GOLD Estonia 2017

Day 5 Day 5, Friday 15th September.   Although we have been in Estonia for 5 days, today marked our first whole week spent together as a team. A landmark for us, but the project is whizzing by at a rate of knots! We had more travel plans ahead, the Eesti Gaidide Liit had planned a meeting for members of the board in Türi, an hour and a half south of Tallinn in a delightfully rural location.  In Baltic style, the board had arranged for the meeting to be held in a conference facility; complete with pool and sauna! As the forecast for Türi was drizzly and overcast, we were especially looking forward to the venue. We were met with another bright sunny morning in Tallinn, and headed off on an exploratory walk to the central station and through the central parks in the old town.  A weekend market was in place next to the station and we treated ourselves to freshly made burgers prepared at a gourmet burger bar with vintage coffee. Amy B demonstrated further life hacks in ...

#DAY3 Wednesday 13th September. Day three started with more sunshine in Haapsalu. The apartment was 26 degrees and very warm to wake up to! Vicky, Roxy, and Amy B disappeared off early for a run before everyone got together to head down to the beachfront, looking out towards the many islands for which Estonia is renowned. Together we found a tiny patch of sand and quickly claimed it as our own for GOLD, sunshine, and selfies. We had the beach to ourselves as Haapsalu is a summer holiday town, and made the most of the empty streets and waterfront. After our breakfast stroll, it was down to serious business and planning for our school recruitment events over the coming days. The first of these was at the main High School in Haapsalu, aiming to raise awareness of Eesti Gaidide Liit as well as recruiting potential new members. The High School itself was a beautiful period building, and inside we experienced the calm and serenity of a museum, accompanied by beautiful art, and wide,...

TEAM ESTONIA HAVE LANDED! #DAY0 Sunday 10th September. After a 4am wake up call somewhere near Stansted, Team Estonia safely manoeuvred the perils of the airport to land at Ulemiste Airport in Tallinn. After spotting a pilot taking time out to relax in the children's play area, and shameless selfies with flags, we had achieved spending an inordinate time in one of the worlds tiniest commercial airports and decided to head to the brand new tram system and into Tallinn centre. Our plans were thwarted by what we later established was 'Monday' (EVERYTHING is closed) The tram was off, and a short bus ride followed, finally landing us to the boundaries of the old town.  The fun of the journey was not yet over.  Carrying our full kit for nearly a mile was interrupted mid route by nothing short of the annual Estonian marathon.  Shouted out of the road, by an angry marshall, we beat a hasty path uphill on the cobbles and made it in one piece through the beautiful stre...

As the new term approaches, and the team prepares to head off next week, why not spend some time with your girls learning about Estonia and World Guiding? We have put together a Challenge Badge Pack to give you ideas to work through, and all the proceeds from all badges bought will go directly towards the teams' fundraising target. The badge is split into six sections which are suitable for all ages: Estonian Food The outdoors Estonian animals & nature Estonian culture Guiding in Estonia Worldwide Guiding You can find the whole badge pack here . We hope you enjoy learning about this beautiful country, and we'd love to hear how you get on. Please email goldestonia@gmail.com to order badges or share your photos!

For our fourth briefing last weekend, we went to Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, Lauren couldn’t join us this weekend but the rest of us made the trip over by plane to Roxy’s hometown, Belfast. The weather was great and we were super-efficient and completed our checklist and many more “challenges” by 11am on Sunday morning. We’ve had a great time prepping for Estonia as well as relaxing and bonding as a team. Bonding has included playing Truth or Dare Jenga, the Chase card game and going round the Belfast Disney store. As we head home, we are filled with excitement for our trip which is seeming clo ser and more real by the day!! Weekend Accomplishments: Ketchup Art! ✓ Accommodation booked ✓ Resources list written ✓ (Some) training plans written ✓ List of tourist activities to do on days off compiled ✓ Transport researched ✓ Many spreadsheets colour-coded ✓ Wellbeing plans completed ✓ Happy Playlist compiled ✓ 75,000 steps walked around Belfast...

Weekend Three Stats from  weekend - 27 slices of cake consumed - 36 pancakes consumed - 3 tins of pickled fish consumed... (attempted) - 11 devices overloading the wifi - 17 man hours spent on craft. - 0 craft knife related injuries - 6 ice creams demolished Incidents of note.  - unexpected sunburn - restaurants being several miles further away than described by the host. - challenging intellectual card game, played on a late night after a long day. Briefing three  Estonia weekend three briefing gave us our teams share of hot weather and bright sunshine.  Plenty of time spent in glorious conditions outdoors, planning for time to be spent in Baltic conditions, outdoors! The weekend had heavy focus on the more serious side of the planning we have, including risk assessments, travel, and accommodation for the 22 days that we will be away for.  Work also commenced on breaking down the training sessions and events we will be managing and ...

We're so excited by our badges! We worked hard to get the design as we wanted it, and we think they've come out really well. What do you think? Our Challenge Badge Pack will be coming out very shortly, so whether you and your girls want to learn more about Estonia, or whether you just want to treat yourselves to a new badge, please contact us!  They're £1 each (plus P&P depending on quantity) and available by emailing goldestonia@gmail.com. All proceeds go directly towards supporting our trip and our work with Eesti Gaidide Liit- thank you in advance for your support!