Day 1: early start to get to Sydney airport as independent
travellers and make our way to Adelaide. Caught the airport train something you
can't do in Melbourne!
Got to Adelaide airport, just happened to see some Viccon
shirts heading out of the terminal towards the bus, so tagged along.
Arrived at Adelaide Arena and checked in. It was obvious
that the temperature was rising both inside and out. The check in process was
quite simple, but it took a long time waiting on each contingent to turn up
before the opening ceremony (as lacklustre as it was) finally started.
Once the opening ceremony was complete we waited for our
exped leader. Jay finally showed up about 45 minutes later and then the whole
exped kicked off.
We loaded the trailer and then headed out towards Hindmarsh
Island - up the long hill on the highway heading east from Adelaide. The
original plan was to camp at the Tanunda caravan park and ride at the Cuddlee
Creek MTB park the following day, but bushfires were threatening that area. The
severe heat and our loaded bus and trailer meant we had to wait on the side of
the road twice while the bus cooled down!
Once at Hindmarsh Island we set up camp and bumped into the
Hindmarsh Island Getaway units at the same WEOA campsite. We had a lovely BBQ
dinner followed by a bit of 'get to know you' before chilling out and turning
in for the night.
Day 2: After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we packed down
our camp with the intention of moving on after the day’s activities of riding
along the bike path from Hindmarsh Island, through Goolwa to Victor Harbour.
The ride went as planned and we stopped for lunch at Port Elliot where one of
the Venturers took ill and was not feeling capable of completing the days ride.
He and I joined our guide Moira on a road trip to Victor Harbour to rendezvous
with the remainder of the group. While at Victor Harbour the Venturers made use
of the nearby shops and purchased some refreshments. We were also treated to
some thrilling scooter, BMX and skateboard tricks at the local skate park,
while others took to the beach to cool off.
Once the bikes were loaded on the trailer it was back to
Hindmarsh Island for another unplanned overnight stay. After setting up our
camp again, it was time for dinner and a bit of frisbee'ing before turning in.
While Hindmarsh Island was not our anticipated camping spot, it was very
comfortable (apart from cold showers).
Day 3: A somewhat lighter breakfast this morning was
followed by once again packing down and then finally heading off the Island.
Our destination was Craigburn Farm MTB Park. This park is set in the middle of
some recent housing developments in Adelaide's southern suburbs. The trails are
quite open and they cater for all skill levels. I had my first 'over-the-bars'
moment for the exped here while attempting NOT to drop off the track. I was
successful in NOT dropping off the track but less so in braking without lifting
the back wheel and ejecting myself! No drama, just a bump and a scrape and
hopped back on. The few Venturers that saw this effort were quite impressed
(i.e.: laughed a LOT!). We spent all day here and had two sessions on the
trails, broken up by a lunch break. These trails were a good intro to trail
riding for those that hadn't done much (any) before. From here we headed off to
Douglas Scrub Guide Camp to camp for the next two days and use it as our base
for more trail rides. Dinner while at Douglas Scrub was cooked using Trangias
on both nights and there was quite a debate on how to pronounce Trangia between
one NSW Venturer and the rest of the exped crew. He wasn't persuaded! After
dinner and the washing up, we headed over to the other side of Douglas Scrub to
visit the tree-dwelling Venturers - those adventurous souls that chose to build
and live in tree houses during their exped. There were some amazing tree houses
and the ingenuity on show was fantastic. Some even had LED lights strung around
the rails, with two levels of platforms! Awesome.
Day 4: This morning we headed off to Kuitpo Forest to blaze
some pine forest MTB trails. Some of these trails were quite technical and
narrow which was a real challenge for most of us. Most of us came out
unscathed, except for one Qld'er landing on his chin after not taking enough
speed into a double jump and another Qld'er being bucked from the same jump and
landing heavily on his wrist. Later on that day one of our NSW brethren took a
fall and it was thought that he may have fractured his arm. A visit to the ED
found that this was not be and that he had merely bruised his nerve around the
elbow. Ouch. That night we were back at Douglas Scrub and after dinner paid a
visit to the rock walls for some bouldering.
Day 5: We farewelled Douglas Scrub and headed to Eagle MTB
Park on the outskirts of Adelaide. In some pretty hot conditions (my Garmin
registered 40+ on the trails) we were treated to some sweet trails, including a
trail that has been used as the National Downhill track. It was hot, damn hot,
but for those brave enough to tackle the conditions they were paid back in
spades by the awesome technical track and wicked descent! The view from the top
over Adelaide was pretty good too. After a lunch break we packed up the bikes
and headed to the beach for a dip and the chance to raid a convenience store
for a slurpee and ice cream. After a refreshing dip we made tracks for our
accommodation for our last night on exped - Flagstaff Hill Scout Hall, in the
suburbs of Adelaide. The hall was well appointed and spacious - even having
shower facilities. The overnight low of 20+ made for an uncomfortable night no
matter the location, so it was a weary crew that awoke the following morning.
