St John's Wood Rover Crew

Photoshoot night

2012-01-31T23:07:00.001+10:00

Emile is going to write a loverley post.

Programming and GameCube night

2012-01-25T00:23:00.001+10:00

Muppets @ Southbank Cineplex

2012-01-16T23:06:00.003+10:00

Travis, Pete, Kristy, Iain, Jordan, Eleri, Emile, Matt, Sinéad, Tom, Yanni and Emma braved the rain to go and see the new Muppets movie at Southbank Cineplex. Lucy then joined us after the movie but we ended up going home straight away instead of going back to the den. A programing night will be scheduled once everyone has got their uni timetables.

Three Monkeys Dinner Night

2012-01-09T20:08:00.001+10:00

Stephen, Lucy, Maddie, Emile, Kristy, Travis, Mick and Matt went to Three Monkeys for dinner. Ice cream dessert at South Bank. 1 million people in the South Bank pool. 30C+ @ 9pm.

Secret Santa Scavenger Sillyness

2011-12-24T09:22:00.002+10:00

Pete Crouch organised a Secret Santa Draw and present shopping night at the annual 24 hour Chermside Shopping Extravaganza.

Pre-drinks, kindly gifted to the Crew by Travis, were had at Kristy's House of Naturism at Stafford, with HJs, prior to departing. The secret draw and ground rules were set down in Kristy's basement.

Cars were seen skidding around the carpark in the rain. Battling others for parks and generally being silly. More pre-drinks were had in Matt's car.

Upon arriving the A-team had coffee and then all separated.

Rendezvous was two hours later in the DJs furniture section. After only gifting one present the Crew was kicked out of DJs and relocated to the new-Chermside foodcourt. All gifting was done. Highlights included Travis' Mankinini.

Munchies were made at 2-in-1 bakery and the Crew departed by 12:30am.

Attendance: Pete, Trav, Emile, Yanni, Kristy, Iain, Lucy, Libby (associate Crew member, from The Gap), Stephen (for pre-drinks only) and Matt.

Santa Sleigh Break-up at The Gap Tavern

2011-12-12T14:13:00.002+10:00

St John's Wood and The Gap Rover Crews shared dinner at The Gap Tavern to celebrate the end of Santa Sleigh 2011.

Pete Crouch started the ball rolling on a Secret Santa Scavenger Hunt During The Great 24 Hour Shop. Much interest.

Matt came directly from a meeting with the AJ2013 Camp Chief Director. Much Jamboree discussion ensued.

Santa Sleigh 2011: 3 Dec - 11 Dec

2011-12-11T13:32:00.001+10:00

Group Christmas Break-up at the Den, and Lunar Eclipse Party at Emile's

2011-12-10T13:27:00.001+10:00

The Group Christmas Break-up was attended by the majority of the Crew. Emile, Eleri, Stephen, Lucy, Kristy, Pete, Tom, CL Iain, RA Mick, Matt and Jordan (for a time), all attended. Jordan had to leave early as she was especially invited to be one of The Gap Rover's date a function (undisclosed). RA Mick was under the weather due to being too much of a party animal.

The newly renovated Crew garage saved the day as the wet weather alternative for the BBQ cooking area.

The Crew ran a trivia night for the Group. Special thanks to Emile (French) and Eleri (obscure) for organising the powerpoint and questions, and to Lucy Endicott (language), Peter Crouch ("Rugrats") and Kristy Butler ("science", read: nerd) who contributed questions.

Afterwards, the Crew retired to Emile's for drinks and to watch the Lunar Eclipse. We also sang along to Paul Simon (and discovered Emile's lack of good music to sing-a-long to) and watched "the Inbetweeners" (a movie about the younger members of the Crew).

Straddie 2011: 26 Nov - 3 Dec

2011-12-03T13:31:00.000+10:00

Investitures

2011-11-28T13:28:00.005+10:00

At Stradbroke Island, Jordan Lores and Yanni Dubler were invested as Rover Knights in the St John's Wood Rover Crew at sunrise.

A comprehensive steak burger Crew Dinner was held beforehand.

Talks by the fire were thorough and meaningful.

Matt Ray conducted the ceremony. Crew Leader, Iain Laing, and RA, Mick Bain, assisted.

Venturers-Rovers Nerf War Night

2011-11-25T17:17:00.001+10:00

Emile, Travis, Iain, Matt and Mick attended the Venturer organised Nerf War night.

Pizza Capers pizza was eaten and foam bullets were fired.

The Venturers enjoyed the interaction with the Rovers and had many more way-cool guns than the Rovers.

Lucy's Squire's Hike

2011-11-20T14:39:00.000+10:00

On 19-20th November, Matthew Ray and I drove to O'Reilly's/Lamington National Park to complete my Squire's Hike. After getting stuck in Schoolies traffic, we eventually arrived at O'Reilly's and set of on the track just after 3pm.

The walk to Bithongabel bush camp was pleasant but rather uneventful. The steady stream of day-walkers completing their days walking soon came to a stop the furt

her into the bush we walked. After about 45 minutes, Matt and I stopped to

look at a big tree, have a break and look at the map. Having arrived at camp at 4.30pm, we set up camp before walking down the track a little further to Toolona Lookout. From there we had a

lovely view of the valley (and mobile reception!). We walked back to camp and started co

oking dinner around 6pm. Dinner consisted of

dehydrated mince, salsa and burritos, whilst dessert was marshmallows and Lady Grey tea (courtesy of Matt, naturally). During the meal,

Matt noticed that we were surrounded by glow worms, which we took some time to look at. I

tied a few knots - using my little piece of ribbon

because we had no rope. The sun now well and truely set, it was decided that it was time for us humans to also turn in for the night (though we did remark that 7.45pm w

as a rediculously early bed-time)! also had to porve my campcraft skills to Matt by

I woke up at 7am, started packing up camp, then woke Matt up soon afte

r. Breakfast, which was Up'n'Go, muesli, tea and apples, was had and camp was soon completely packed. Just before

leaving camp, Matt noticed a couple of Eastern Rosellas, which were very beautiful to see. We left camp at 8.15am, a whole 15 minutes ahead of schedule - or so we thought. When we arrived at the Treetop walk (which Matt had never

done before), I noticed that it was 8.30am, which was impossible because the walk from camp took 1h30. As it turns

out, I cannot read analog clocks early in the morning, a problem that caused us to leave camp a whole hour earlier than planned. (As it was, it was a good mistake.) The Treetop walk was very exciting, as was the climb to the top. The view was quite spectacular/relaxing (as relaxing as one can be

~30m off the ground)! Continuing on our way, we were able to complete the short remainder of the hike quickly and exited the forest just after 9am.

All in all, it was a lovely couple of days. Thank you to Matt for driving and a good weekend!

Guy fawkes

2011-11-14T21:34:00.001+10:00

Guy fawkes night at the den. Burning things galore! Looking forward to the end of exams...

Easy exams Den night

2011-11-07T20:20:00.002+10:00

JJ and Yanni presented their Squires' Hike Reports.

General talking.

VL Tex came and talked about a joint activity.

In attendance: Cptn Iain, JJ, Emile, Pete, Trav, Maddie, Eleri, Yanni, McBain, Jake ("the Greenie") and Matt.

Jordan's Squire Hike

2011-11-06T17:10:00.003+10:00

After 2 years I finally finished my squire's hike and my squire training :)After much consideration, Charlie Moreland was chosen at the destination. After arriving we took off on the Little Yabba track that lead to the Piccadeen Circuit. After walking for 2 hours Iain (my stand in sponsor) and I rolled back to camp and a delicious potato bake. The next morning we woke and went for a bit of a bush bash and finally packed up and came home. A good time was had... THE END

Wonargo

2011-10-26T00:00:00.002+10:00

Travis organised tickets to see the 40th Wonargo Revue. Matt, JJ and Trav in attendance. Sat in front of Sockie and Shari. Some sneaky nuts were seen on stage.

Favourite items were all items with Shaun, especially Ballet Skirmish with Captain Cam, and a cross-dressing Shaun.

"You can't stop the beat" was the finale, that seemed to go on forever.

Mt Cootha Walk

2011-10-24T23:59:00.002+10:00

Stephen organised a Mt Cootha walk. Walked from JC Slaughter falls carpark on a short 20 minute loop. Back to cars then to Milton Maccas ftws.

Stephen, Lucy, JJ, Yanni (on his bike with Siri--bastard), Tom, Maddie, Joe (who is in Yr 12 at Terrace and knows my cousin(s)), Trav, Cptn Iain, McBain, Matt, Emile (+Eleri?).

Yanni’s Squire Hike

2011-10-22T11:30:00.005+10:00

After a few weeks planning Emile and I completed my squire hike in Brisbane Forrest Park from Friday 21 October to Saturday 22 October 2011. Upon arrival at our drop off point on Mt Nebo Rd we hiked into our sleeping spot and set up camp.

In the morning, after a nutritious breakfast of nutrigrain, we headed along Centre Road to South Boundary Road. Here we had a nice view towards Kenmore.

