End of Summer BBQ

It was supposed to be an end of summer BBQ. Little did we know it was going to be an Indian summer and the heat would last a little longer than expected. Luckily the good weather meant there were 18 of us in total. Our armarda included me, Simon, Penny, Adam, Kevin, Paul, Hilma, Tanja, Lynds, Alice, Steve, Kirsty, Su, Rach, Paul, Mark, Jules and a potential new member, Duncan. After kitting out our boats, and stealthily off-loading the BBQ into Steve and Paul's boat, we all set out to our usually spot.

The route hardly needs explaining now. We turned up the Cherwell , which was covered in such a thick carpet of green algae it made paddling difficult. It also meant that every stray bottle and polystyrene cup was stuck in it, which was sad viewing, especially since there were ducks and swans attempting to go about their business.

After floating past a punter and around under Magdalen Bridge we jumped out at Angel and Greyhound Meadow, secured our boats and got to work setting up camp. With the BBQ as our focal point we set up camp chairs, tarpaulins and blankets and began cooking. A couple of security wardens came to warn us they were locking the gates to the meadow, and seemed rather impressed we had an alternative, more watery, escape route planned for later.

After our first course some of us decided to have a game of frisbee. It was dark by this time, but nothing stops an Isis CC member from having fun. We duct taped a couple of glow sticks to the top and off we went. We developed several ways of working out where our target was, mostly through shouting 'here', that was until Kirsty turned up and then we all had to start shouting 'Cooee' in a camp voice, even the lads. It was fair to say that some people were natural 'frisbee in the dark' Olympians, and others just seemed to want to take off the next person's head Odd Job style.

When we got bored of frisbee, or feared for our necks a little too much, our attention turned to the play ground, which proved that when it comes down to it we are all just a big bunch of kids playing at being adults. The see saw, slide, swings, bucket swing, and weird turny circle of doom all held our attention for a while until we decided to head back to the BBQ which was now bathed in some ambient lightning courtesy of Kevin.

After a gentle paddle home, numbering off as we went so we didn't lose anyone, we It may not have been the end of summer exactly, but it was a brilliant evening, so thanks everyone for joining us!

- Jen