Category: Scout News

Twelve Scouts from 6th Melbourne enjoyed several fun and adventurous activities over the weekend including Mud Sumo Wrestling, Air Rifles, Canoeing, Archery, Giant Mud Slide, BMX Biking, Rocket Launchers, Abseiling, T Shirt Printing, Slot Cars, Volleyball, Challenge Valley, Pyrographics, Sock Wrestling, Clay Modelling, Movie and Disco to name but a few.

We had a very impressive camp site, having its own picnic table and fire pit as well as being close to the amenities, great for after the muddy activities.  Our able bodied camp master and caterer, Craig Morton, cooked up a storm with the help of our Scouts making Paella in a makeshift pan over our open fire.  Everyone enjoyed it immensely but we just couldn’t get through the 2kgs of rice.

Congratulations to the Raging Rabbits patrol led by Alex Marum as patrol leader with Michael Davis, Kenneth Wong, Sofia Lambert and Lucy Churches on attaining a Silver pennant at the latest Cohen Shield camp.

The patrols competed in navigation, cooking, first aid, Scout skills and construction to build their competition points  as well as other activities like JOTI/JOTA, canoeing and crate stacking to keep them busy.

 

 

 

A night of Halloween preparation where 4 fantastic pumpkins were carved by an assortment of characters, orange tea light candles and Vampire lollipops made followed by a spooky evening supper.

Fun packed night had by all.

                              

A great weekend was had by ten of our Scouts at Noonameena Scout camp in Lauriston. This is a fantastic camp site with a permanent shelter and cooking facilities, though we used the dutch ovens on a campfire on Saturday night to cook a roast beef and veges. The river running through the property allowed us to fish, though unsuccessfully and encouraged two of the bravest to swim in the chilly water on Sunday afternoon while many others had accidental swims while crossing on makeshift bridges. On our hike to the Lauriston Dam we encountered a Shingleback lizard, wallaby remains and a fresh wombat hole. At the dam we spent time in the sun eating lunch, skimming rocks and playing at the waters edge. Monash Venturer unit were camping here also and organised a wide game for us and enlightened us in how to play the card game spoons.                        

Congratulations Jack C, Jack W, Quinn, Michael and Rudy who camp home in one piece from Survival Camp in Castlemaine. On arrival in Castlemaine the Scouts were given a map and had to use it to navigate their hike into the camp. Once there, they chose sites to build shelters from sticks and coffee bush that would keep the weather off them should it turn cold or wet. The weather was reasonably kind to them and it didn’t rain but it was cold and dropped to only 1° Celsius overnight. They cooked on an open fire, which they had to keep going 24/7 meaning they had to take turns at night to tend the fire and ensure it didn’t go out. They scavenged for their food by locating hidden skewers in a dry creek bed and using only a billy and dutch oven as cooking aids managed to cook over the weekend a whole Red Snapper, spam stew, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, damper, dumplings, boiled eggs, and tea. Fun was had and skills learnt in collecting and treating water to drink, mock bush fire and fire fighting exercises and water testing of the bush shelters. A bush bashing hike on from the ‘Monk’ back to camp enabled them to show great navigation skills and team work as did the air crash first aid scenario where they rescued an injured pilot and carried him to safety on a bush stretcher then ensured their own rescue by using reflective emergency blankets, smoking fires and semaphore.
  

                         

Easter weekend saw three of our Scouts compete in the Stradbroke Cup Camp at Treetops in Riddells Creek as part of a mixed patrol with 1st Milliara.  A rainy start to the weekend and setting up camp but fun had by all with some good tip and tricks learnt and shared by the mixed patrol for future competition camps.  Rudy especially happy after winning the Easter hamper.

Congratulations Alex, Michael and Rudy on achieving a GOLD pennant and co-holder status of the cup.

  

The Fitzgerald Cup is my first experience of competition camping.  I found the weekend dirty, dusty and hard work but also a very interesting experience.  The camp is designed for the kids to take responsibility for everything with little help from leaders or parents. I’m the no-muck-around, get-the-job-done type of person, so it was a challenge to stand back and let things happen.

Now a few days on, I have had time to process things and want to share with you some the things I will be taking away as a parent.

These kids are capable and they are learning to build their confidence.  Each time the patrols did something their confidence grew.  Even when the cooking looked more like disaster kitchens instead of Masterchef they did a great job.

It’s always amusing at the wonderful flare for the dramatic that kids have. The weekend was hard work and tiring for our two patrols and emotions and un-operative, oppositional and defiant behavior was in full swing. What I saw was that the kids were unsure, uncomfortable and under pressure.  When the time was spent working through some issues, things calmed down and progress happened.  Learning patience takes time and I’m grateful to the all the leaders who offer their patience and help.

An important one for my scout is that he thinks making mistakes is not OK which at times means he doesn’t give things a try.  The weekend confirmed to me loud and clear to not give up on telling him mistakes and failing is OK.  It’s how we learn to do it better next time.  ‘Practice makes progress, not perfect!’  We need to keep reinforcing this with our kids because it builds resilience.

Communication, Communication, Communication!  As capable as our patrols were, communication was the hardest task.  Being open to what was being said, not interrupting, not making judgment and talking nicely to others was difficult for everyone.  In time our kids will learn these skills and in the mean time we can also help them practice attitudes of friendliness, support, goodwill and acceptance of others as a way to help them learn how to interact and communicate with others in positive ways.

I got dirty, slept on a deflating lilo, worked hard and was exhausted but what a great opportunity to be with a team of young scouts and two dedicated and patient leaders.  Thanks Karen and Enid.

 

Written by Danielle Marum