Australian Boy Scouts?

Oh yeah - Sea Snails... forgot about them! :angel:

Australia has Sea Scouts too. They are the same as normal scouts, but have more focus on aquatic activities. They still do normal scout stuff too.

PS - How crap is the new uniform? The said they wanted to look 'cool'... People don't join Scouts to be cool! :mad: (end/ rant)

I forgot to mention that my scout master was an industrial chemist... :twisted: His Scouting name was "Takana" after a character in some mythology. Takana - the bringer of fire... :twisted:

Our annual christmas present comprised of a bag of potassium permanganate and a jar of glycerine! :lol2:

Potassium Permanganate+Glycol=awesome! At a Jamborette (local mini jamboree) there was a competition where you had to light a fire tall enough to pop a balloon, using one match and wet wood. Took my patrol about 15 seconds :D
The leaders in charge of that activity didn't like our 'be prepared' attitude.:twisted:

I remember voting out the new uniform back in 1999 :mad:

Binford, The aircraft are available for all age levels, I first went in the cessnas as a cub, and the gliding was during scouts that I tried it. The pilots are all members of Scouts Aus.
The expensive gear such as planes are owned by the overall org, and to make the most of it, any age group are allowed to use them. A nominal fee to cover fuel and maintenance is charged. Smaller stuff like canoes are property of the individual troop.
-Mark

Yep. You can obtain your Pilots License through scouts, at a comparatively reasonable price. You can get a pilots licence from 16 in Australia and so the option is open to Venturers.

I had every intention of doing this, but regrettably never got around to it. :(

I have never been gliding, but spent plenty of time in all four aircraft, particularly VH-WRY (one of the 172s)

Oh, and uniform... I remember seeing a show of hands being taken at a district Patrol Leaders meeting. Out of 45 young people, only one person was in favour of the new uniform, and he was in Scouts only because his parents made him.

(He was quietly executed after the meeting. :p )

There are scout troops in every major town.
I for a while in my younger years used to belong to 1st east Miranda Scottish scouts and is one of only two scout groups in Aust to wear Kilts(the other scout groups would give us a hard time over this)
My son 7 and daughter 5 is involved with the local Nowra cubs.
They love it .
My missus is now a Bageehra (helper/leader ?)
I find I am now getting involved in some of the activities.
The interesting thing is the land that has been donated to the scouts over the years, they own or use some of the best water front land around.
The scout movement is very strong in Aust and links to it will help with cheap accommodation in Aust and general knowledge of things you may want to do when visiting a new part of Australia.
It is a good thing and more kids should be doing it.

I was in the Boy Scouts when I was a young fella.
Got kicked out for eating a Brownie:twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted:
Andrew

Had a couple of stints in the scouting movement, as a cub in the UK and then later as a Rover (do they still exist ?) at Engadine.

The 22nd Australian Scout Jamboree will be held at Cataract Scout Camp (SSW of Sydney) during the first couple of weeks in Jan 2010, they are expecting around 12000 scouts.

Australian Jamboree 2010


Martyn

Mrs Moose took the girl child along for a meeting a couple of years ago, came home having signed up to be a scout leader, now it all but consumes their weekends! Especially so with jamboree coming up, they'll both be there (and i dare say a little sick of it by then:D).

Never was a scout, but used to own a scout hall.

Well, more like a scout shed.

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Originally Posted by Shonky

How crap is the new uniform? The said they wanted to look 'cool'... People don't join Scouts to be cool! :mad: (end/ rant)

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They're not half bad, actually. They only made very minor changes. The fabric used to be all cotton (perfect for the outdoors, right....?) with the rarely-used ($$$) poly/wool optional fabric. The new uniforms are now 100% Supplex Nylon. The pants can now zip off to form shorts and have a better cargo pocket than before. The shirts have Velcro pocket closures and a small (useless?) pocket on the left sleeve. The long-sleeve shirt version (the only way to go for Scouts, IMHO, for the sun and mozzie protection it offers) has keeps for rolling up the sleeves.

As for color, they are all the same color, but the numeral patches have changed from the traditional white on red to the new olive on khaki. The epaulet loops used to be red and are now olive as well. That really is the only change and IMO it was a good one. The best move was going to the nylon for much better outdoor use, though I believe cotton is still available.

