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23.01.2008
An Australian Adventure
Ben Lee and Helen Hopkins, two Scout Network members from Derbyshire, joined the UK Contingent to the 17th Australian Rover Scout Moot, which ran from 30 December 2007 to 12 January 2008 . Here they report back on their adventures down under:
Our adventure started mid December when we found ourselves on-route to spend the first part of our travels exploring both Tokyo and then Cairns before arriving at our destination; Sydney, for the start of the 17th Australian Rover Scout Moot.
Over 500 Network (Rovers) members arrived the same day as us at Cataract Park, the home of the 16th WSJ. The buzz started almost immediately, from getting off the plane and meeting others that arrived at the same time as us from New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland and Australia.
The New Year celebrations began the day after arriving, with shouting and cheering at every hour to celebrate each New Year for New Zealand and Australia. But it didn’t stop there, we met again at 11am to see in our own UK New Year with style, followed by a relaxing day at Wollongong beach, south of Sydney.
After all the celebrations were over, we left the site and went off on a five day expedition in small groups. The expeditions were chosen as part of the application process for the Moot, ranging from five days at the cricket to learning how to scuba dive.
We choose the ‘Wet ‘n’ Wild’ expedition - not only was the expedition wild but so were our fantastic leaders. In just five days we went canoeing in tidal waters, canyoning, snorkelling, a day at the Jamboroo water park.
When the expeditions finished we made our way back to the site and to finish what had started off as an excellent first half of the camp. Over the next few days we took part in our service project, helping rebuild part of the adventure course.
We also went off site to take part in various activities with different people which included surfing, the manly ferry tour and the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. All the activities were fantastic; mixing with different people each day made it an exciting challenge just getting to know everyone that we didn’t already.
The end of camp came and all participants left to start their venture home. For some it meant a drive across states, flights across the world or for some it was just round the corner. We continued on into Sydney to spend the final few days of our trip with some Australian Scouts we had met before the Moot, to finish off what was an excellent adventure and experience!
