Under clear, crisp winter skies, 40 Cub Scouts and 20 Leaders and parent helpers from across the district made the journey to Rowallan Park for the first District Cub Scout camp in many years.
The theme for the weekend was ‘Wild West’ and, after a frantic land grab and assignment of positions, the boisterous group enjoyed a variety of games and activities fitting the theme.
In their rush to get to camp, the group discovered that some vital camping equipment was lost.
The first activity of the weekend was a wide game to scour the local area for paddle pop sticks which had their equipment written on them.
A construction activity had the Cub Scouts building their part of a corral to yard their ‘cattle’ in.
They also needed to build their herd, so some cattle rustling was in order (i.e. Rob the Nest).
Once everyone had an established ranch, they had to come up with a name for their property and a brand for their beasts.
In traditional wild west fashion, prominent features of the surrounding area were used for ranch titles.
The Cub Scouts enjoyed a tumbleweed relay and collecting some firewood before afternoon tea and tried their hand creating a plaited keyring, with varying amounts of success.
At the end of the day, they enjoyed time around the campfire with a yarn, a song and time for reflection on the day’s activities.
Most of the camp enjoyed a good night’s sleep, but a shower of rain caused some issues for a few.
The camp was up and about early on Sunday morning with everyone looking forward to a hearty breakfast.
The Cub Scouts, and some Leaders, learned how to cook eggs in a zip lock bag to accompany their bacon and toast.
A hike was on the cards after breakfast, and once everyone had returned, the Cub Scouts set about packing up their gear while the Leaders participated in a Seeonee.
After morning tea, another wide game was conducted, and the Cub Scouts participated in some compass instruction.
Their task: to follow the compass trail, collect all the letters from each checkpoint and work out what the scrambled words were.
Lunch time introduced everyone to another fun cooking activity, hotdogs in milk cartons which proved to be a great hit.
With tummies full, everyone set about completing camp break.
Goodbyes were said with promises of doing it all again next year.
Cub Scout Benji Spann from the Proserpine Group showing the clove hitch. Photo supplied: Mary Wallace
