HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1988-03-09, Page 15Page 14—Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, March 9, 1988
Lucknow boys simply loved it in Australia
Chris Colwell and Jonathan Nelson
recently returned from a trip to Australia
where they attended the World Scout Jam-
boree. While their travel tales and adven-
tures in the Land Down Under differ slight-
ly, one thing is for sure: they both can't
wait to go back.
"I'd recommend a trip to Australia to
anybody," said Chris during a visit to the
Sentinel last week. "It's so different from
Canada. We had a great time and I'd love
to go back some day."
The Lucknow lads certainly had their
share of adventures while on the other side
of the planet. Aside from being involved in
the huge Scout Jamboree and all it had to
offer, the Canadian boys spent some time
in Australia's unique outback, had a tour
of an opal mine and wandered the streets
of metropolitan Sydney. They took over-
night hikes, city tours and even got in a lit-
tle body surfing at one of Australia's many
fabulous beaches.
One of their most notable adventures
was braving a freak storm which ripped
through their campsite, but it's best
described in their own words. Following is
a report on the trip prepared for us by
Johnathan.
Adventures in Australia
Our adventure began on Christmas Day
when .we left for Toronto. Since our plane
for Australia didn't leave until 7:00 a.m. on
the 26th, we spent our first night at the
Venture's Inn.
After departing Toronto International,
we switched planes in Chicago and headed
on to San Fransisco. Here we had a nine
hour wait until the flight continued on to
Hawaii and finally Australia so we made
good use of our time by touring San Fran-
sisco. We had lunch at Burger King which
sure beat the food they gave us on the
airplane!
After lunch we headed down to the
famous warfs. It was a cold, windy day
and everything was closed for the holidays
but we found the sites very interest9ing
and thoroughly enjoyed the bus tour.
We boarded our plane around 9 p.m. and
were finally off to Australia with a short
stop in Honolulu for refueling.
Our first glimpses of Sydney from the
plane were of the Opera House, the Sydney
Bridge, golf course and various sports
fields. When we got off the plane it was
raining but very,,warm.
After clearing customs, we were taken
to King's School, a private boys' school,
were we spent two days resting and getting
ready for the World Scout Jamboree ahead
of us.
This was the only time during the entire
trip that the Canadian contingent of 1,200
was actually together during the entire
trip.
King's School was very nice and we
learned that the students who attend the
school •must have a very high academic
level as well as being able to complete the
triathelon within a certain period of time.
By December 31 we were off to the Jam-
boree site located in the Cataract Scout
Park. We spent the day setting up camp
and planning our gateway which was to be
built the next day.
New Year's Eve brought the official
Jamboree opening with singers and
dancers from all over the world perform-
ing. Just before midnight, a Canadian
Scout gave a lit torch to an Aussie Scout
who, in turn, lit the huge torch located on
the site. .
The ceremonies ended with an im-
pressive fireworks display.
During the days of the Jamboree we
spent our time doing different activities.
We had a wide choice of things to do and
everyone was allowed to try just about
anything they wanted.
Of course, we enjoyed 'the trips to the
beach as much as anything having just
come from the cold Canadian winter. The
waves were enormous and the surf was
good fun.
The adventure course called Challenge
Valley was also a very popular activity. It
consisted of a strenuous cross-country run
complete with lots of mud. You had to
wear old clothes and no one finished the
course without being covered from head to
toe. The end of the course included a hose -
down.
Most travellers would agree, if you go to Australia you'll be treated well. The Cana-
dian Scouts certainly were during their recent visit Down Under. Shown here at the
camp of the Sefton Scouts of Australia is, back row left to right, Mike Bannerman of
the Kincardine pack; Australian Scout leader Leslie Pagett; Lucknow's Jonathan
Nelson; and Brent Williams of Kincardine. In front is Neil 'Finland of Kincardine;
Wingham's Ian Ward; Chris Colwell of Lucknow; Russel Kelly of Kincardine; and
Sean Kelly, also of Kincardine.
Another popular pass time was trading.
Every Scout brought various momentos,.f
pins and badges from their own country to
trade with Scouits from other countries. I
was able to trade for the official T-shirt of
the Phillipine Scouts and also came home
with shirts from Brazil and Australia as
well as a neck tie from New Zealand. The
Japanese were eager traders and I now
have a silk fan from Japan along with
many pins and badges from other
countries.
