What We’ve Been Up To
Tyakunda District All-Sections Camp
Tyakunda District ran an all-sections camp on the weekend of 14-16 October 2022. Over 300 Scouts from the district attended! The camp was held at BP Park and had a total of 8 bases which were Abseiling/Rock Climbing, Low Ropes, Archery, Pioneering, Heritage/ Royal Flying Doctor Service, JOTA-JOTI/International, Indigenous and Orienteering.
On the Friday night there was a disco with moving lights, a bubble machine and giant games. We setup all the bell tents before the disco so that the youth could check in and setup their gear in their tent and go straight to the disco.
The youth had plenty of opportunities to complete OAS stages as there were youth from every section in attendance.
Thanks to the Tyakunda District Leaders, Leaders that came from outside the district and region as well as Scouts QLD for supporting the event. I would also like to thank the Chief Commissioner, Daryl Scott as well as the incoming Chief Commissioner, Geoff Doo for making the time to come and visit all the activity bases. The Redcliffe Radio club also did an amazing job in setting up and running the JOTA base which really engaged the youth members.
James Cuneo, District Commissioner – Tyakunda District
Queen’s Jubilee Tree Planting
Darling Downs Region organised a tree planting and plaque unveiling to celebrate the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee.
Chief Commissioner Daryl Scott was invited and took this opportunity to participate in a youth and adult awards presentation on the same day! Congratulations to award recipients.
JOTA-JOTI at Morningside Scout Group
The Joey Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts from Morningside Scout Group were up until midnight to see Bear Grylls on JOTI Live. Camping overnight at the den with three of the Cub Scouts choosing to sleep in cardboard dwellings they had made themselves!
It was BYO device, Cub Scouts and Scouts had the best time playing Minecraft on the ScoutWired server with over 150 Scouts at a time, around the world. The best part was watching them play co-op together. They were working as a team and helping each other.
The group got the opportunity to talk to many countries: Sweden, South Libya, South Africa, Bangladesh, Wales, Scotland, China, Taiwan and of course Australia. Most impressive were our members who spoke second languages. Our Group had multiple members who were bi-lingual, and were able to converse with Scouts from Spain, Japan and Poland in their respective languages.
Morningside Scout Group also had the luxury of having a parent with a Ham radio and broadcast licence. This meant they were able to participate in JOTA as well as JOTI!
Bundaberg Air Activities Day
Scouts Queensland Air Activities Team recently held an event at Bundaberg and were featured in Bundaberg Now news:
More than 130 scouts had the chance to spread their wings in a day of air activities based at Bundaberg Airport.
Scouts Queensland Air Activities organised the event, which involved flight simulations and also provided some scout youth with the opportunity to take in a bird’s eye view of the Bundaberg Region.
Scouts from Kepnock, Millbank and Moore Park Beach were all thrilled to take part in the activities, saying a standout moment was having the helicopter and other aircraft available.
Moore Park Beach Joey Scout member Beth said she was unsure of how she would feel flying in an aircraft at first, but found the experience to be out of this world.
“I was nervous of the helicopter blades, but I kept my head down and then we took off like a rocket,” she said.
“I liked wearing the headphones so we could talk to each other because it was very loud.
“The cars looked like little ants!”
Cub Scout member Robb said he enjoyed taking in the sights of Bundaberg that he normally wouldn’t get the chance to see on the ground.
“I loved going in the front of the helicopter next to the pilot because I could see for miles and miles,” he said.
“I liked when we flew over the three bridges and then we saw the top of Coles and Maccas which was cool because I’ve only seen them from the road.
“My friend said he saw us fly over in the helicopter and now he wants to join Scouts too because we do so much cool stuff.”
Scouts Queensland Mountain Biking Camp
Scouts Queensland’s Branch Mountain Biking (MTB) camp was held at Karingal Scout campsite, Mount Cotton. There were 14 youth members in attendance from all over South-East Queensland and they were supported by 6 Leaders. The key objective of the camp was for all participants to improve on their existing skill level, learn new techniques and of course to have FUN!
To suit the weather conditions the program was adapted so that they covered content while waiting for breaks in the showers and storms. We are very fortunate to have almost 5km of quality single trail rides within Karingal Scout Camp, which has been build in conjunction with a local MTB club. These riding trails have very good drainage meaning the riders left very little environmental impact.
Youth members had the opportunity to demonstrate almost all the “I” statements from stages 4 & 5 from the mountain biking OAS pathway. They all planned a ride, took part in multiple workshops covering pre-ride preparation, bike set up, skill development, bike maintenance, repairs, as well as taking part in multiple rides.
Riders came with various skill levels and abilities, from super confident and skilled riders to some that were relatively new to off-road riding with limited confidence. The camp was divided into 3 patrols based on their abilities to ensure each rider received tailored mentoring suited to their level. Over the course of the weekend, we saw many improve, gain in confidence and having a go at obstacles, all while putting their newly learnt skills into practice.
As with all good activities, we ended with a review. The feedback was encouraging and positive. “Learned to choose gears up a hill”, “Learned the attack position”, “make sure to have enough space between riders”, “Learned how to change a brake cable”, “How to use tools”, “correct tyre pressures”. Riders were encouraging in their reflection, they enjoyed riding even though it was wet and bike maintenance was a big hit too.
Our Year in Robotics
This year a group of Venturer Scouts based at Aspley Scout Group competed in a robotics competition called “FIRST Tech Challenge” (FTC). This is a global competition with approximately 4000 teams including more than 97,000 students and 29,000 mentors from 34 countries. This competition has two parts: the robot game and judging interviews.
The team met on Friday nights and some weekends to build a mostly aluminium robot the size of microwave which needed to complete a set of tasks. In this case, to deliver freight (cubes, toy ducks and spheres). The team built their robot then worked on writing the code (in JAVA) which would allow it to complete their chosen tasks in the 3-minute timeframe.
The robot had an arm which could pick up freight and deposit it on a circular ‘shipping hub’ and a spinning mechanism that was made of Lego wheels was used to spin a carousel which dropped a yellow duck onto the ground.
The competition was initially scheduled to take place in November 2021, but was delayed due to COVID. Unfortunately, COVID also prevented the team from competing in a live regional event on 5 February, and competition in the National Remote event was hindered by flooding. However, in true Scouting fashion the team persevered and used a makeshift game board and put in a video-recorded entry anyway. This entry put them in 19th place out of 45 teams from around Australia. The team was also short-listed for a Team Award.
On 4 June the team competed in an off-season event where they wrote six new programs on the fly and the robot performed well throughout the challenge. Their coach was very proud of the team’s results and efforts for the day. During the event the team had to liaise with and work with other FTC teams. The collaborative spirit between teams is a hallmark of the FTC program and greatly encouraging and supporting as we all learn more about robot construction and programming.
Thanks to the team members, parents, coach, Leader and Branch for their support.
We look forward to further robotics endeavours in the coming season.
Scouting Achievements
Kirwan Scout Group Celebrates Adult Recognition Awards
Queensland Woggle
Old logo Queensland Woggle’s have officially sold out! The Scout Shop will now only be selling the new brand woggles.
Need to update your woggle? Head to the Scout Shop now!