We followed South Boundary Road until the end of Payne Rd where a nice lunch of tuna on wraps was enjoyed. The hike ended up being easier than first expected and Emile and I always kept moral and water levels up so we had an enjoyable hike.

Stephen's Ramble Presentation and Programming

2011-10-17T23:59:00.003+10:00

Stephen presented photos from his Ramble. Ken Ansell, OM, joined in on the food and festivities.

Then we programmed. Boring. Rather. Emile's for chai teas.

Rochedale Revue

2011-09-30T09:46:00.002+10:00

JJ, Emile, Trav, Matt and his entourage (Sinead -his gf, Susie - his sister, and Catchy - his cousin) saw Rochedale Revue.

Travis was extremely rude.

Many Rovers in attendance. There may have been some texting of commentary during the performance. A great national anthem was sung.

The show featured much frivolity, with the dancing midgets the favourite item.

Approx. 30 cast on stage. A great year for Fi Little and Shane Alexander who had some great sketch roles.

Den Clean-Up: Part TWO - waking from a nightmare

2011-09-26T09:50:00.000+10:00

Den Clean-Up: Part One - the awakening of a dream

2011-09-19T09:49:00.000+10:00

Agoonoree Games Night (and QBRE..)

2011-09-18T09:51:00.002+10:00

Emile (+Eleri?), Trav, JJ, Pete, Matt (+Sinead - his gf, + Alex - his housemate) attended the Agoonoree Rover Games night.

Kookaburra Cafe & Room 60

2011-09-02T22:00:00.001+10:00

After a long week at university Stephen, Lucy, Emile, Travis, Yanni, Emma, Mick & Kristy enjoyed a party pizza at Kookaburra Cafe at Paddington. This was followed by Emile, Yanni, Emma, Eleri & Kristy going to Room 60 at Kelvin Grove to try their deconstructed cocktails, chilli beer and fine wine.

Census Party

2011-08-09T09:57:00.002+10:00

Travis hosted a Census Party at his place at Indooroopilly.

The Crew filled out two eCensus forms with our interrelatedness being "ROVER" unto each other.

JJ's occupational tasks were recorded on the National Census as "attending to poonamis".

Inductions

2011-08-01T23:59:00.002+10:00

The Crew inducted new Rover Squires: Maddie Arber, Kristy Butler, and GL Sue Barker.

The ceremony was conducted by Matt Ray.

Squires have been allocated as follows:

Maddie Arber, Sponsor Travis Jordan
Kristy Butler, Sponsor Stephen Endicott
GL Sue Barker, Sponsor Emile Victor

WWI Night of Fun 'n' Games

2011-07-28T13:44:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the Western Front!

Tonight was all about WWI, as it was the day that the Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on July 23.

The activities of the night included: assassinating the Archduke (darts), pin the moustache on the Archduke, and preparing for war (obstacle challenge/dressing race).

Those who attended include, but is not limited to: Iain, Peter, Mike, Emile, Yanni, Tom, Jordan, Stephen, Eleri. Possibly.

Urban Challenge 2011

2011-07-24T09:59:00.000+10:00

Was held on this weekend. Nuf said.

German Sausages

2011-06-23T22:34:00.000+10:00

This evening started with Stephen, Travis and I at the butcher at the Gabba, where we bought some lovely German sausages, sauerkraut &c. We then proceeded to the German Club for some End-of-Financial-Year discouned imported beer (yay!).

The main part of the night was held at the top of the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, where we had a BBQ. We enjoyed the sights of Brisbane from the top of the cliffs, which was very beautiful indeed. Jordan and Mike, amongst others, also joined us. Thank you to everyone for an enjoyable (if not freezing!) German evening!

QBRC AGM

2011-06-03T13:39:00.001+10:00

At Karingal: Travis Jordan (QBRE Promotions) and Matthew Ray (QBRE Awards, outgoing & UC2011 Chair) attended, together with Sinead Argent (QBRE Treasurer, outgoing).

The Crew received special praise from the Chief Commissioner and the QBRE Chairman in their reports, for the Crew's great efforts in organising Urban Challenge 2010.

Mirrabook Rovers Annual Trivia Night

2011-05-28T13:38:00.000+10:00

Stephen's camp oven night

2011-05-12T19:03:00.000+10:00

Being part of the scouting movement, we decided to do something more traditional and have a good old fashioned Thursday night camp fire with a traditional cake. Although the fire was very successful (even more so after some liquid encouragement) but the cake did not quite go to plan, due to the fact that the outside was over cooked and the inside was undercooked (it also probably didn't help that it was a Homebrand cake :/)

Despite the issues with the cake, a great night was has by all in attendance!

Dude Where's My Bash: 29 Apr - 2 May

2011-05-02T13:38:00.000+10:00

St Georges Ball 2011

2011-04-09T13:11:00.006+10:00

St Georges Ball 2011 was held on the 9th of April (which was coincidentally, SJW Squire Lucy Endicott's 18th Birthday!) and was held at the The Sebel Citygate hotel in the city. The crew had a fantastic turnout purchasing a full two tables of ten people each! SJW Rovers in attendance were: Matthew Ray, Emile Victor, Peter Crouch, Yanni Dubler, Stephen Endicott, Lucy Endicott, Tom Arnold, Natasha Hazeldene and Travis Jordan. The rest of the places were filled by linking member, partners and friends of the crew (Sinead Argent, Maddie Arber, Sam Ludinski, Kerry Marnane, Steph Crawford, Emma Clarke, James, Sonia Lamb and Nicole Jenkins)

Before the Ball we met at the Home of Emile Victor for professional photographs and a glass of Champagne (or two or three) before letting the ladies in the group get driven in to the event, while the gentlemen took the bus. During the night we ate, drank and had many a merry time, and during the night Lucy received a surprise in the form of an over sized Birthday cake! Later in the night, during the annual Rover awards ceremony the crew was honoured by being awarded (the much deserved) crew of the year!!! At the conclusion of the ball the party moved on to the Embassy nightclub to continue on partying the night away! St Georges Ball was most definitely (as it always proves to be) one of the highlights in the crew calendar for 2011!

Sam & Chris' Farewell Night: New Scouting Year's Eve

2011-03-31T13:36:00.001+10:00

Design and Drawing Night

2011-02-24T13:35:00.000+10:00

OzMoot 2011: 30 Dec 2010 - 12 Jan 2011

2011-01-12T13:34:00.000+10:00

Sharing the knowledge: How SJW Rovers use technology to our advantage

2010-11-06T17:24:00.004+10:00

Hi everyone,

The 2020 Rover Forum had me wondering whether I should start sharing the knowledge our crew has of how to use technology to the fullest extent. We've had a bit of experience, and also borrowed knowledge from our own group.

First off,

This allows you to have a crew email address which substitutes for a huge mailing list in the address field of each and every email. A simple email to this address will reach every single member of the crew instantly. You can set your own up at Google Groups. If you set your crew up with one, please share it with QBRE and other crews. It facilitates easy contact.

Secondly,

Yes, we're pretty keen on google, aren't we? This particular product allows us to share a spreadsheet with as many people as we want, simultaneously. We have used it for a few things, including group data and crew data. Our present to you is a modified copy of what we use:

St John's Wood Rover Crew's iCrew

If you want a copy that you can use for your own crew, contact us via the address linked above. We also used this with great success at Urban Challenge 2010.

Third,

The crew does all of its programming using Google Calendar. It allows all crew members to have a copy of it overlaid on their own calendar on iPhones and computers. It can also be printed out. A link is here:

SJW Rovers Calendar

You can create your own and share it with others at Calendar.Google.com.

Of course,

Create your crew a new Facebook Group. Unlike the old useless groups, these ones are perfect for Rover crews. They let you share photos amongst yourselves privately, write group messages and chat as a group. Everything posted to a Facebook Group is shown on your wall. You can make a group for searching for the Groups application on facebook.

And finally, Blogspot.

This blog allows us to keep a fairly well kept logbook. Eventually, it will be printed and bound.

Rovering Towards 2020 Forum

2010-11-06T08:49:00.000+10:00

At the Providore, BP Park.

JJ, Emile, Travis and Matt.

Wonargo

2010-10-29T21:00:00.000+10:00

JJ, Emile, Travis, Stephen (+1 Natalie?) and Matt all attended the 39th season of Wonargo Revue. Favourite items included Shaun (QBRE Chair) dressed up as a baby, Cameron Stanley (BIC) "goo-goo-ing," the Yorkshiremen sketch, &c.

Pizza and corjial were had post-show and Sinéad arrived back from Bundy just in time for the pizza. Emile and JJ had a good chat to Mr 38 (Gavin Brady, BC Rovers).

The following day saw Sinéad's "surprise" 21st birthday party at Victoria Park Golf Club. Emile, JJ, Pete and Matt were in attendance from the Crew, along with many other Queensland Rovers.

Saints Cup 4 - Pioneering Challenge

2010-10-21T08:44:00.000+10:00

Organised by Geoff (Indro).

Winnahs: Mirrabook.

