Our Amsterdam Adventure

A group of 15 Guides, Young Leaders and Leaders from 30th Dundee units had an unforgettable trip to Amsterdam filled with fun, friendship and adventure in the Easter holidays. We proudly wore our specially designed hoodies for the event along with our International neckies. It was a first International Girlguiding trip for many of the group.

They share their Amsterdam Adventure with us:

"Our adventure started early on Friday 11th April with our journey to Glasgow Airport (by Ember bus and Airport Express) and a flight to Schiphol Airport where we were greeted by the familiar face of Sine Creagmile, one of a small group Girlguiding Scotland Volunteers who made sure the whole event went so well.

We had pre-booked travel passes for our group, the super-helpful staff at the station printed them all off and directed us to the right train and we were on our way! We were able to use all forms of public transport during our stay – buses, trams and trains – between Schiphol Airport and our hostel in Haarlem.

Friday evening found us exploring the area round our hostel and stocking up on snacks and essentials at a Dutch supermarket before our first night in our en-suite rooms in our very smart hostel. The hostel had been booked out by Girlguiding Scotland and there were two volunteers there as our hosts which made it all very relaxed and friendly.

On Saturday we joined 600 other girls from Girlguiding Scotland in the Dutch capital for the one-day adventure. We took part in a competitive and fun international wide game; a treasure hunt via the Goosechase App which was easy to use and so interactive.

The Guides and Young Leaders were in charge for the whole day, planning the transport connections, navigating our route and choosing the challenges we tackled. Each challenge was worth a certain number of points, and we covered lots of ground, even adding a ferry into our modes of transport. Fortunately, the challenges did include some food-related ones, so stroopwafels, fries and ice-creams were enjoyed at points along the way.

The challenges took us to some of the famous Amsterdam sights but also had us navigating to parks and places we would have otherwise missed out on. Most of the groups headed to the finishing point to meet altogether at the end of the event, find out the overall winners and get our very lovely “Amsterdam Adventure” badges. It was an extra special day for some of the group who opted to make their promises as Young Leaders and Leaders during our memorable trip.

It was a quiet evening at the hostel to rest our tired feet and pack our bags for heading home on Sunday. But before we left Amsterdam, we had some time for shopping, catching the sights we didn’t notice on Saturday and, for some, a visit to the Van Gough Museum. Then it was back to Schiphol Airport to catch our flight home to a very wet Glasgow and the bus back to Dundee.

The girls worked very hard to fundraise towards the cost of the trip, raising the cash by bag-packing in Monifieth Tesco, selling squares on our Teddy Bear cards and hosting an event at the Boyack Centre. All credit must go to Susan Grant for all her hard work in making that happen and special thanks to all who contributed to our fundraising.

The girls all did all that was asked of them throughout our trip, and our Adult and Young Leaders stepped up to every request and were a dream team in every sense. It all went so well we’re even talking about where to go for our next International Trip."