Banana Bash

The crew joined this year's Banana Bash without a car - but that was A-O-K with us! Much cheaper, and the fun was all still there. Almost 100% of crew members were there.

The funniest moment of the weekend came when Chris' Greener's

camping chair broke. In typical Chris Greener fashion, he went about trying to fix it... Without much success.

That's Saint ingenuity if I ever saw it. Why this man isn't an engineer I have no idea.

Along with Chris' chair escapades, St John's Wood was mainly involved in Administration tasks and Beverage Appreciation. While there are currently no plans to have a car ready for next year (it is an expensive task, and we do not have the skillset), we will definitely be there in person next year. A pretty fun weekend in total.

Jordan's Cub Visit

A night of lacerations, bruisers and black eyes were the theme of cub pack on the 27th April. It wasn’t a night of abnormal amounts of injuries, but a first aid night. We began with a relay race with the addition of correctly wrapping a bandage before running to tag a team mate. The next activity was where the real fun began, creating fake injuries such as arm, head and leg wounds as well as an assortment of black eyes and bruises. The cubs loved their cuts, adding sticks and nails for a particularly gruesome effect and of course with the addition of “blood”.

By Jordan

Cub Visit

On the evening of Saturday 24th April, Iain and I were welcomed to the St John's Wood Cub Scout Leadership Camp. Extra hands were needed as a dozen or so 7- to 10-year-olds were cooking over a fire.

Firstly, we were introduced to everyone and the Cubs were told the plans for the night. We all went for a walk along the creek and collected firewood. Since it had been raining that day, much of the wood was slightly damp. There were some sticks with ants crawling over them, so Iain bravely carried them back. Four fires had to be lit, so four groups laid out the firewood in a pyramid style, while others prepared damper or cut potatoes.

The rain held off and the damp firewood was ablaze, four fires were warming four grills. The potatoes in a billy of water were placed on the grill first. Then the sausages were added, followed by a billy of peas in water. Despite several fires almost burning out, and one fire with flames half a metre high, each group managed to cook everything safely and have a nice meal.

Just as the rain started again, a Vietnam veteran arrived to talk to the Cubs. He was part of the Infantry and was injured in Vietnam. I believe he was there for one to two years. They seemed to somewhat enjoy his speech, and liked asking questions at the end to find out more information. He kindly stayed for damper with the Cubs.

As the rain clouds moved away, the Cubs, two of the Leaders, Iain and I walked to the other side of the creek to a large open park to play Spotlighting. This was the first time I had ever heard about the game, but seemed to be a favourite amongst the Cubs. Some Cubs were spotted every time, and some had clever strategies. After one game, they begged for another.

We walked back to the hall where Iain and I received a Cub-style 'Bravo' and lots of hugs! We left them to finish the rest of their overnight leadership camp. I think the Cubs appreciated learning with us two Rovers, as we were older but not too old, and the Leaders appreciated the extra hands needed around the fires.

- Rachel -

Vigils and Investitures

I have learnt that Rover investitures are somewhat secret to those who have not been invested, so I'll keep this short and sweet.

Very late on the night of Friday 23rd April, also the Feast Day of St George, two cars carrying: Rover Advisor and Squiremaster at the time, Chris; Rover Knights, Matt and Stephen; and Rover Squires, Emile, Sam and myself; left SJW Rover Den for the location of three vigils and three investitures.

Hours pass by. Dozens of leeches get fatter.

Just after sunrise on Saturday 24th April with a foggy view over Moreton Bay, two cars carrying: Rover Advisor and Squiremaster at the time, Chris; and Rover Knights, Matt, Stephen, Rachel, Sam and Emile; left with a different view about the Brotherhood.

I'm sure I can speak for Emile and Sam when I say this, that morning we felt very proud of what we had achieved and welcomed the responsibilities ahead of us as Rover Knights and as members of Scouts. And I'm pretty sure Chris was pleased that the Rover Knight numbers had increased by 150% at once!

- Rachel -

22nd April: Dinner at The Gap Tavern

This Thursday night we all rendezvoused at The Gap Tavern for a casual dinner and drinks. We were allocated a table away up the back - possibly so that we didn't detract from other diners' experiences! - and enjoyed the nice walk to and from the bar to order food and drinks. Owen joined us to talk about the Bash Car project. Most of the Crew was in attendance.

The meal was followed by a mini business meeting about Urban Challenge, and a lively "Rovering To Success" discussion followed, focussing on the controversial the topics of religion and relationships.

A great night was had by all, and hopefully we will be back another time for another dinner.

Emile's Squire's Hike

Starting time: 3:30pm,

Emile and Chris Goninon, RA departed for D'Aguilar national park with Emile driving; the plan for the squire's hike was to hike in and out via the same route, then drive to BP park, Samford to cook dinner. Unfortunately, due to an organisational issue, the Scrub Rd campsite was not available. This is the reason why BP park was selected as a backup.

Chris & I saw our first segways on the way in; it was kind of incongruent with its surrounds, given the high-tech nature of it.

Continuing onto the Scrub Rd campsite, we didn't really see anything. Night was beginning to fall, so we decided to head back to the car.

We then headed off to BP park, samford in the dark, where we found a place to set up. Dinner included a back country tikkah masala, which tasted a bit like cooked runners - we used the joey's campfire, away from others to cook. At the suggestion of Rachel, we also cooked amazing Smores - biscuits, marshmellows and chocolate, melted next to the fire. A better dessert has never been had.

While we were cooking, the guys from laser skirmish were running around us, doing drills and making a hell of a noise. If only we were part of their game, because it looked SO FUN. There now stands an open invite for St John's Wood Rover Crew to join them for a night-long skirmish match.