JJ's 19th Birthday in the style of "German"

2010-10-14T08:41:00.000+10:00

German sausage BBQ atop KP Cliffs.

Attending:

JJ, Emile, Steve, Travis, Chris Greener, Chris Goninon, Iain, Ben (The Gap), Geoff (Indro), Phil Cole, Nick and Karyn (Boondall), Bryn Miller (BIC) and Matt. (Who have I forgotten??)

Post BBQ drinks at UJs on that famous establishments final Thursday night drinks cards. Met up with Bill and Nathan Swaffer (Kowabunga - Cairns/BIC) and Kat.

Iain had his own private BBQ atop the Cliffs on the way home.

St George's Ball

2010-10-09T08:46:00.000+10:00

Photos here.

A evening walk up the hill at the back of the den

2010-10-07T20:02:00.000+10:00

This was a night of a quick stroll up a hill (Mt Cootha) one Thursday evening. In attendance we had invested rovers: Stephen, Matt and Pete, squire: Travis and Jordan and potential new rover/ current Girl Guide/ sister of former Rover Natasha. We left the den in two cars, driven by Stephen and RA Chris, at about 8pm and arrived at the Gap Creek Reserve car park at 8:30pm.

After briefly insulting the map we set off up to the top of the hill. After about an hour of walking we reached the summit at the channel 9 studios and did a quick car shuffle down to the Restaurant at the End of the Hill. We all enjoyed a nice ice cream/ coffee/ other refreshing beverage.

Although it was a very rapidly organised time, a great time was had by all, on this evening walk up a little hill out the back of the den.

QARM

2010-10-03T08:45:00.000+10:00

Travis and Steve went. Travis sold merch.

Matt's Trip to Adelaide Gang Show

2010-09-27T10:57:00.000+10:00

Redlands Revue

2010-09-23T10:56:00.000+10:00

Pete on stage. Emile, JJ and Matt in audience. The Gap Rovers there also.

QBRE & Agoonorie Rover Games Night

2010-09-19T10:55:00.000+10:00

Games Night

2010-09-16T10:58:00.002+10:00

Steve organised. Played Trivial Pursuit.

Emile, JJ, Steve, Chris Greener, Chris Goninon and Matt.

An historical subterrestrial tour of Brisbane's CBD

2010-09-02T21:00:00.016+10:00

Matt, Steve, Emile, Chris Greener and Mr X (who will remain unnamed for his own security, privacy and limitation of criminal culpability) met at King George Square at 7:45pm and proceeded south-east across town to the northern banks of the Brisbane River.

The tour of the **campbell's cash & carry** consisted, inter alia, of an entrance to a large stormwater drain. Being inquisitive children we ventured into the drain and, after some time, found ourselves underneath Roma Street Parklands, near the Lake.

One way walk through was approximately 15 minutes. No trains were heard overhead, some minimal car noise. Small amounts of water flowing through drain and where drain narrowed full foot submergence was necessary.

Squelched out at about 9:20pm. Steve, Emile and Chris public transported it home in wet shoes and Matt dampened his girlfriend's car.

Urban Challenge 2010

2010-07-25T17:00:00.002+10:00

Urban Challenge 2010: Chairman's Report

Total Scores Breakdown for each Team and Activity Base

Leaderboard

"The Saints Cup" Inter-Crew Challenge: URBAN SPRAWL

2010-06-10T21:00:00.002+10:00

Travis' Squire's Hike...ish

2010-06-07T16:44:00.187+10:00

Rachel and I had a feed of Subway on the drive (because we were both pretty knacked). We drove to Karingal, and after spending a good 10 minutes wrangling the gate and its ludicrous system of false locks, we headed down to our campsite at Archer (where the pits were at Bash, you dirty ignorant northsiders). On the way in, we met Bruce, the Karingal caretaker – and his kelpie pup who decided to follow us around for half an hour. We set up camp at 7:30pm, and after loading up my backpack, we left to make fire. You’ll note we have a lack of photographs – it turns out nighttime isn’t the best time to try to capture the spirit of setting up a camp; and we were tired, cranky and wanted to annoy anyone reading this.

A short walk via bush and a log-lined hill, we headed up past the gate to the Cooinda Complex for its fire circle, since we could not set up our own at Archer due to fire restrictions (unlike Matt, we obeyed the rules and the law). On the way we spotted a possum or possibly a feral cat, or a lost Cub – we couldn’t tell. We set up the fire in the circle using nearby fuel (which may or may not have included a discarded packet of firelighters) and it turned out to be a little damp which meant, I, using my amazing initiative, fashioned a crude hothouse out of newspaper to dry the timber. It failed, and we decided to make do with the handful of burning woodchips, building lumber and dry eucalypt we managed to get burning.

We made s’mores with caramel chocolate – it was very sweet (and tasted only slightly of dirt and burnt wood). I’d include the recipe, but if you can’t make s’mores, you are probably a little bit broken. I put the first out using my keen sense of throwing water at it until it stops, then we decided to utilise our nearby resources and go to the toilet at Cooinda because the lights worked here, and there were no unwelcome visitors (read: cane toads).

On the way back to camp, I took Rachel on a tour of Karingal’s firetrail. There really isn’t much of interest out there except the ankle-munching holes in the ground and the ruts from Banana Bash that are still very very present. After about an hour of walking (it’s about 10:00pm by this point), we decide to head back to camp for “heart-to-heart conversation” – good thing too; I could hear Rachel’s hip cracking on the walk down the hill. At the camp, we sat around in our sleeping bags and talked – mainly about sex therapists, bike riding, and a combination of the two.

The next morning, we woke up at 9:00am. We packed up camp and the car and walked up back up to Cooinda. After a quick scramble down the now-evidently-non-existent Badger Trail, I took Rachel down to the creek. The creek is dry, and now resembles something closer to a cobblestone road than a waterway. After managing to find some water, we try to go frog spotting. We found mosquitos.

Speaking of roads, we get down to the site of the old suspension bridge (which, for anyone interested, is still not a bridge in the traditional sense – as in, its two gateways and a 6 foot chasm) , and the caretaker has obviously decided to upgrade from the bridge, as just to the left is a brand new concrete causeway. In an amusing turn of events, after walking over rocks and holes and logs, it was the flat concrete that caused me to make a faceplant.

After a fruitless search for the Chapel (I thought a romantic farewell was in order), I took her on a trip around the obstacle course that RUM and SHA repaired last year. Problem: it seemed to have been built for midgets with giant legs. Many faceplants later, we walked back to Archer campsite along the remainder of the Badger trail. Again, pretty uneventful.

When we got back to camp and the car, we realised we hadn’t taken a photo for Matt (since evidently he doesn’t believe I’m capable of putting up a tent), so I quickly distressed the ground and staged a photoshoot; since putting up the tent again was way too much effort for a Monday morning. Go team lethargy.

On the way out, we stopped to pay at the caretakers’ cottage. The Chief Commissioner was there embroiled in a shouting match with everyone. We were stuck for half an hour before we could pay. Damn that man.

Green Mango Night

2010-06-03T22:36:00.000+10:00

It had been a while since one of our suit-up nights, so the crew had decided it was time, as well as saying a final goodbye to Rachel. We had a quick visit from Robert Bruce quickly followed by filling up the table with copious amounts of rice and curries. Finally with once hopeful plea to Rachel to please not leave us, we pack up and headed home.

By Jordan

Rachel's Farewell

2010-05-29T14:05:00.107+10:00

Having moved to Brisbane and knowing only a handful of people, I joined Rovers as a way to make friends, and to do new things in a new city. I was welcomed with open arms. So when it came time for me to leave, I wanted to repay the kind gestures of the St John's Wood Rover Crew, and some other Rovers I had met along the way, with a farewell party at my house with good food and good entertainment.

The night was themed 'underworld', a suggestion from Stephen E. because I'm from Melbourne, so I included some appropriate props: an orange mango punch with a red 'hand' ice block that was frozen in a plastic glove; 'dirty' money in a cigar box; lines of 'cocaine' (flour); bags of 'marijuana' (parsley); a chalk outline of a body near the front door; and pictures of fallen Melbourne underworld figures.

On offer were a variety of delicious hot food, dips, coctail frankfurts (not cheerios!), and a sandwich ring made by my mum. And entertainment included the Wii, fussball, and live AFL (which was quickly changed to other less interesting shows).

Thanks to the St John's Wood Rover Crew: Chris Go., Chris Gr., Emile, Iain, Jordan, Matt, Peter, Sam, Stephen E.; other Rovers Alex and Michael; and my family Natasha, my mum, and Kathleen.

- Rachel -

Drag Night

2010-05-27T13:00:00.006+10:00

Being told a few weeks earlier that I had to organise the 'Drag Night' - my last night at the Den - I wanted to make it a fun night to remember. Unfortunately, it was also the night that several Rovers couldn't attend, whether I knew about it or not, so that was disappointing. Those who came included Bryn, a Rover originally from Canberra, Chris, Chris (R.A.), Emile, Jordan, Kerry, Stephen E. and I.

