Roverway 2024 - a report by Sara Davies
In July 2024 we travelled to Norway as part of the Girlguiding UK Contingent, we were the only 2 participants to be selected to take part in Roverway. Roverway is a European Scout and Guide event which is unique due to its age range and its emphasis on youth-led adventure. Roverway was split into two parts: the first five days were a ‘pathway’ providing an opportunity for us to explore a local area within a small international group; the second part was a ‘jamboree’ with around 5000 young people from all over Europe camping together and learning about each other’s cultures.
We flew to Oslo via Amsterdam on 19 th July (meaning that we were caught up in the global IT outage, adding a bit of chaos to our journey!) Our patrol had planned to spend three nights in Oslo before joining our Pathway, giving us time to explore the city. This turned out to be a lucky move as it gave our luggage time to catch up with us from Amsterdam. Once our patrol, The Celts, were all together in Oslo, with all our bags, we caught an early morning train to Roros, where our pathway was based.
Our Patrol -The Celts
Images taken in Oslo
The Roros Pathway was one of the most northerly of the event. Roros is a small town designated as a World Heritage Site due to its copper ore mining history and its traditional townscape and land use. Our patrol joined patrols from five other countries – Switzerland, Denmark, Malta, Portugal and Greece. Our five days in Roros included a guided tour of the Smelting House to understand how the copper ore was melted down and processed into pure copper. We also had a guided tour of the Olav mine to experience the conditions underground and the scale of the industry. One day we followed a walk up a hill above Roros to see the layout of the town and valley that we were camping in and the beauty of the landscape around us. The most challenging part of our entire Roverway experience were the first few days on camp; the weather was wet and cold our nearest toilet and washing facilities were a quarter mile walk away. However, once portaloos had been delivered to the site and the weather improved a little it made it much easier to appreciate the area we were in and to make friends with people from across Europe.
We travelled from Roros to Stavanger on an overnight coach, a 12-hour journey. In Stavanger 5000 Scouts and Guides, who had all been on their own Pathways in different areas of Norway, came together as one camp. Through a range of workshops and physical activities our Pathway, which stayed together as a group, connected with other Pathways to discuss our experiences so far, our cultures and our Guiding and Scouting traditions. Most of our meals on camp were Norwegian but there were different ‘food houses’ around the site allowing us to taste food from Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Cyprus.
Pictures from the opening ceremony
A day exploring the city of Stavanger allowed us to learn about its fishing history; we visited the Canning Museum and took part in a scavenger hunt around the main attractions. The International Day was extremely interesting with each country offering their own activities. Girlguiding UK’s contribution was to run sessions based on badges that Rangers might work towards. We challenged participants to make a s’more using a tealight and uncooked spaghetti.
Pictures from Roros showing the scenery and the Fry up we made for International Day
Other patrols offered Scottish dancing, knot tying and building a tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows. we tried some Portuguese dancing and a seafood meal, we made a pompom dog from Bulgaria, sampled some Ukrainian sweets and dances, joined in with campfire singing from Malta and played some very boisterous games from Denmark. The whole International Day ended with a concert from the Roverway band, allowing us all to mingle and chat.
A rainy afternoon spent canoeing around Lundsvagen Harbour brought out the competitive spirit of many people. The Maltese contingent was determined to sink as many people as they could so it became our objective to avoid them! We did, however, speak to many other patrols and nationalities in another, different setting. The Rainbow Café was an onsite meeting place with snacks and boardgames available. It was a popular and very busy place. A pack of cards provided infinite opportunities for exchanges of games.
During the week there were lots of drop-in activities and workshops available; woodcarving, crochet, water games, badge swapping, survival skills, sustainability awareness to name a few. All of these allowed us to chat informally with as many people as possible.
Pictures taken throughout the week in Stavanger, you can see some games and activities, trading traditional dances and activities throughout the week
The closing ceremony on Thursday evening was an emotional chance to celebrate all the experiences of the last two weeks. It allowed us a moment to reflect on all we had learned, the friendships we had made and what we would be taking away with us. A campfire and a sing-song is a Guiding and Scouting tradition that brings the whole world together. We have brought away an awareness and admiration of so many cultures, a love and inquisitiveness for Norway and the memories of a wonderful International adventure. It has inspired us to talk to others about Roverway and to try to help other Girlguiding members to have their own International experience.
Thank You for making all this possible for us.
