The Trail Report by ADC Warren "Rocsta" Rocchi

"Deep wooded kloofs, crashing waterfalls and crystal clear rock-pools are but some of the boasts the Baviaanskrans Trail has to offer" was all it took ensure I fully booked the trail and once again maxed out my credit card.

We left on Friday to the tune of Lustra thrashing out power chords of "Scotty doesn't know" around lunchtime stopping at the highly recommended Maropeng World Heritage site where we had a quick lunch. We then made our way to Rustenberg where we settled down around the fire at Explorer Camp while the chicken potjie bubbled away under Andrew's watchful eye.

Saturday morning presented a steep incline along the game fence and lots of contouring with some treachorous winds which kept us amused while Grant kept on losing his hat. Richard never stopped playing with his throwing ball and Zaahid chattered away happily. All the while Kyle was snapping away on his trusty camera. The tough day's hiking was made all worth it when we arrived at Avon More camp which was a trio of rock shelters joined by a network of wooden walkways umbrellered under the stretching limbs of a tolkienesk wild olive tree. The seniors went kloofing and cliff hanging whilst the youngsters did their axemanship and learnt how to build a smokeless fire. That evening while we feasted on Rocchi pasta bolognaise some scouts fried their brains on the riddles passed around the campfire.

Sunday morning was brought aound by rays of sunshine breaking through the canopy and a troop of vervet monkeys that also had a taste for bolognaise. We set off on the path up to the garden of rememberance and up to a series of waterfalls for lunch where Scotty found much to his dismay that his bag had been "rocked"! At this point Keagan's boots had almost disentigrated and were being held together by Elastoplast!

From here we ascended to the highest point of the hike where we took photo's and then followed a gentle descent back to Explorer Camp. We gave a forlorn hitchiker a ride back on the trailer and then headed off homewards but not before we stopped at Wimpy and had our legendary wimpy burgers and sodas. All in all a great event! Scotty still doesn't know...

Compo Camp 2007 - Dead Man's Chest

"Aye! Me hearties, Long John Silver yer Captin' spekin'- Shiver me Timbers 'ave I got a tale 'ere for yer.... So pull up yer stool, fil yer mug with 'nother grog 'an listen carefully 't tis venture me tells of!..."

In an epic maritime adventure the power teams of Northern district fought on seas and beaches in a bid to be the first to uncover pirate Davy Jones' heart. This shoreline adventure was held on the tranquil waters of Arrow Park, Benoni - organised by none other than the Mside Trio plus one. A fleet of Galley's lined the shore and the scouters team proved a merry bunch of pirates.

Glenhurst once again proved their mighty scouting skills were superior and took home the trophy, but not without some healthy competition from the other troops!

Cyclist Badge

Cyclist badge was held over two weekends in February '07. Harry Potter although a master on the broomstick was no quite as road concious and avoided many near misses with buses, trucks and bridges.

A grueling ride took us out past the airport and back to Syd Sand where the rich kids put their bikes in the cars while the poor kids had to ride home. Thanks to Arthur for organising the event Benji & Chris for their Cycling expertise and Max and Vic for driving the support vehicle. Warren as per usual did nothing....in fact I think he came along just for the ride :)

Inter Patrol Challenge - "IPC 2007"

23 February 2007, all of a sudden the still evening silence is cut in half by scouts running in all directions doing death defying stunts and collecting numbered golf balls. The aim of the evening is to determine which patrol could do the most stunts/activities in a set space of time. Stunts were chosen by picking a numbered golf ball out of the bucket thus leaving a lot to chance. Fate it seemed smiled kindly on the Puma Patrol of 1st Athol! Thank you to Gerbil for a well organised event. Thank you to the remainder of the scouters for co-ordinating the bases.

One of the highlights of the evening was the shocker where patrols tested their combined motor-co ordination with often hilarious results. Glenhurst waxed this stunt as the term "No brain - no pain" was proved once again. Unfortunately some of the more mentally challenging stunts left them fumbling around in the dark.

Senior Scout Adventure 2007 - Cederberg

Held every 2 years in the majestic sanctuary of the Cederberg Mountains in the Western Cape, The Adventure offers senior scouts a chance to spend 2 weeks hiking from base to base in the wilderness. 2007 was attended by a mixed group of Northern District scouts and our scouters were involved in staffing the bases and as a mountain rangers team. The hilarious 'Rabid Ranger Report' is in the Feb edition of the NorthExpo newletter, but we have yet to receive a written account from any scout participants. We also met up with an ex-Northerns scout, Mark Cronje, pictured in the aeroplane, who has joined a new troop in Knysna. It is suggested that scouts that will be 15 in Dec 2008 start saving for this life changing experience now!

Archery Day.

On the 7th of October Archery Unlimited hosted the Scout archery shoot, the scouts had a lot of fun learning about archery and shooting different types of bows.

It seems that we have a few Robin Hood's in our midsts. There is an archery badge available for scouts to do and it can also be done at school or club level.

Thanks to Vic for organising the event and Max for instructing the scouts on the safety and operation of the bows.

Potch Army Experience 2006

The Army Experience 2006 was attended by Syd-Sand and Morningside, and was a spectacular demonstration by the SANDF Artlilery. Scouts who attended saw various weapons in action including R5 rifles, General purpose machine gun, Browning 707, missile launchers, mortar rockets, G1, G4 and G5 weaponry and the awesome Renoster letting loose with 120 missiles in 42 seconds. This was followed by a short tour of all the military vehicles and and braai down by the dam on the army base. The event will be on the calendar for next year.