My plans changed slightly, so I began with the Powerpoint presentation for the Defence Scouting Badge - a badge which highlights and promotes the partnership between Scouts Asutralia and the Australian Defence Force. I had to talk about my life as part of a Defence family, peacekeeping within the ADF, and visit a military base. In the past I had invited many Rovers to the Enoggera Army Base's pool and gym, and had organised for my Dad, who is a Soldier, to take one of the Rovers on a tour of the base.

By the time I had finished my presentation and answered questions, I shared a plate of fairy bread my mum kindly made for everyone! I made the guys dress-up in various outfits because it's funnier to see males dressed-up as females and not the other way around. But I wore a sparkly top in order to be slightly more flamboyant!

I bought a TV and Playstatrion 2 along, so the plan for the rest of the night was to sing songs on Singstar, as drag queens often like karaoke and performing in front of people. Once Chris (R.A.) and Stephen E. started singing beautifully...everyone got into it! There were many Singstar discs, so some people had a hard time choosing which song to sing!

Emile, as the resident photographer, had brought his camera along so I could get my first and only picture of me in my Rover uniform at the Den. Thanks to everyone who made the night fun, and I'll see you all at the Mardi Gras :P

- Rachel -

Spicks N Specks Night

2010-05-20T23:00:00.000+10:00

On the 20th May, Sam held a Spicks N Specks night at the den, at which there was quite a large attendance, and one of the first nights that ex-SJW Venturer Peter came back to the Group. We were also joined by Bryn (Rover) and Sam's friends Kylie and Richard.

Games played were:

Know Your Product

Cover Versions

Please, Please, Tell Me Now

Mondegreens

Sir Mix'n'matchalot

Turning Japanese

Word Up

Substitute

Can't Buy Me, Love.

(for explanations of the games, visit the Wikipedia page.)

In the end, a team of Matt, Travis, Richard, and Kylie won the night.

Jordan's Scout Visit

2010-05-14T22:41:00.000+10:00

The scout night began with the cooking of dinner which was sausages, rissoles and salad. When dinner was finished it was time to set-up the tents, a little more problematic than one would expect. It took us a while to work out which way the fly, but after an hour and a half we had it sorted and the scouts were ready for a tradition supper of Milo and biscuits. I woke up disgusting early to a kid with a bloody nose (the perfect morning wake up :S). Once that was under control we were off to GoMA, where The String Room was the hit of the day. Finally it was home time and we loaded up onto the bus and back to the den.

By Jordan

Crew Programming - Winter

2010-05-13T19:13:00.000+10:00

Date	Time	Activity	Location	Organiser	Under 18s
15/16 May		R.A.B.B.I.T	Sunnybank Scout Group	Rachel	No
16 May	5:30 to 10:30pm	UC and QBRE	QSC	Matt	No
20 May	7:30 to 10:30pm	Spicks and Specks Night	St John's Wood Scout Group	Samwise	Yes
22/23 May		Gang Show Camp	BP Park	Matt	No
27 May	7:00 to 10:00pm	Squires' Training	St John's Wood Scout Group	Rachel	Yes
29 May	4:00 to 7:00pm	Group AGM & Skits	St John's Wood Scout Group	Chris G.	No
3 June	7:00 to 10:00pm	Thai Night	Green Mango Restaurant	Jordan	Yes
6/7 June		Travis' Squires Hike	Lake Manchester	Rachel	No
11 June	6:30 to 10:30pm	Inter-Crew Challenge - UrbanSprawl Car Scavenger Hunt	St John's Wood Scout Group	Travis	Yes
17 June	7:00 to 10:00pm	Red Faces	St John's Wood Scout Group	Peter	Yes
24 June	7:00 to 10:00pm	Video Game Night	UQ - Colin Clarke Bld	Stephen C.	Yes
2 July	5:30 to 11:00pm	Brisbane Gang Show Rover Night	Schonell Theatre Pizza Caffe	Matt	Yes
6 July	1:00 to 4:00pm	UC Meeting	Schonell Theatre Pizza Caffe	Travis	No
10/18 July		BGS Sydney Trip	QSC	Matt	No
20 July	1:00 to 4:00pm	UC Meeting	Law Library	Travis	No
23/25 July		Urban Challenge	QSC	Matt	Yes
31 July	6:30 to 11:30pm	World Scout Day Ball	TBA	Matt	No
5 August	7:00 to 10:30pm	Car Maintenance Night	St John's Wood Scout Group	Owen	Yes
11 August	8:00am to 10:00pm	Ekka Strawberry Sundae Service	RNA Showgrounds	Travis	Yes
14 August	7:00 to 9:00pm	Crew History Launch	St John's Wood Scout Group	Samwise	No
14/15 August		Operation Nighthawk	TBA	Travis	Yes
20 August	6:30 to 10:30pm	Rock the River	TBA	Peter	No
27 August	7:00 to 10:30pm	Inter-Crew Challenge - First Aid	St John's Wood Scout Group	Travis	Yes
2 September	6:00 to 10:00pm	Tour of BP Refinery	Pinkenba	Kerry	Yes
9 September	6:30 to 9:30pm	Iain's Night	TBA	Iain	Yes
17 September	6:30 to 9:30pm	Venturer Night	St John's Wood Scout Group	Samwise	Yes
18/25 September		Agoonoree	BP Park, Samford	Iain	Yes
19 September	5:00 to 10:00pm	Goonie Rover Night	BP Park, Samford	Kerry	No
30 September	7:00 to 10:30pm	RA's Night	St John's Wood Scout Group	Chris G.	Yes
8 October	7:00 to 10:30pm	Inter-Crew Challenge - Construction	St John's Wood Scout Group	Travis	Yes
9 October	7:00 to 10:30pm	St George's Ball	Irish Club	Matt	No

Banana Bash

2010-04-30T14:15:00.003+10:00

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

2010-04-27T22:39:00.000+10:00

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

2010-04-24T20:12:00.002+10:00

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

2010-04-24T15:19:00.012+10:00

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

2010-04-22T21:00:00.000+10:00

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

2010-04-17T16:19:00.000+10:00

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

2010-04-17T13:00:00.002+10:00

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

2010-04-15T21:17:00.000+10:00

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)

-----------------------
Cooking Night Invite

Channel 9 Tour

2010-04-08T17:35:00.002+10:00

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.

Roventure

2010-03-27T18:08:00.002+10:00

The theme of Roventure 2010 was 'Superhero Bootcamp'. Although it took place over the entire weekend, Matt, Sam, Travis and I only attended on Saturday 27th March.

After having breakfast at McDonald's, me completely in costume, we arrived at BP Park, Samford, in time to sign in and make our way to the opening parade. Unfortunately, I was one of few people in costume for most of the day.

As Rovers, we were given bases to run. Our base was called 'Learn to Fly', which meant the Venturers had to 'fly' as far as they could before splashing into the pool. We saw belly flops - ouch! - bombs, high-fives mid-air, and other fancy maneouvres which were all scored out of 10 by the three judges. Travis also entertained everyone with group water aerobics sessions. There is video footage of this out there!

Since it was my first time to BP Park, I asked a Rover from Samford, Michael, who I also work with to take me on a tour and show me the other bases. I kind of wish I was a Venturer on this camp!

That night there was a jumping castle to keep everyone young at heart, and a band called Innerflection playing. I believe one of the band members is a Rover. Sam enjoyed some of their songs, as I noticed from his head-banging and fist-punching actions!

I later saw that on Sunday 28th March, each attendee wore their white Roventure T-shirt and had a coloured paint fight, which made the T-shirts look pretty cool! Definitely seemed like a fun camp!

- Rachel -

Scout Visit

2010-03-26T22:36:00.010+10:00

Matt and I joined the St John's Wood Scout Troop on Friday 26th March for their 'Going Up Ceremony and Contruction' night. This provided us with the opportunity to actively observe what happens at Scouts and share our knowledge with them.

We started with an opening parade, which included the investiture of two Scouts. Then we went back inside for the introduction of the construction night. There were three bases: a planning base; a base with the game Jenga; and a base involving constructing something with a weak point. I helped on the third base.

For the third base, the Scouts had to tie rope around one large wooden block which acted as the weak point, and built a structure on and over the weak point. Once all the blocks were used in the construction over the weak point, the rope was pulled, showing the Scouts what happens when the weak point of a building is compromised. They enjoyed it.

Next, there was a going-up ceremony for two Scouts. Once they finished the first part with the Scouts, the two Scouts headed across to the Venturers to be welcomed. Since there weren't many Venturers there that night, Matt and I stood in as honourary Venturers.

The final activity for the night was a chariot race. The Scouts were separated into two teams had had to construct a chariot using any available wooden poles, thick sticks and rope. Matt's team elected to transport him on the chariot, whereas my team chose to transport the two smallest Scouts. My team built a chariot in an A-frame shape and used lighter wood. I was able to share some of my limited knot knowledge with the Scouts. Matt's team built a large reinforced square with thick pieces of wood. Although they put more effort into building their chariot, in the end, they could not carry it, decided to drag it along the ground like my team's chariot, and ultimately crossed the finish line last.

