Day 47- Halberton to ScoutEx- Westpoint Arena
Actual distance 32.28Km or 20.0 miles (or 1,176.8 laps of the caving complex at ScoutEx)
Total Ascent 312m (or 31.2 climbs up the climbing wall at ScoutEx)
Staying with the Devon County Scout team at ScoutEx in Westpoint Arena
What at day! We had an early start keen to get to ScoutEx- The Devon County Camp just east of Exeter in good time to relax and enjoy the fun. Jen and Phil headed off first thing to drop off the vehicles and were back to start by 10am which was phenomenal.
We jumped on the bikes and knowing we only had a 30km ride to complete (we have got to the point where the kids don’t worry at anything less than 60km on a bike!) we hoped to be done by lunch time. Whilst this was entirely possible we thought it might be a little optimistic. However, we quickly got into our groove and started moving. We had a few moderate climbs to start but dealt with them easily enough, and managed to keep going for a good 10km without pausing for a drink- unheard of for us!
By 11am we had managed 17km and were absolutely flying along despite some relatively busy roads. With 10km left Phil needed to stop for a call of nature and remarkably there was a portaloo 2 minutes down the road which Steve was happy for him to use- it was obviously a day with everything going our way!
We made it to our ScoutEx in under 2 hours which was a real boost for us all and was a real demonstration that we have got fitter and faster during the past few weeks (hopefully this will continue for the final days!)
Almost as soon as we arrived at Westpoint Arena we met Steve Donahue, Devon County Commissioner, who made up feel really welcome, showed us around the ScoutEx site and arranged for us to participate in the activities. A fun-packed afternoon followed with climbing, caving, a Harry Potter escape room, inflatables and archery!
We met Taff and the Ice House team who are a catering dream, supplying brilliant food including a wild stew from the ‘fruits’ of the survival base- pigeon, rabbit and venison (there were also pizzas)!
We listened to an amazing talk by Jamie Gane who was both funny and inspirational and again embodied core values of self motivation, determination and never giving up- all things we are finding on our adventure.
As if things couldn’t get better Ollie became a Scout during the evening disco! He was invested by Steve on the stage in front of the camp (totally apt for Ollie) and has been made an honorary Devon Scout!! He did correct the County Commissioner on the monarch in the promise- again typical Ollie!!!
Truly fantastic day!
The team caving!