The totem pole
Other events during the ten-day Jam-
boree included sharing the religious
knowledge from the different countries
represented at the camp. We Yearned a lot
about the different customs and beliefs of
the world. It was made even more in-
teresting by the°fact that not everyone
spoke English!
We took a number of nature courses and
learned about the different animals and in-
sects of Australia. The Natural Awarness
park included a small zoo where we were
able to see the animals we had learned
about.
On Canada Day of the Jamboree, Ian
Ward from Wingham and myself
represented our troop at the Canada Day
ceremonies. Part of our duties was to
prepare a traditional Canadian lunch for
all the visitors to the camp. We estimated
we served more than 300 guests.
The Canadian Maple Syrup we served
with the pancakes had to be exported to
Australia last summer and because of the
strict Australian food laws at customs, the
Canadian Officials had to buy back the
Maple Syrup just for the event.
During the day, the Canadians proudly
presented the Cataract Scout Park with a
real Canadian totem pole. This totem was
hand carved by a B.C. Indian artist and
was mounted near the entrance to the
park. It will stand to be appreciated by
visitors to the camp in the future.
The big storm
January 7 was a day that we all will
remember well. This was the day a huge
storm hit the camp in the early evening.
Lightning struck the flag pole of the Swiss
Scouts and everyone was sent scurrying
for cover and safety.
I was in the shower when it hit and when
it did, I wasn't long getting out of the small
steel building, shampoo and all !
We worked hard at keeping our tent
from blowing over and it was a real battle
to keep all the pegs in place during the ter-
rific storm.
In the morning everything was a mess
and we spent the day cleaning up the
camp. Some of us never did find all our
things but we faired much better than
some of the other troups. Our only serious
casualty wasp a lad from Port Elgin who
broke his arm but he was back with us the
next day ready to carry on the trip.
On January 9, the closing ceremonies
regretfully came all too soon. They were
just as spectacular as the opening
ceremonies. At the end, sky divers in a
glowing neon mist came down and landed
right amongst the crowd. Fire works once
again lit up the Australian sky.
Into the outback
With the Jamboree officially over, two van
loads of Scouts from our area set out to
tour the famous Australian outback. The
outback is an arid, treeless land which is
liberally populated by kangaroos,
wallabies, emus, koalas and other forms of
unique wildlife.
Before we went, we were warned of the
gigantic and dangerous bull ants which
live in the outback. We also heard about
the centipedes, scorpions, and wild dogs
called Dingos. Almost everyone took home
an ant bite as a souvenir and no one could
believe the size of them.
We stayed on a 10,000 acre sheep ranch
called Lorne Station near the town of
Lightning Ridge and by Australian stan-
dards, 10,000 acres is considered a small
operation. A total of 18,000 sheep have been
known to graze at the station at any one
time.
During our stay, temperatures soared to
an unbearable 45 degrees celcius. We were
able to cool down by exploring inside an
opal mine located at Lightning Ridge.
Everyone found this very interesting and
we all carne away with jewellery made
from opals.
Australia is the only country in the world
where opals are found and they come in a
variety of colors. Black opals are the most
rare and are very popular.
The family we stayed with at the Lorne
Station was very kind to us and we really
hated to leave when it was time to go.
Beautiful beaches
On the 14th of January, we left for Port
Macquarie where we found the most
beautiful beaches. We stayed at a local Sea
Scout hall which was close to the water.
We were able to ride body boards on the
big waves which is a real thrill:
On the 15th, we were all invited to a
Scout leaders' home were we were enter-
tained by the local Australians. They cer-
tainly went out of their way to show us a
good time.
The following day it was off to Newcastle
and finally a real bed! We spent the night
in a hotel and even had breakfast in bed
the next morning.
By the 17th, our tour came to an end as
we again reached Sydney. During our last
day in Australia, we toured Sydney and
took in some of the celebrations being stag-
ed to commemorate the 200th anniversary
of the country.
Throughout our tour 'Down Under', we
were introduced to some similar and some
very different customs. The most in-
teresting food we saw was a spread called
Vegemite. It is a yeast based food that is
eaten on toast like our peanut butter...ex-
cept that Vegimite tastes terrible.
We were very well treated by the
Aussies no matter where we went. They
are very fond of Canadians because of our
common ties with Great Britian.
Someday I would like to return to
Australia and hope that some of the people
we met there will be able to come and visit
us here in Canada.
T would like to take this opportunity to
thank all the organizations and individuals
who helped support this wonderful ex-
perience of a lifetime:
Jonathan Nelson
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