The Scouts and their Leaders seemed to enjoy the company of two Scouting members of a different section, and I definitely preferred watching the chariot race from a distance as opposed to riding on one!

- Rachel -

Joey Visit

2010-03-25T23:32:00.001+10:00

On Thursday 25th March, Kerry and I joined the St John's Wood Joey Scouts for their 'Australian Animals' night. The aim was to teach the Joeys something about us, and learn something from them for part of our Squire training.

After the opening parade, we played a kookaburra relay, which involved the Joeys walking quickly from the start of the line to about eight metres away where Kerry and I were standing to 'catch' a worm to eat, in other words, using a fork being held by their teeth to grab a lolly from the ground, then they quickly walked back and another Joey came out to 'catch' a worm. The fact that the lollies were briefly on the ground didn't stop the Joeys from eating them!

Then we headed inside where the Joeys cut out and decorated Australian animals. Some required our help cutting out the animals as the goannas had small feet and the echidnas had many spikes. This is when Matt and Travis joined us.

While we waited for the Joeys to finish their creations, we discovered that we would be singing 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport' next, Travis tried to make a wobble board, but the piece of wood was too thick, so Matt used his orange pipe didgeridoo as a musical accompaniment instead, which the Joeys enjoyed. The song was played a couple of times, and by the end, the Joeys were able to sing the chorus and identify the animals in the song.

Next, the Rovers ran a game. The Joeys stood in a line side-by-side and we asked them questions about themselves and Australian animals and depending on their answer, they took one, two, three steps forward or even one step back. The aim was to get every Joey from one side of the room to the other.

The night ended with a story about how the kangaroo got its pouch, final parade and Joeys running around like crazy kids like they did at the start of the night!

I think the Joeys enjoyed our company and I know the Leaders appreciated it!

- Rachel -

Elections

2010-03-25T23:00:00.000+10:00

The results of tonight's elections were:

Crew Leader - Sam (Re-elected)

Scribe - Travis

Treasurer - Matt

Quartermaster - Kerry

Squire Master - Chris (R.A.)

The next election to be held in late August/early September.

Operation Archer

2010-03-21T12:28:00.004+10:00

Operation Archer is a competition night initiative course organised by Moreton Region. Venturer Scouts navigate around a mapped course negotiating bases consisting of First Aid, Initiative, Construction, Map & Compass, Scouting Knowledge, for example. It was held on 20th-21st March, 2010 at Mulgowie, nearly two hours away with 24 teams participating. The SES also helped out on the night, mainly communicating scores via their radios.

Sam and Stephen C. arrived first and met with Iain, the organisers, and Chase and Laurie from Queen's Park Rover Crew for lunch at Mulgowie Pub, then began setting up the bases. Emile, Matt, Travis and I arrived later in time for the opening parade.

For Operation Archer, we ran a construction base and Iain, Chase and Laurie ran the initiative base. The construction base involved teams building a tripod base for a ballista in 15 minutes, being judged on planning, team participation, leadership, personal attitude, and skills displayed. We had two separate sites set-up for construction in order to accommodate two teams at once.

Our base was in the middle of the course, so at the beginning we had to wait a little while for the first few teams to arrive, and then later in the night, many teams arrived all at once, so having two sites set-up allowed us to get through everyone more quickly. In the quiet moments, we were able to do some Urban Challenge planning, which was good.

Some Venturer teams were quite entertaining and we learnt some interesting things about one of our Rovers *cough*

We weren't sleeping over that night as we had to return to Brisbane for various reasons. The hike finished at 3:30am and we were able to leave then, stocked up with biscuits and energy drinks for the drive home. I ran over two cane toads on the way back, so I felt like I was assimilating well!

- Rachel -

Rachel's Glorious Squire's Hike

2010-03-13T22:32:00.002+10:00

On Friday 12th March, D'Aguilar National Park welcomed Rachel - former Girl Guide from Victoria - and her sponsor, Matt - occasional environmental vandal and estimator. For Rachel's Squire's Hike, around 17.5 kilometres was covered by foot over two days to see Greene's Falls and Northbrook Mountain, near the township of Mount Glorious.

I had never attempted an overnight hike in the past, so it was already going to challenge me before I even started. With the help of Matt, a log of my Squire's Hike was kept.

Friday 5th March

13:00 - Slightly panicked about my Squire's Hike just one week away, I drove to the Walkabout Creek Visitor Centre where I met a friendly lady. She called other staff to get tips for me, allowed me to use her phone to book the campsite and sold me an invaluable topographical map that included where I wanted to hike and more.

13:30 - Relieved and excited.

Wednesday 10th March

15:45 - Went to Coles with my sister to buy food for my Squire's Hike. I had to keep in mind that Matt doesn't like shellfish (that's okay, my budget wasn't endless) and he couldn't drink tea or coffee due to Lent (that's okay, I wouldn't be drinking them either). Win-win.

Thursday 11th March

17:30 - Before I left for Rovers, I placed the chicken, bacon and a bottle of water in the freezer, and searched for most of the things I needed to place in my backpack. I also mixed together dried fruit and unsalted nuts (my theory being salt makes you thirsty = carrying more water) into two snack bags each, and removing vegetables from cans and putting them in snap-lock bags to reduce weight and rubbish.

Friday 12th March

8:00 - As I packed my backpack, I realised I should probably add a waterproof jacket, you never know what the weather will do. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Not having one to borrow, I added an extra polar fleece top and a black rubbish bag (!) to my backpack. I thought I'd be more miserable hiking wet than wearing a black rubbish bag in the presence of Matt, and potentially other hikers.

10:25 - Finally left to pick up Matt from his house, after finding out NAB Ashgrove doesn't have a coin counter and Matt had to sit there counting and bagging lots of coins from the Crew reunion a week earlier! Nearly at his house, I realised I left the tent behind...so I had to quickly, within the speed limit, return to my house to get it. We had allowed a generous amount of time, so the delay was no issue.

11:00 - Waved goodbye to Matt's house

11:45 - Arrived at the Greene's Falls carpark where we would start the first part of my Squire's Hike without our backpacks. We grabbed our cameras and a map, Matt did a great job at estimating the camera angle for the timed group shot (although, where's Emile when you need him!), and then we started the hike. On the way, we met three park rangers who told us that a large tree had fallen over in the Rainforest Circuit and they couldn't continue past the tree and along the path. We took a mental note to prove those park rangers wrong on the way back! Later, we found another tree that had fallen across a creek. Naturally we walked out onto it, and then heard, as Matt called them, yahooligans, three young guys making a lot of noise. Matt thinks they went quiet when they saw his 'serious' hat.

12:20 - Reached the platform at the top of Greene's Falls, then walked to the bottom of the falls, where we scrambled across rocks sitting in the water's path for the opportunity to take better photos.

12:45 - Departed Greene's Falls.

13:10 - Found the tree the park rangers said had fallen down in the Rainforest Circuit. Matt stood up on it with minimal effort, but as I tried to sit on it and swing my legs over, I slid down the trunk a metre! Then we checked out where the base of the trunk had snapped. It's amazing how a tree that wide could just break away from the base and not slide down the hill very far at all!

13:35 - Arrived back at my car. Actual walk took 15 minutes longer, probably due to checking out the tree that blocked the path. Had a brief lunch then headed to the start of Lawton Road.

14:15 - Began the second part of the hike - backpacks, tent and all this time - in search of the designated campsite.

15:30 - Drinks break number one on the mother of long hills. Had a good chat about Europe.

15:35 - Drinks break number two.

15:40 - Drinks break number three.

16:00 - Reached the top of the hill and the intersection with England Creek Road. Marked '29' (71769 77894) on the GPS as there was a full water tank.

16:20 - Came across another intersection, this time with an unknown road, and marked '30' (70979 78201) on the GPS. We then realised that we had passed the designated campsite, so we turned around.

16:35 - Found the discreet unmarked Northbrook Mountain campsite. It didn't look that nice, so we decided to camp by the water tank.

16:40 - Finally arrived at our chosen campsite, smiling. As soon as I put my backpack and tent down, I suddenly had all this extra energy! I started pulling out 50-100cm tall weeds so we could have a flat clear area to have a fire and a small path from the fire to the tent. I placed the tent over some weeds so it could act as extra cushioning. As the weeds weren't being pushed down too easily, I rolled across the flat tent like a 10-year-old child! And yes, it was mildly amusing! As I put up the tent to prove that I could pitch and strike a tent, Matt collected firewood. Then it was time to build and light the fire. For the record, I didn't have any newspaper or fire starters, just matches. The first match was placed near the centre and died quickly. As I was striking the second match, it broke. Undeterred and not wanting to waste the match, I lit it anyway. The flame quickly reached my fingers and I dropped it. To my amazement, it landed in just the right spot and the fire began!

