Summer time scouting madness
A multitude of international scouts reached Wellington?s shores over the summer holidays. Every four years hundreds of Venturer Scouts gather to swap adventure stories and expand their horizons. This year the 11th New Zealand Venture Scouts Camp was held in the Brookfield Camp at Wainuiomata and hosted over 800 scouts, half of which came from Australia. ?A group of 10 Tawa Venturers went, with two leaders that led amazing race teams,? says Tawa Scouts group leader Clare Smith. During the first six days scouts ventured out on a range of activities. In heading the Amazing Race adventure, Mrs Smith travelled with around 100 scouts finding abstract clues as they wound their way up to Wanganui. ?It was fantastic, full-on ... a highlight was when I saw a store owner exchange his shirt with one of the kids to solve a clue, he was just left in the North City Plaza with no shirt,? she laughs. The ?blue team? won with a leader from Northland, and a Tawa leader?s team came second. Mrs Smith was amused at the Australian tents that didn?t stand up to the Wellington weather. Tawa Scouts had successfully fundraised around Christmas for new tents to pitch at the Brookfield Camp. Camp organiser Tony Dale says, ?It was a really good event, the scouts were in high spirits and a great aspect was the friendships made between the Kiwi and Aussie kids?. Highlights from the camp were a fluro-party that used over 350 litres of paint and was escalated into scene of madness by ZM DJ General Lee. ?There were 800 kids there just going crazy, about 90 percent of the Venturers in New Zealand were there,? Mr Dale says. The camp is for scouts aged between 15 and 17 years-old. The camps final night was closed out by Midnight Youth, an Auckland rock band.
