at some stage and I'll wear it then.

Well that was pretty much our weekend. I've uploaded all the pics of Atlanta, the Aquarium and the Coke Factory. There are also campfire pictures in there too.

Downtown Atlanta & the Braves game remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The World Of Coke has been moved from its old location and refurbished with a more International outlook. It was interesting but Brian thought the old Coke factory was better. They didn't shoot coke from across the room into a cup but we were still able to sample Coke from across the globe plus other softdrinks. They showed a 4D show about the 'secret ingredients' of coke which was a bit corny, but they sprayed water at us and our seats moved during the show so it wasn't too bad. Apparently in the old Coke Museum they had more history on how Coke was created in Georgia but tourists felt it was focused too much on that and not about Coke all around the world so they made it more International. As we left we got 2 bottles of coke in the glass bottles with no sticker on it as a souvenir which is pretty cool.

The Georgia Aquarium had some pretty cool animals in it like Beluga Whales and Whale Sharks, Piranas and these ugly looking things that were a cross between giant spiders and lobsters... could be tasty but I wouldn't want to catch them!! The venue is pretty huge but they have a lot of blank wall space and small glass windows to look into aquariums which, at times, was a bit frustrating with all the people that were there. The whales were cool though. They were in a huge tank and swam around in front of the viewing area heaps. I got to test out a few different settings on my camera as I took heaps of photos of animals and some turned out pretty arty. Alot of the times though we weren't allowed a flash so some pictures came out a bit dark.

I guess we were a little disappointed with what the Aquarium didn't have for being the biggest Aquarium in the state, ie - Dolphins, Polar Bears, animal shows etc, but Brian and I had been to SeaWorld before we left so I guess it's a bit unfair to compare.

We had booked to go to the Aquarium at 1pm (you book viewing times because it gets so busy) but we finished up at the Coke factory earlier than we thought and didn't want to wait around for an hour waiting to go in. So, we told the lady that our flights had been changed since we booked over the net and we need to get in asap otherwise we will miss our flight. She said yes so we went in straight away. It's great having an accent

The World of Coke & Georgia Aquarium remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I played my first game of Ultimate frisbee which was interesting, its a game where you cant tackle anyone which i found a little hard to get my head around. At one point I did tackle someone but i didnt mean to. The staff thought it was funny.

Campfires at camp are ok, not as good as they use to be. They dont light the campfire in a special way anymore but ive been talking to alot of the guys that have been here awhile and im gonna try and light it by hitting a golf ball that is on fire into the campfire. But ill keep you posted on that. I got a gift at campfire from one of the kids that was in my class for taking him golfing everyday and improving his swing. Dad, email me some songs or skits to do.

Now the new week starts.

Brian

First week of campers! remains copyright of the author Brian_H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The kids in my first class for the week were kinda dull. They just sat there and looked at me. I'm not sure if they can't understand me because of my accent, or they are amazed by it or that they are just bored but apparently this happens in Brian's classes too.

One kid asked me if I lived near where Arnold Schwazenegger came from and I laughed and said "no, he comes from Austria. I come from Australia!" He looked at me blank and asked where Australia was.

Space Exploration was actually kind of cool. The kids were really interested in the class and we got to make rockets and launch them on Friday. I ask a question every morning when I mark the roll and for Space Ex one morning I asked "if you could travel to any planet where would you go?" Most of the kids answered "Uranus." I'm not going to ask that question again.

During the week we have 3 camp fires. Sunday night is the campers first night so we put on skits and some staff get introduced. Wednesday camp fire the campers do skits for us and it's a chance for them to sing songs and have fun. Friday night camp fire is the campers last night and staff give out awards to the best troops and troops give out awards to some of the staff. Brian got an award which was a wood carved necklace with that troops details on it. I'll put pictures of all this up soon.

I was given an older book for athletics last week and I was only informed yesterday that I have to teach by the new athletics book which has completely different requirements. So, I was up until about midnight last night preparing for my classes this morning. The new athletics requirements are pretty hard too so I'm not sure how my class will take it. Some of the students are pretty switched on but then some are at the other side of the spectrum and can't read at all.

Well, that was my week in a nutshell so stay tuned for how this week goes.

Leesh - I've got the final season of Alias that never got aired in Aus. I'm not sure if an American DVD will work at home though...

Em - Happy Birthday for Saturday! Hope you had fun at the races.