18:00 - Time to start dinner. The chicken was still frozen in places! We had to cook dinner in two batches as the frypan was not a family-sized one and wouldn't fit everything at once. The chicken sat in the frypan for a while, defrosting, and then the Chicken Tonight Curry and vegetables were added. After eating Dinner Part 1, we eagerly cooked Part 2. This time Matt had the good idea to add cashews to the mixture. After eating Part 2, I think we determined that I got most of the cashews despite Matt being most excited about the cashews. Better luck next time, Matt! By now it was well and truly dark, and the fire had to be maintained in preparation of dessert. I had planned my version of a s'more. S'more is a contraction of 'some more' and is a popular campfire treat in the United States of America, consisting of toasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham crackers. It's origin is unclear, although the first recorded version of the recipe was published in 'Tramping and Trailing with Girl Scouts' (1927). My version involved us toasting our marshmallows and slightly melting three squares of Cadbury chocolate and then sandwiching them between two teddy bear biscuits. We had two s'mores each and vowed to make these on all future Rover camps. Yum!

21:00 - Washed our dishes with the water tank water, put out the fire and moved everything to the tent. As the tent was being zipped up, the rain started. After a chat, we went to sleep.

Saturday 13th March

8:15 - I had been awake for a while, but finally got out of bed as Matt was dressed and had been wandering around. I had heard cyclists stop near the tent, talk and then continue on. Matt later told me that the cyclists had caught him with his pants down! For breakfast we had

bacon and egg muffins, which came in a packet that had an English flag on it - to remind us of our duty to the Queen of Australia - and little 20-cent packets of tomato sauce too. Matt enjoyed the bacon! No matter how wonderful his openfire-cooked porridge was on his Squire's Hike, I was pretty sure bacon and eggs was better! Our bags were packed and the tent came down.

9:35 - Departed the campsite. With Matt holding the GPS and me holding the map, we went off to hike to the top of Northbrook Mountain.

9:55 - Arrived at the top of Northbrook Mountain, at an altitude of 659 metres, marked '33' on the GPS (72641 77874). There were even permanent markers letting people know it is actually the top. Took several photos, including another well-estimated group shot, but as we continued along the rocky outcrop, the quality of the views were getting better until eventually there were almost no trees blocking the view out to the west, and then we marked '36' (72925 77722) on the GPS. Matt found a particular kind of plant that makes great lightweight walking sticks, so he tried to break the stem from the base of the plant like an environmental vandal, but in doing so, split the stem in half and had to throw it away!

11:15 - After scrambling over the rocky outcrop for ages and not gaining a lot of ground, the rocky outcrop ended and we started our descent to Lawton Road, and marked '37' (73319 77604) on the GPS.

11:35 - Lawton Road was in sight, so I was happy again, and marked '39' (73678 77738) on the GPS. But the smile was soon wiped off my face when I had to slide down a short steep section at the bottom of the hill and dirtied my light coloured pants in the process. Light colours always manage to get dirty! Now I had to walk up another long hill and by now, my legs, feet and lungs didn't like me anymore.

11:55 - Drinks break number four.

12:00 - Drinks break number five.

12:05 - Drinks break number six.

12:25 - Arrived back at the start of Lawton Road and packed my car. My smile was the biggest it had been the entire hike! Changed my muddy pants and shoes while I stood beside my car. Despite trying to be really quick, I had almost finished getting changed when a car drove by and the passenger was looking in my direction! So separately, Matt and I both got caught with our pants down over the course of the day haha!

12:30 - Enjoyed scones with jam and cream at Maiala Restaurant and Teahouse. Matt paid for it as I paid for everything else. He chose a strawberry and vanilla milkshake with malt. An interesting combination I must say.

13:30 - Arrived back at Matt's house where he flagged down his family's car behind us so he could get a lift up his steep driveway with his backpack!

13:45 - Finally reached home as it started raining again. I didn't have to use my polar fleece and black rubbish bag combination after all! Yay! I had a nice long shower and put my legs up for the rest of the afternoon, and attempted to write this post.

Final thoughts:

Plants I became familiar with:

Lantana
Orchid
Staghorn
Bunya Pine
Another one I don't know the spelling of, but it makes great lightweight walking sticks

Insects that bothered us:

Flies
Mosquitoes
Ants
Leeches (just Matt, thankfully not me!)

Things I would change:

Work out how to better carry the tent
Learn how to use the GPS before I leave

Things I learnt:

Basic use of a GPS
Hiking 17.5 kilometres is not as far as I imagined
Matt sticks his tongue out when he concentrates

Things I accomplished:

Walking 17.5 kilometres on my first overnight hike
Seeing parts of Queensland that I wouldn't have seen if I didn't join Rovers
Not getting baptised by Matt

This will not be my last Squire's Hike, as next time I will be the sponsor. Hopefully I have learnt enough from my own hike in order to offer good guidance to someone else. I think further use of the GPS, and finding my waterproof jacket would be beneficial. With a bit of luck, the other Squires will see that the former Girl Guide could complete an overnight hike, and be encouraged to plan their own hike in the near future.

- Rachel -

Hard Business Meeting

2010-03-11T19:30:00.000+10:00

Minutes to be attached.

Cleanup Australia Day!

2010-03-07T09:26:00.005+10:00

An army of Rovers arrived at Walton Bridge on a bright Sunday morning at 7AM. The army consisted of Rovers, Steve and Jono, and Steve's friend, Nicole, who, though not a Rover, is worthy of note. Thank you Nicole.

This year, Cleanup Australia Day was organised by the Rotary Organisation. We were able to catch up with some of our Rotary friends who we had assisted in their Santa Sleigh endeavour in Ashgrove, in late 2009.

Our mission was to scour the bush surrounding the Gap Past Time Football Club for litter. After one and a half hours of bush bashing and determined trash-busting we had finished and headed back to base for some water and, thanks to Steve, a trip to Brumby's.

Other groups working on the project were tasked with cleaning up much of Payne Road and Walton Bridge. Overall it was a good effort and, although we returned back to base early, there was already a large pile of bags containing unwanted trash, ready to be disposed of. It was good to see!

It was a great opportunity to do our bit for the environment and, once again, work alongside our Rotary friends.

Den Clean up continues

2010-03-06T08:46:00.000+10:00

Following the huge clean up of the Q Store, Sam and RA Chris loaded the second load of rubbish into the trailer and took it to the dump.

Rover Reunion Summary

2010-03-06T08:45:00.000+10:00

This is a brief summary of the presentation I gave at the Crew Reunion last Friday;

Welcome to the 50th Anniversary History of the St Johns Wood Rover Crew. This CD is a prototype – an extract of the full Monty. The finished CD will probably run to about 650 meg; is point and click friendly, and you’ll find yourself in there without a great deal of difficulty. It is a CD, not a DVD.

Depending on your computer screen, appearances may differ slightly.

The Opening Screen is the Home Page and is straight forward. It sets out the Welcome and the 4 volume structure of the CD.

The Welcome section typically has an Introduction, Acknowledgements, Foreword and Contents. The Chief Commissioner, Maurie Law has written the Foreword, which arrived by email last Wednesday.

The Contents give more detail on what’s in each of the Volumes.

Volume 1 is the Twenty-Five Year Booklet; 1959 – 1984, with corrections to my earlier errors. It is reproduced as written, but paginated to this CD format. I have recreated the cover from the original art work done by Ian Webb and Russ Davie.

Each Volume has a side bar, listing the point and click index of “chapters” as I call them. This can be changed to a page index – or removed altogether.

Volume 2 is, “The Next 25 Years – 1984 to 2009”, and is in the same mould as Vol 1 – but a bit longer and with a few more photos.

Volume 3 continues the story, covering The St Johns Wood Fellowship, Crew Sponsorship, SOFA, and Annexes depicting Who’s Who of the Crew, a Crew Chronological Tree, an Annex of Lists for the trivia buffs, and of course a section dedicated to deceased members and associates.
Both SOFA Logs are reproduced in full in Vol 3 – which shows I hope that there is life after the Crew.

Volume 4 is “The Saints Pictorial”, a photo album covering the fifty year period – again using the “chapter” headings used in the History. [I’ve included photos of thirty two of the thirty four investiture sites that the Crew has used, captioning the name and year of each Rover’s investiture at that site].

There will be a Volume 5 containing multiple Slide Shows. The slide shows will be structured on the “chapters” used in the History. There will also be an additional file listing each photo in the slide show. It is hoped that this file will be able to be printed out, even though the rest of the History will be locked.

URGENT URGENT URGENT
I’m still putting these slide shows together, so if there is a particular photo or photos that you would like included, please email (or snail mail) it/them to me ASAP with details of when, where, what and who. (max 5 per email please). Cut off date is Friday April 9, 2010

The first booklet ran to some 50, ½ xA4 pages; 10000 words, and 8 B & W photos – 4 colour separation was rather expensive back then.

A printed version of this 50th Anniversary History will run to more than 300 pages; 72000 words and at last count 750 photos and images, excluding the slide shows.

The whole thing should be done and dusted and ready for launch by the end of July.

