Rayner 2023

by Scout Hannah

The Rayner Trophy was held in the Hottentots Holland Mountains and started at Nuweberg and took us to Landdroskop hut where we spent our night. Then we walked down the kloof back to Nuweberg.

Our team - Kaelan, Nathan, Rohan and Hannah, have been Scouting buddies for a while and have learnt each other’s weaknesses and strengths. At the beginning of the ordeal we had to do a morse coded message to go to the next base and officially begin.

We got though the first two to three bases with ease and were on our way thinking we were around the fith team to get though, but as we rounded a corner to another base we where met with a shocked TL, apparently we were the first team to get to that base and we were quite surprised. By the time we got to the sixth base we were told to wait for the judge of the seventh bases, because we were too far ahead and had overtaken a judge. The route that we had taken was a jeep track that steadily went up and was hard on the legs, but the views were amazing - until the clouds came in and it started to rain.

We had a lot of puzzles that we had to figure out or codes to crack to go to other bases or to get points. There were a lot of brain teasers and questionaires, which were fun and challenging. We needed a code to get into our overnight spot and luckily Kaelan found it in a little capsule we were given. It had been raining the whole day with a few hours here and there of sun.

After we had set up camp and had made supper we had to do night bases which were fun and adventures for my torch had broken and the rain looked like snow.

After all the night bases we got to finish setting up our shelters in the rain, which was fun for some of us. My team and I slept under one big tarp and sardined to keep warm. Our sleeping bags and kit got soaked, but we survived the very cold night. In the morning we had breakfast and packed our kit away and started the day with another brain teaser, after we finished it we could go on our way down. The trail was smaller than the large jeep track from the day before. It was also very muddy and wet. The bases down were mostly about knots and general Scout knowledge and quizzes. We had just about got to the bottom of the mountain when it started raining really hard and we decided to race the other teams to the finish point , which was an old barn.

Once we got there, we ate our lunch and chilled until all the teams had arrived. Once everyone had arrived we fell in and the judge started annoucing the top ten teams and we patiently waited and by the 4th place we gave up for we did not think we did that well. Then they said that our team…team16..had WON and we were in complete shock.

WE DID IT! FIRST TIME EVER THAT 1ST MUIZENBERG SEA SCOUT GROUP HAS WON Rayner since it started in 1952!!!

It was such an amazing experience. I have made many memories on Rayner over the years that I’ve done it and I hope the juniors of 1st Muizenberg get to do it too in their scouting life.