Sunday, November 29, 2009

January 3-14, 2012 - 15th Australian Venture

For those of you with an adventurous spirit, below is a little information on a Jamboree type event in Australia! Bruce is an Australian Scoutmaster I met at a recent Scout meeting. If you are interested in finding out further information email him at gischiro@optusnet.com.au - from the sound of it, this would be the adventure of a lifetime. -paul




The Jamboree I was talking to the Troop about was/is the 15th Australian Venture in Tasmania in January 2012. The website is up now - I've just been looking at it, and there is some preliminary info available.


As you will remember I was raising a challenge for the older Scouts (to 12+ YOs) to consider coming to Australia in 2012 for the Venture. Wwe do have an Australian Jamboree on this Christmas, and the promo video is pretty good.

However in Aus, Scouts are 11 - 14 and a bit. So when we get to Venturer age (14 plus) Jamborees are a little different. OK, different name (Venture) but different structure. In a Jamboree troops are combined into a formal standing camp structure, gadgets, tents, archways, construction, taking care of your own cooking etc.

Ventures are different, Units are combined by their activities, so you arrive in Australia and go to the camp site (presuming you haven't joined a state contingent for a pre tour or have organised your own - and if you want some information on what's involved in that I can connect you to Gary our last Contingent Leader, who is currently running the Australian contingent to the New Zealand Venture this Christmas). Join your Venture Unit (combined by what major activity you elect to do, so, as my interest is Scuba, so I'm usually running a learn to Scuba Dive unit) get to know the 24 or so Venturers and leaders (2 leaders) and then you will go off site to where ever that activity will be based (hiking, biking, 4 wheel expeditions, horse expeditions, beach bums, surfing, diving, you name it it's probably offered). For a week or so you will be there, then you will return to the main camp site for a week on site. By that time you will have made a lot of friends, and will stay with your venture unit for the second week, but have access to the rest of the 1000 or so people involved in the venture as well.

It's all catered, we don't do our own cooking, it's far more like an adventure camp filled with Scouts than a Scout camp adventuring. On site there are usually at least 2 off site activity days (movies, swimming pool, day trips or activities - on my last trip an extra day scuba diving) as well as a leaders day out. On site there are discos, movies, laser skirmish, mud wrestling, abseiling (our word for rappelling), climbing walls, and all sorts of other activities - none of which appear to include much sleep.

My experience is you arrive, go solidly for 2 or 3 weeks then travel home and sleep on the plane. Coming home last January was bliss, not one awake Venturer in the whole aircraft (and we had all of it except 1st class.) Then spend the next 6 months or so following up on e-mails etc. In Australia some of the activities can count towards our version of Eagle Scout (Queens Scout), so it is possible that your local Council may allow such things as well. Australia also has a special belt buckle for Scouts who travel overseas and get involved in overseas programs, which may also happen in the US.

Bruce Ellis
Assistant Branch Commissioner
Victorian Venturer Scouts
Email: abc.venturers@vicscouts.asn.au




Bottom line is I'm sure we it would be possible to organise to fit a few extras into one of the state contingents (maybe even ours), or if we have a few, and a leader with them, we can create an official US contingent, and be a bit more formal about the whole thing. If there is any interest I can relay that to the organising committee in Tasmania and they can connect any other US people together, or we can do something from here (probably via my good friend and champion organiser Gary).

Whichever way it goes, I'm absolutely sure we can promise anyone who wants to come the trip of a life time, Tasmania is one of the truly pristine places in the world (for example the freshest water in the world comes from there) and there are places where hardly anyone has ever been, let alone visits regularly. To the point that there are probably Tasmanian Tigers (thylacines) still in existence over there that are suspected but totally unproved, and are likely to stay that way in my life time.

And that's "only" Tasmania, coming from California, you'd have to come through Melbourne (near my home) or Sydney, and a short stay there should really add to the experience (ask Brad Smith).

A huge challenge to the Troop

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