Rob Bruce

Rover annual reunion 2010

2010-03-05T13:03:00.000+10:00

Thanks to our RA Chris Goninon's catering and financial efforts, this year's annual rover reunion was a great success, with multiple generations getting together for a beer, or nine, food and a great slideshow and presentation collated by our resident historian. The entry fee was $5 at the door that went into the costs of catering (and of course bash car/maintenance funds!). Iain spent the night on the door shaking older Rovers down for this cash.

The current Rover Crew (all 14 of us) would like to thank our older Rovers for turning up and providing us with some very interesting conversations. Additionally, the reunion resulted in the return of memorial photos of deceased Rovers, which now hang proudly once again on the wall.

After the reunion the plan was to sleep over at Emile's place and then the next day go out OP-shopping for the St George's Ball, but since it was postponed to the 9th of October this year (due to a double booking) we decided against the Op-shopping. Half the rover crew still packed Emile's shed, however.

Q-Store gets a clean.

2010-03-04T23:00:00.002+10:00

On the 4th of March, approximately 10 Rovers congregated at the den ready to clean out the crew Q-Store. What a daunting job! Sam and 4 or 5 other Rovers were constantly in the Q-Store sorting everything into a "Bash Car", "Keep", and "Toss" pile outside.

Ex-Rover Owen Downes also came down to help on this night to sort out the Bash Car stuff from the other miscellaneous rubbish in the den (as he, primarily, was the Rover in charge of Bash Car maintenance).

Meanwhile, the remaining Rovers did the finishing touches on the main part of the Rover den and prepared for the Rover reunion the next day. Unfortunately, not all the debris from the Q-Store could be disposed of before the Reunion, as RA Goninon's car was having some troubles getting to the dump. The remaining Rubbish was concealed with a tarp in front of the garage door.

As a result of this evening, you can actually now walk through the Q-Store! Astonishing! We also finished cleaning about an hour earlier than expected (as we started at 6:30 instead of the normal 7:30, where we expected to finish at 10:30!), and Sam departed, exhausted, at 9:30, while others stayed to talk.

Sam

Business Meeting and Starting Cleaning!

2010-02-18T23:00:00.000+10:00

The objective of this night was mainly to clean up the main area of the den and rearrange furniture in a way that would allow freer movement through the den (though rearrangement of the furniture had been already attempted by Rachel and Sam, the furniture needed to move in order for cleaning to occur).

Sam also had new documentation for a change in Squire Training and Office Positions that he wanted to propose to the crew. This was reviewed by the Crew and the required changes were made and emailed to the crew as a 2nd draft the following day, to be finalised on 11th March, when elections would be held.

Valentine's Night (11th Feb 2010)

2010-02-13T10:21:00.003+10:00

Rovers this week was themed around the upcoming Valentine's Day. It was a night of romance-fuelled mayhem. Rovers were paired up for the night, allocated into couples by drawing names out of a bag. Once the couples had got to know each other, and introduced themselves to the group, the festivities began.

The 3-legged race was won by lovers Chris Greener & Matthew Ray. This couple also amazed the group by being the fastest pair to don women's clothing in a record time of 1 minute 10 seconds (another competition, not just an impromptu drag show). Our couples also tried their hand at poetry - after choosing two key words from a pile of cards (one word being one associated with romance, the other not so much). I will attach some examples at a later date - once I have deciphered the atrocious handwriting of some of our Crew members! Notable poems were those by Matt R, Chris and Travis. Following in the romantic theme, the couples also made chocolate-coated strawberries.... blind-folded. These creations were enjoyed with supper at the end of the night.

Taking a leaf out of the "Spicks & Specks" book of fun, the game of "Substitution" was played, with a love twist. Love songs were sung by Rovers to their respective partners, with the lyrics replaced by the words from our very own "Rovering to Success". The couples had varying degrees of success in this game, with Iain Laing and his life partner Kylie (a visiting friend of Sam's) taking the prize.

An enjoyable night was had by all, I hope, with spirits high and love definately all around! Happy Valentine's Day!

Various Rearrangements

2010-02-07T23:52:00.003+10:00

In preparation for the clean-up the den night (which in itself is preparation for the Crew's 51-year reunion), Rachel and Sam went down to the den this fine Sunday night to rearrange some furniture and make the main area a bit tidier so that the clean-up night wouldn't be so bad. However, this will still take some time.

Missions accomplished:

Speakers moved

Chairs pushed to the wall that the front door is on

Junk surrounding meeting table tidied (some of which went in the QStore)

Carpet blocking the entrance to the QStore relocated to the back of QStore

Cushions of 5-seater delivered to den.

Food and soft drink on the bar-bench was disposed of or put away.

Pool table relocated so that it is closer to bar bench.

Some sweeping undergone.

Collated chocolate money into one box.

Mini seat was put back next to the bash car.

In addition to this, Rachel took to talking to possums around the den for 15 minutes and tried to relocate the "Pyramids" sign to behind the port glasses (However was unsuccessful as the sign started to tilt unfavourably).

In addition to this, the desk was cleared and was decided to become the Treasurer/Scribe desk.

Talk of the awkwardness of the notorious wood/glass table was undergone and was suggested that it be moved to a corner of the room rather than in the centre as it could then be more easily worked around.

A productive night, however would have been more effective if there were more of us (in order to move the wood/glass table, in particular.)

-Sam

New Furniture for Den

2010-02-06T23:59:00.001+10:00

Tonight saw the arrival of 3 new single-person couches to the den and the preparation for the arrival of another 4-5-person couch for the Rover Den.

Chris Goninon delivered two very funky looking purple seats (on wheels!), as well as another of his renowned favourite blue seats.

Meanwhile, Sam was playing Guerrilla Radio by Rage Against The Machine on his drum kit in his garage when his sister came running down stairs with his mobile. "Sam, this strange-sounding guy's on the phone". Half-deaf from his own awesomness, Sam takes his phone from his sister, and Matthew Ray's voice chimes in, "Good afternoon Samwise, how do you fancy a new couch for the den, mate?". "That'd be great mate," I said. "Ah yeah, it should fit in your dad's Pajero if you could meet me on the corner of Chaprowe Rd and Arkana that'd be great".

So at 8pm Mr. Bean and the hobbit from Middle Park set about TRYING to fit the 5-seater (yet 3-cushioned) couch into the back of George Ludinski's Mitsubishi Pajero, however were unsuccessful.

This, however, did NOT lead to the loss of the couch, as Sam and Matt carried the couch from Arkana St. back to Matthew's house at the top of Trawala St. On the way home, we also ran into a very unlikely, however familiar face of Graham Lawson, a former St. Johns Wood Scout parent helper and teacher at our High School, Marist College Ashgrove, who offered to assist us in our delivery of the couch, however couldn't be of much service as his car was about half the size of Sam's father's Pajero! The couch is currently waiting for collection from Matt's place.

Matt and Sam then proceeded to have a well-deserved swim in Matt's pool and then went to McDonalds for a fatty trophy of a Sundae and Chips. To top off the evening, we visited Jon Wilson and discussed Treasury business.

All in all a very productive evening.

-Sam Ludinski

Group Working Bee

2010-01-30T15:11:00.003+10:00

The Group Working Bee started at 8:30am on Saturday, 30 January 2010. Matt, the only Rover in attendance, met new potential Rover, James, and talked about Rovering, basic principles of Scouting, the Scout Law and Promise and the Saints.

Work done included pruning the ivy vine growing around the Rover and Venturer Den, Russ Davie possum-proofed the Rover Den, much weeding, environmental management and maintenance to the main flagpole, along with earthworks around the small green flagpole area.

Yanni and Hamish were there from the Venturers, along with Mark.

The Bee concluded at 1pm.

Inter-Crew Games Night #2

2010-01-27T23:49:00.002+10:00

As winners of the previous games night, the Tandara and Camira Rovers organised the next round at the Tandara Den in Eastern Heights. There competing were: Alex and Boo from Tandara Rovers; Petah and Rachael from Camira Rovers; Peter from Stafford Rovers; Natasha from Everton Park Ranger Guides; and Iain, Jordan, Matt, Sam, Stephen E. and I from St John's Wood Rovers. By the end, Alex determined Stephen to be the winner of the night, due to his efforts and enthusiasm. So Stephen has kindly written his views of the night (and now has the honour of organising Inter-Crew Games Night #3):

After 45 minutes of driving between dens, and viewing some fantastic civil engineering projects along the way, we arrived. We began with a quick parade, and then played some getting-to-know-you games involving toilet paper, where by we all ended up sharing facts about each other (in my case I was made to disclose an entire life story)! We then continued to play a team building game, involving splitting into two teams and attempting to move your team over a rope 1.5m in the air using nothing but a chair and man (and woman) power! After epic commando rolling and some extreme team work, one of the teams managed to get everyone over. We then continued to play a epic game of Red Rover! After doing all the good work we did in burning calories in our games of running around, we wasted it all by going to McDonald's for some filling food and refreshing beverages.

All in all is was a fun night of meeting other Rovers, playing games Joey-style and then having an educational meal at McDonald's discussing Economic theory!