Mum and Dad - I'm feeling much better now and I'm jealous that you guys are in Palm Cove right now probably drinking out of coconuts!

Go the maroons!!

Jess

Campers Week 1 remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The river we raft in is controlled by a dam. They fill it every morning and empty it every afternoon which means that they can control the size of the rapids. I think where they get the water from plus the lack of sun warming the river is why it is one of the coldest rivers.

Saturday is our day off from camp so Brian and I went to the Mall of Georgia (one of the biggest shopping centres in Georgia) and did some shopping. They have some pretty cool stores including a sporting place called Dick's which has an indoor rock climbing wall inside. They have a vending machine there which sells neutrogena make up and beauty products. Bizarre. Apparently there is an ipod vending machine too.

We then went back to camp and that night a few of us ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then headed on to this wild redneck pub and had some drinks. It was a fun night.

In the morning we woke up and a few of the boys took Brian and I to Bull Sluice, another river you can raft in but this time in South Carolina. The cool thing about this place is that there are heaps of cylindrical rock holes under the water. One part of the rapid there is a hole in the rock you can jump down so the water flows over your head but you can still breathe while being under the water. They call this the toilet bowl. I didn't go swimming, just took pictures of the boys having fun.

At the moment the kids are checking in for their week at camp and tonight there will be a big camp fire where we sit in the amphitheatre and sing songs and do skits. Brian fixed the sound system for them as they don't seem to know what they are doing so there will be music and stuff playing too. Tonight starts the beginning of Summer Camp for the next 8 weeks, but we leave on week 7.

Tomorrow I start teaching athletics and space exploration classes. I'm pretty nervous especially about Space ex coz I don't know what I am talking about. Brian seems to have his Golf Merit Badge plans under wraps though. He gets to drive around in a buggy all day

We got our staff uniforms the other night so now I can look like everybody else. I don't have a scout uniform but I am borrowing one coz they want me to start marching at formation.

Ok well we have to go get ready now, keep us updated on what's happening back home.

Jess

The Weekend remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Once all the campers start to arrive next week things will start to flow better but then again the first week is 800 campers with 120 staff so that week will be full on.

John: Yeah camp has changed alot. Mark says hi and is wanting you to come over and cook one summer. Daniel (one of the twins) said he remembers teaching us American Southern words and a few other people from 1993 said that they remember us being here.

Dad (Grant): Mark last night stood up in front of the staff and talked about camp history, camp myths and The Hays family. Ive bumped into Corneil and his wife a few times, they still remember me which was surprising and he wants Jess and i to go to Chruch with him. I think that would be an eye opener. The Trading Post lady back in 1993 remembers mum still, she's a nice lady. The Golf Course is about a 10min drive from camp, but dont worry im not driving! They wanted me to though.

Tomorrow is Saturday so we are planning to leave camp and maybe go with some of the guys to Atlanta or another city in Georgia called Athens.

We will keep updating with pictures and events at camp when we get another chance.

Brian

End of Staff Week remains copyright of the author Brian_H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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How is everyone?

Well the internet outside my bedroom is now working so Brian and I can write more often plus add our pictures. I've already added pictures below relating to our previous entries but there are more photos in my photo album. (See authors and then select more photos on the right hand side.) Brian may be buying a camera of his own so for the moment we will be putting all the photos in my album.

It is currently 5:20pm Thursday and camp staff are still doing work around camp to prepare for the kids on Monday. Sandy has been away the last 2 days so I have had to stay in Med Lodge and help out kids there plus prepare for my MB classes next week. I've cleaned and re-arranged all the furniture there. I swear that place has not been cleaned for about 5 years. I filled 5 bags of rubbish that day and vacuumed about 3 times. Brian has been working out doors with the rest of the staff building tents and fixing up camp. He is currently covered in clay and water from pressure hosing the concrete.

If all the work around camp gets done today we all go white water rafting tomorrow. We won't find out until dinner tonight but I think we will be. If we do go I won't be taking my camera with me coz I don't want it to get wet or stolen. It's a shame I can't take it coz it's really pretty where we go and I'd like to show you all some of the stuff we get up to. I went rafting the other day in North Carolina and the water was freezing! I had to tell the kids to keep wiggling their toes coz it was as if we had our feet in ice for the 2 hours. Very cold water!!

This morning Brian and I woke up at 6am and went for a run around camp. We ran just over a mile (1.8km we think) and I actually ran the whole thing! I was very proud of myself but extremely buggered at the end. I will sleep very well tonight! Brian on the other hand seems to run it pretty easy.

