Petworth Division

Petworth consists of 4 Districts:

 

PETWORTH DIVISION RAINBOWS GO WILD @ DRUSILLAS SEPTEMBER 2010

It was an early start to a chilly day when a group of very excited Midhurst Rainbows and Guiders boarded a double decker bus and waved goodbye to Mums and Dads.

All seated and belted, we set off for Petworth and Billingshurst where we picked up more excited Rainbows from the Petworth Division.

It was a long journey but the bus was alive with Rainbows chatter and laughter. We kept a keen eye out for the Drusilla Zoo signs.

“I see it, we are here!” shouted a rainbow tugging on her guiders sleeve as we approached the entrance to Drusilla's.

All the rainbows piled off the bus closely followed by their Guiders and eagerly walked to the entrance, we handed over our tickets and collected an animal spotter and Zoolympics activity book for everyone.

Round the corner a friendly face greeted us, it was Olivia Rainbow. She said hello and presented each of us with a special Olivia sticker before posing for a photograph.

Off we set looking at lots of animals on the way, monkeys, lemurs and farm animals to name but a few. The meercats were a fond favourite, especially when viewed through a clear dome at the end of a tunnel.

Here we bumped into our County Commissioner who greeted us and asked if we were having fun! A resounding “yes” was the unanimous reply.

Music hit our ears, so we pressed buttons and made all the different animals join in the song while we listened.

We tried one of the Zoolympic challenges at hanging onto a bar for the longest time and stamped our spotter book after seeing the Serval cat hidden in its enclosure.

There were lots of hands on activities to do on our way round including looking through a giant giraffe periscope and lifting up flaps to reveal all sorts of animal facts.

We couldn't believe how fast the time had flown by and our now rumbling tummies told us it was packed lunch time. We cut through to the picnic area which was packed full  of rainbows and guiders all enjoying their lunch in the sunshine.

After lunch we jumped on Thomas the Tank engine which took us for a ride round some other bits of the zoo. We waved to other Rainbows as we passed them, everyone enjoyed the ride including our Division Commissioner.

We then discovered another challenge - How loud can a Rainbow scream?, thank goodness it was enclosed in a telephone box as the decibels increased each time.

More animals were spotted including penguins, flamingos and beavers until we got to the pet area where we saw reptiles, spiders and bugs YUK!!!!!!!

We were now well on the way to the centre of the park passing by the Prairie Dogs and entering the Ring Tailed Lemurs enclosure.

This is where we had a close encounter with a posing Lemur.

We'd made it to the middle where there was an enormous play area, rainbows shot in all directions. Some climbed up high, others scrambled across the nets, and our whole group jumped on one of the big swings.

The guiders had a well earned rest and all had a drink before we set off to the picnic area with everyone from Sussex West County to celebrate and sing Happy Birthday not only to 100 years of Girlguiding but to Janet Luck, our County and Region Rainbow adviser. She was presented with candles on a cake to blow out.

The special rainbow badge cake was cut by 'Olivia' and the rainbow who had designed it.

We had a sing song then had just enough time to explore 'Edens Eye' maze, finding the golden apple at the centre before setting off for our return bus.

On the bus back we were presented with our goody bags, everyone loved the Rainbow teddies with their cute red jackets and another badge to sew on!

Everyone from Petworth Division enjoyed their visit to Drusilla's, including some very tired Rainbows and Guiders!!!!!!!!!!

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Dounhurst District:

We are always looking for leaders to help at our units and if you feel you can give us some of your time to assist in giving the girls of this area a good Guiding start in life, please e-mail us. Whether you have experience in Guiding or not, we can always use a helping hand.  You don't have to be available every week and we give you all the training you need.  So please consider coming along and joining Dounhurst District.

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Last updated: 14/06/2011