See you all next time!

-Rachel and Stephen E.-

Guard the Rotary Citizenship Ceremony Setup

2010-01-25T16:42:00.000+10:00

On the evening before Australia Day, at 11pm, JJ and I (The Captain) headed down to the local Wittonga Park to help protect the Rotary's Citizenship Ceremony Setup for the next Day. All went off without a spot of bother. Headed home after the change of the guard at 6am the next morning.

RTS Talk

2010-01-22T06:36:00.001+10:00

Woodgate Discussion

2010-01-14T23:00:00.000+10:00

This was to be the night for discussing the trip to Woodgate and consequent camp. Details were finalised and numbers were supposedly confirmed, however several people were unable to attend (where they had, on this night, said they could come). This, in combination with lack of transport, meant that the trip to Woodgate was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute.

Santa Sleigh (14 - 17)

2009-12-17T15:29:00.004+10:00

This year was the first time that the Annual Rotary Santa Sleigh came to the streets of Ashgrove.

Seizing the moment we showed up in numbers with Samwise, JJ, Chris Go, Rachel, Kerry, Emile, Matt, B1 and B2, Bill, Jono and myself attending across the four evenings.

With a smile on our faces and a tin in hand we swept through the streets to a mostly inviting reception. Knocking on as many doors as we could find we wished everyone a merry Christmas also recieving the quite a few donations as the Ashgrovians were quite generous.

Donation of the week would have to go to Bill for recieving a donation from a second storey balcony *high five moment*

Overall the week was a success for both the Rotary as well as the crew becoming a more connected with or surrounding community. It could also be said that the Rotary have expressed their gratitude and are hoping that the younger generations will assist in continuing and expanding this great tradition.

BRAVO guys and I look forward to next years Sleigh.

Bill's farewell

2009-12-13T16:54:00.005+10:00

The crew thought it'd be a good idea to give bill a small party to ~~celebrate~~ commiserate bill's leaving us for 6 months to go to Canada. We wish him the best of luck, and look forward to seeing him again later this year. Some pictures from the night:

Inter-Crew Games Night

2009-12-10T23:57:00.007+10:00

I organised a games night,
Between crews from far and wide,
Stafford, Tandara, Camira,
And even some Girl Guides.

First we played the Human Knot,
A game to break the ice,
With twenty-four tangled people,
It wasn't very nice.

Then eagerly holding hands,
We stood in two straight lines,
For we raced two hula hoops,
I lost twice, now I resign.

Then we all sat down,
To play the game Taboo,
Trying to guess some words,
From people's clever clues.

Just before the drinks break,
We played another game,
Of nostalgic Tunnel Ball,
But please, improve your aim!

Despite the games I organised,
There's only one they came to see,
A hot and sweaty game,
Of Ultimate Frisbee.

There's a trophy for the winner,
Right now they're on cloud nine,
I hope to see you all again,
But you better watch out next time!

A big thankyou to Alex, Boo, Timothy and Tracey from Tandara Rovers; Petah and Rachael from Camira Rovers; Peter from Stafford Rovers; Bel, Cat and Natasha from Everton Park Ranger Guides; Kathryn from the Olave Program; and the St. John's Wood Rovers for making the night a success. Congratulations to the winner, Petah.

-Rachel-

SJW Group Break Up

2009-12-05T15:26:00.001+10:00

Group Break Up

Attended by Chris "RA" Goninon, Matt, Jono, Jordon and Emile

Meeting Minutes

2009-12-03T22:46:00.001+10:00

Minutes of St John’s Wood Rover Crew Hard/ Business Meeting
Thursday, 3rd of December 2009

Meeting Opened:
7:46 p.m. by Iain Laing.

Attendees:
Rachel, Stephen Endicott, Chris Goninon, Jon Wilson, Bill Alexander, Matthew Ray, Iain Laing, Natalie Finney, Jordan Lores.

Apologies:
Sam Ludinski, Kerry Marnane, Stephen Cox, Chris Greener.

Item 1: Welcome
• The Rover Crew wishes to welcome Natalie to the Rover Crew.

Item 2: Christmas Party and Bill’s Goodbye
• It has decided that the Crew’s Christmas Party and Bill’s Goodbye barbeque will be held on the 12th of December, at Taylor Range Country Club from 5 p.m. onwards.

Item 3: Christmas Holidays
• The weeks of the 24th to the 31st of December will be the Rover Crew’s Christmas break, and the week of the 6th of January will be an optional attendance night.

Item 4: Meeting Times
• The times of weekly meetings will stay as they are. Crew members are reminded that they are able to leave early if needed at all rover activities.
• Later nights will be specified in emails.
• We respectfully recognize the suggestions of all crew members.

Item 5: Activity Planning
• All necessary paper work will be completed and sent to the Group Leader, it will then be the responsibility of the Assistant Crew Leader to remind and ensure that appropriate forms have been completed.
• Stephen to send an unlocked copy of the C5 form to all crew members.
• All plans for typical rover night at the den will be fully arranged 48 hours before said evening.
• Iain will make a conscious effort to improve his efforts.

Item 6: Behaviour Code Breaches
• Crew in Council to meet and discuss appropriate action to be taken.
• Crew in Council to discuss the events of 19th of November with Sam and will manage the matter as they see fit.

Item 7: Risk Management
• At any Rover activity when alcohol will be consumed and selected amount of participants will not drink and manage any alcohol related matters.
• Kerry’s suggestions have been acknowledged and alternatives have been put into place.

Meeting Closed:
8:20 p.m. by Iain Laing.

Urban Challenge Meeting + Soft Business Meeting + Nat's Induction

2009-12-03T15:28:00.005+10:00

Stradbroke Island trip

2009-11-27T19:44:00.003+10:00

The week of November 23rd to the 27th, 2009 saw the Rover crew stay at Emile's place on Stradbroke island; fun times were had, sun cancer augmented and friendships strengthened.

From monday to wednesday, Stephen, Chris Greener, Jordan and Emile were the only ones on the island, supplemented later by Kerry, Matt and Rachel. It has been decided that we will be returning with the crew soon. A camping trip down the main beach is looking good too.

All of the images can be found here.

Casual Get Together Night

2009-11-19T16:03:00.000+10:00

At the usual time of 7:30pm the Rovers met down at the den with a night of filling the previously XXXX-dominated rafter with Toohey's Extra Dry bottles (this, amongst a considerable amount of Rovers is less troublesome than it sounds) in mind.

The Rovers congregated on the couches and talked while they had some beverages, later to be followed by a game of Ultimate Frisbee, which was suggested by Stephen Endicott. Some, however, sat out and continued discussion. A wild Sam Ludinski then proceeded to interupt the game by running around disrupting the players' natural course. All then went back inside and joined in the conversation.

The night ended at approximately 10:00pm.

Visit by Robert Bruce (Past SJW Rover)

2009-11-12T16:02:00.001+10:00

On 12th November, former SJW member Rob Bruce visited the den. Over the years, Rob had been acting as a voluntary historian, if you like, for the Crew, and this was his night to show what he had collected and propose that he would show the other Rovers (former and current) at the Rover Reunion held in 2010 (when most of the history would be ready).

Also discussed were old SJW traditions and history that was already in the den. Most of the Crew also had their picture taken by Rob Bruce on this night for presentation in the history, although some were missing on this night, so Rob would collect theirs at a later point in time.

-Sam

Inductions

2009-11-05T09:29:00.000+10:00

We welcomed Rachel and Steve (B2) to the Crew with the induction ceremony on Mt Cootha. There was a storm brewing all afternoon and we were treated to a fantastic lightning display. There was some mild concerns about conducting electricity, however, no one was killed. A bit light rain and blenty of wind made a fire impossible so everyone was a little chilled by the time we got back to Emile's for a cuppa, and for some, something a little stronger (emphasis on the little).

We were also paid a visit by ex-Rover Tracey and Jordan married Travis Jordan on Facebook resulting in her being Christened "JJ." Everyone is convinced that Travis and JJ should marry for real.

Squire Steve (B2) is Sponsored by Knight Steve (B1).
Squire Rachel is Sponsored by Knight Matt.

Rover Advisor Mystery Car Rally Night

2009-10-29T00:00:00.001+10:00

Upon leaving the den, Team 1 went to the Marist College Ashgrove playing field where they took a picture of the team in front of the sign and counted all the metal poles around the playing fields. A great night then unfolded as we went from Ashgrove to a combination of Everton Park, Aspley, Ferny Grove, Newmarket, Kelvin Grove, St. Lucia, Aspley, and quite possibly more. Much tomfoolery was exhibited aboard Sandra Ludinski's Mitsubishi Outlander, including (but not limited to): parking in the opposing team near a relative of chris goninon's house, hiding their refidex (who uses those nowadays anyway? we had a GPS :) ), and competing with the opposition for the prime position on the road near Sci-Fleet used cars. Our tomfoolery (and just plain skill/awesomeness) paid off, and at the end of the night we received the grand prize to be placed on the wall in the rover den.