I hate running but the food they feed us is sooooo fatty! Everything has either heaps of sugar on it or loads of extra fat. Burger King over here (our Hungry Jack's) has double and triple whoppers plus a burger called the 'stacker' which has 3 meat patties, 4 slices of cheese plus bacon on it. I think it's quite a popular meal to eat too.

We've been reading all your comments and emails so it's great to see you haven't forgotten about us already. Formation starts soon so I got to go to that so stay tuned. I'll also take photos of formation and the staff marching when all the troops arrive next week. Below are photos of camp taken around the lake.

Jess

Photos! remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Jess and I are in different cabins and they're not that close to each other. Jess is in the administration building and spent her first night alone. I am in the directors cabin and share with 5 other guys.

In the morning we got a good look at camp and it has changed alot since 1993! We overlook the lake and up at the mountains. I think Jess and I sat in rocking chairs on the porch for hours the first day we arrived. It's nice and relaxing to just sit and look at it all. (Jess now wants a rocking chair).

Everyone arrived on Sunday and we were introduced to over 100 staff members. Jess met Sandy (the medic and the lady she shares the room with) and had a big shock. Sandy is taller than me and well, wider as well.

I finally got to check out the golf course and was pretty happy with what I saw. I get to drive a golf cart too. Jess is teaching Athletics and space Exploration for her Merit Badge classes and then is the assistant medic at nights and all day wednesday.

Staff week is pretty hectic with setting up camp before the troops arrive next week. If all goes to plan we will go rafting on Friday. Jess went rafting on Monday as they needed an extra female to go with them, plus they thought it would be nice to get Jess away from Sandy.

A typical day during staff week sees Jess sleeping in until 6:30am and me waking up at 6am to go for a run around the lake as I have to get fit for band of brothers. Staff lines up for formation at 7am and we march down towards the dining hall and raise the flag before breakfast. After that we have program time where we sort out our class programs for when the troops come. Then we have lunch, then some hard work in some hot sun for our work projects which means setting up tents, picking up rubbish and so on. Jess gets to stay in the med lodge and do nothing. Then we line up for formation again at 5:30 and march down to the flags and have dinner at 6pm. We then get an hour of free time (kids play ultimate frisbee in this time) and relax around camp chatting to Mark and some others. Then it's more program time or safety and harrasment seminars. We finally get to go to bed at about 10:30 with lights out by 11pm. That is a normal day for staff week so we can't wait till the campers arrive and so I can play golf.

We are now going to the auditorium for a staff camp fire so one of us will write more soon.

Hope you're all having a good time.

Brian

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Mark and Jason (people from camp) picked us up and took us out for dinner at a place called TFI Friday's. It was really nice. Camp put us up in a really nice hotel for the night and it was in a nice safe area (a change from LA!)

Brian and I both had long hot showers which was nice but we found out the next day that Atlanta also has water restrictions. Whoops!

The next day we did some sight seeing and went into the city of Atlanta to see Centennial Park plus did a tour of CNN (which camp all paid for). We haven't yet had a chance to go to Six Flags, The Coca-Cola factory or the aquarium yet but hopefully we will be able to go to these on our weekends off.

Atlanta is actually a pretty nice city but apparently at night time that changes. It's nice to see some green grass and lots of trees in the city though.

We only got to stay in Atlanta one night as for some reason their plans changed and we got to camp early. On the way though we ate dinner at a place called Buffalo's which has really yummy food. There we met Daniel (another guy from camp) and we drove to Clayton from there.

Atlanta remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This can only be a short coz we don't have much time left on the net.

Flight was good, we got in approx 5:30am Brisbane time which was 12:30pm LA time. Flight was good, we had a spare seat between us in our row of 3 so us 2 got to spread out over one extra seat which was better than nothing!

LA is unbelievable! We haven't done any sight seeing but the amount of houses you fly over to get to the airport is amazing. Nothing like landing in Brisbane at all. You pretty much fly over houses low, cross the freeway and there's the landing strip.

Tomorrow we fly to Atlanta and camp is putting us up in a hotel for 2 nights until they pick us up for camp which is pretty cool. We will have more of a chance to write and add pics then.

Gotta go! From Brian and Jess

P.S - Go the maroons! Heard QLD made you blues put your money where your mouth is!

Cya for now

Hello from LA! remains copyright of the author Jess_F, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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