Day 6: After breakfast and cleaning up the hall it was off
to City Dirt - an inner city pump track that offered another chance to test
ourselves on the bikes. It was another hot day and after a few hours at City
Dirt and a bakery lunch in a nearby park we headed to Woodhouse to join up with
the other exped groups and begin the onsite part of AV2015. We ended up being
first on site which was quite odd. At least we had the chance to use the shower
and laundry facilities first! Once we set up our tents (on our sloping site)
the next buses started making their way on site. It was great to see the sea of
hike tents start to pop up and the site start buzzing with the hundreds of
Venturers about to start the next part of their adventure. Once on site there
was no need for cooking - all meals were catered for at the catering marquees.
The queues were quite a sight!
Day 7: The first full day on site was totally on site. There
were carnival rides, flying foxes, hands-on activities, all manner of games and
every opportunity to socialise. This is when the weather started to turn.
Although it made some things a bit more difficult (like drying clothes), the
cooler weather was welcome respite from the higher temperatures both for us and
the fire fighters battling blazes across the state. Today provided a great
opportunity to catch up with our unit, those Venturers from our District and
some familiar faces. It was also the beginning of making new friends.
Day 8: The Sherbrooke Forest contingent decided beforehand
to embark on a coach trip to the Monarto Zoo. This is an open range zoo and you
take a tour aboard your coach (or one of their coaches if you didn't bring your
own). This was a very relaxing half day tour and the inside of the air
conditioned coach was the place to be on yet another drizzly day. The size and
composition of the meals from the onsite catering brigade had started to take a
downward trajectory by now. Scouting organisers should realise that you can get
away with a lot if people have full tummies. Keeping teenagers hungry
(underfed) is NOT the way to get them on side. Luckily for them the leaders
were being treated the same and we went into bat for them with the organisers.
The result wasn't great, but it was better than it had been. That was the one
lowlight for this camp.
Day 9: This was a day I chose to stay on site and recharge
the batteries that were just about well and truly spent. I caught up with
several leaders and Venturers I knew, visited the contingent headquarters and
bought a few badges, checked out the lay of Woodhouse and just chilled out. The
Venturers were doing any number of on and off site activities and coming and
going as necessary. It was great to see the Venturers being (mostly) mature and
responsible and getting on with their own things either with others or on their
own. After more than a week living in close quarters with even you closest
mates, you need some space. Some took the opportunity to go shooting or
undertake activities like laser tag or even go to the beach on organised. There
was loads to do - even though we were in Adelaide!
Day 10: I headed out on a leaders trip of the Adelaide
Hills. We visited a car museum not far from Onkaparinga, the Giant Rocking
Horse and associated wildlife sanctuary and had lunch at the local cafe. After
lunch we visited a chocolate factory (and the visitors shop) and a few other
local haunts before heading back to Woodhouse. The day tour was a bit
underwhelming, but the company was good - a break from the kids!
Day 11: After spending the morning on site and catching up
with people I took a trip into Adelaide city for the afternoon. After being
deposited at Rundle Mall I went for a walk. Nothing really took my fancy so I
headed to the Casino. I duly located the sports bar, ordered a beer and watched
whatever sports happened to be on the big screen for a couple of hours. It was
a very relaxing afternoon indeed. Once back on site it was time to start
getting my gear together and making sure the Venturers were also making a start
on packing as tomorrow was departure day. After dinner tonight was the closing
ceremony. This was meant to be outside, but a last minute decision saw it moved
into a very large marquee as the rain continued to fall. There were
presentation about AV 2018, The Moot 2017 and some other scouting events coming
up. Compared to a Jamboree closing ceremony, it was very small scale. But when
you've only got an audience of 1,200 people you can't really lash out.
Day 12: Up at sparrows and searching for Patrick to make
sure he was up and getting ready to depart as well. He slept in Declan's tent
which wasn't in my plan, but after finding him it was all good. We packed up in
the rain which meant our tents weighed a bit more than when we arrived! We
bummed a lift to the airport with the NSW contingent (since we were independent
travellers) and checked in for our flight. Upon checking in I was notified that
my bag was now 1kg over weight - thanks to the rain soaked tent no doubt. I was
able to move a pair of shoes into Patrick's bag and we were good to go. Now it
was just the wait at the gate lounge. It was a great adventure, and my first
national large scale scouting event. Angus will be 16 for AV2018 which is being
held in Qld, and it will be interesting to see how that goes!