Sam's Squire's Hike

Friday 10:50am - START

After leaving Matt’s car at the end of Scrub Road (to be collected the next morning), we went in my car to McAfee’s Lookout, to start our adventure – downhill style, until we hit Enoggera Creek.

Friday 11:10am - Drink Break

On the way down the hill, we stopped at a rise for a bit of a rest, as my ankle was playing up – possibly due to weight distribution issues going on in my pack.

Friday 11:17am - Creek Crossing

We then continued until we hit the creek, where Masterful Matt took to some photography and we enjoyed the scenery. Next was the resulting uphill from our long descent. This proved incredibly tedious, as there were hardly any footholds, which made it very stop-and-start.

Friday 1:08pm - Lunch

After we got up the hill, we continued for a fair distance along mostly flat ground until we reached our lunch spot (the intersection of Hell Hole Break (which extended back to McAfee’s lookout), and South Boundary Rd. We had our peanut butter sandwiches, then continued for an hour or so until we hit Scrub Road, which only really contained one decent drink break – as this part of our hike was fairly easy-going.

Friday 2:30pm - Started Along Scrub Road

The long-awaited home stretch to the camp site was finally here! We took some photos and headed on our way down Scrub Road.

Friday 2:50pm - Drink Break

We stopped at the half-way mark to Scrub Road for a drinks break, although a short one, before encountering what we joked was Area 52.

Friday 3:10pm - Arrived at Scrub Road Bush Camp

After a good four hours or so of walking, we had finally made it to Scrub Road Bush Camp! Many cries of happiness were expressed. We consumed some scroggin, observed the scenery and space around us, and then set up the tent and collected firewood. The tent was erected by 3:40pm.

Friday 6:30pm - Dinner

After relaxing for the afternoon and starting our fire, we decided that it was about time we got dinner under way. Matt pulled out his gas stove; we boiled some water, and added it to Anaconda’s fine pasta meal. It turned out better than I expected, though was lacking some flavour.

Later on, Matt surprised me with some chocolate and some port! Isn’t it the Squire that’s meant to be sucking up to the Sponsor? I considered myself very fortunate and enjoyed every bit of our supper before going to bed.

Saturday 5:30am - Someone call 000?!

Both hikers awoke in the morning to a shocking siren going off. No need to worry – it wasn’t the police, or any emergency service in fact. It was Matt’s alarm clock on his phone. Nice one Matt! After sleeping in considerably after the alarm clock (Hey! The tent was comfy!), both hikers exited the tent at around 6:20am.

Saturday 6:40am - Breakfast

After coming to our senses and making a plan for the morning and the hike back to Matt’s car, I attempted some quick pancakes, which meant not waiting for the boiled water to cool down before adding it to the shaker pack of pancake mix. Bad move! The “pancake” resulted in a very gluggy mess in the bottom of the pan, so our remaining scroggin would have to suffice.

Saturday 7:40am - Tent Packed and Departed

The tent and our bags were then packed, and by 7:40am, we were ready to hit the frog and toad...actually, we did end up meeting a toad along the way...

About a quarter of the way down the track, I started experiencing some pains and light-headedness, quite possibly due to dehydration, as we forgot to boil some drinking water for our water bottles the night before. This meant that what should have been a 40-minute walk turned out to be much longer.

Saturday 9:10am - Arrived at Matt's Car

Many hopeful moments arose before finally, we arrived at our final destination. Both hikers were ecstatic. Scrub Road had been conquered.

We departed from the end of Scrub Road in Matt’s Car, and headed for McAfee’s lookout where the hikers parted ways; I got in my car and headed for home.

Overall...

...the Hike was definitely challenging, though valuable, as Matt and I both got to discuss things about each other and small things about the Crew, both of which Matt managed to make enlightening discussions. Good hustle, Matt.

-Sam

Ironbark Chef

Photos from the night

Judge comments:

Overall:

Guides - Safely lighting a gas stove with an oil can but names for all dishes.... A+ Good organisation with dessert going on first.

Indro - Good teamwork, presented menu and overall good work ethic. Clean. Restaurant situation. Too much food! But awesome work.

SJW - Genuine plate design + use of scout symbol. Overall presentation was excellent.

Tandera/Vent - Interesting custard but amazing. If it was a reverse dinner, you would've won! Well done.

------------------

Guides:

(entree) On time, too much for an entree, under cooked, but good work.

(main) Good home meal! Could have toasted the bread, but it had excellent flavour.

(Dessert) +10 for time. Your accented apples were an awesome addition to your amazing menu. stuffed to perfection.

SJW:

(entree) Late, original plate design, too much scrambled eggs. Good flavour in eggs but mushy potato element.

(main) Watch your garnish. Cumin?! Very original. Dish... Good flavour+

(dessert) Crumbled to perfection! Flavour sensation.

Indro:

(entree) High quality presentation, good flavour. Watch horseradish garnish, mix with cream or something.

(main) on time. Good mash, more seasoning, good use of challenge ingredients. Again, presentation.

(dessert) Again.... Beautiful presentation + flavour. Apple could have been cooked first... Too much cinnamon.

Tandara:

(entree) Originality, good presentation. Could have been hotter, good size.

(main) Interesting... Good combination. Potato watery... Very good eggs. Presentation would be better on a plate.

(dessert) Your dessert saved your ass! Looked terrible (ed: seriously, like baby poo) but had an amazing taste! Compliments to you all.

(transcription by Emile Victor)

Channel 9 Tour

Tonight the Rover Crew undertook a lengthy tour of Channel 9's Mt Cootha studio, visiting the set of national nine news, offices, technical rooms etc. It was a great night had by all; we then went onto the Mt Cootha lookout and Milton Maccas.