Here's a picture for ya. I'm the one with the sunglasses on my head wearing the new uniform shirt. That's my son, Nick, in front of me with the olive epaulet loops with an old style shirt and new nylon pants. Everyone else in the picture is wearing the old uniform except for Nathan (with the red neckerchief on). Not much difference, eh? The older shirts have dark buttons while the newer ones have Velcro pocket closures and tan buttons down the front. So the main difference is the olive numerals and epaulet loops.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...09/11/1211.jpg

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Originally Posted by Shonky

His Scouting name was "Takana" after a character in some mythology. Takana - the bringer of fire... :twisted:

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Interesting. I've never heard of Scouting Names here. The boys are generally called by their first names and we adult leaders are referred to as "Mr. Taylor" and such, even among ourselves in the presence of the boys.

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Originally Posted by longing4alandy

I remember voting out the new uniform back in 1999 :mad:

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Were they trying to make a radical change to it then?

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Originally Posted by longing4alandy

Binford, The aircraft are available for all age levels, I first went in the cessnas as a cub, and the gliding was during scouts that I tried it. The pilots are all members of Scouts Aus.

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That would have been a hoot, Mark! Here in the US I'm afraid people are a bit too eager to file lawsuits if anything goes awry, so the BSA wouldn't likely go with the small aircraft concept. I got my pilot's license on my own in my mid-20s so I understand that it's generally quite safe (compare it with driving to an outing, eh?)

One of our local Scoutmasters who teaches climbing and rappelling had made arrangements with a National Guard unit (basically a state military unit) to have a helicopter hover over the parking lot at a nearby high school while four Scouts rappelled out! It was to be a recruitment drive and would likely have gone a long way toward dispelling the concept of Scouting being for dorks! The local BSA Council squashed the idea, no surprise. :mad:

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Originally Posted by 101 Ron

I for a while in my younger years used to belong to 1st east Miranda Scottish scouts and is one of only two scout groups in Aust to wear Kilts(the other scout groups would give us a hard time over this).

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Now THAT would have been style! At our Boy Scout summer camp last summer, a Troop arrived to the dining hall assembly the first evening lead by one of the Scouts on bagpipes! Absolutely classy! A kilt would have been icing on the cake, but he probably wasn't prepared for the ribbing he'd take for it! :D

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Originally Posted by 101 Ron

The interesting thing is the land that has been donated to the scouts over the years, they own or use some of the best water front land around.

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Here as well! Our summer camp was held at Camp Parsons (www.campparsons.com - Camp Parsons Chief Seattle Council, BSA), which is one of the first Boy Scout camps established in the States. BP himself visited there! It's right on the shores of Hood Canal--an inlet from the Pacific Ocean. Stunningly beautiful. I set up my hammock for a killer view of the water! Here's a view:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...09/11/1212.jpg

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Originally Posted by 101 Ron

The scout movement is very strong in Aust and links to it will help with cheap accommodation in Aust and general knowledge of things you may want to do when visiting a new part of Australia.
It is a good thing and more kids should be doing it.

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Amen to that! It really is a good program for the boys. Sounds like what you call "Bageehra" we call "Akela" here.

I'm looking forward to getting in touch with a Scout group in Tasmania. Both my boys will be in Scouts by then. I think going on an outing with some Tassie Scouts would be a blast for us and them.

HA! While I was looking for the pictures I have on my computer showing the old vs. new uniform, I came across a short video clip I made at camp last summer. I have an Akubra hat that I've made into my official Scouting hat by placing a BSA hat pin on it and the guys were giving me a hard time about it. As they were preparing the dinner, I tried doing my best Andrew Dwyer impersonation, complete with an attempt at an Aussie accent!

[ame=http://s408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/Timulator/?action=view&current=VideoCampParsons2009138.flv]VideoCampParsons2009138.flv video by Timulator - Photobucket[/ame]

Interesting Jamboree video. I avoid those crowds like the plague though! Some of the boys like to go, so other leaders take them. I'll just stick to the smaller summer camps and Troop outings, thank you very much! ;)

-- Tim Taylor