Scotch College

Venturers off to a flying start

1999 has got off to a flying start for the 1st Hawthorn (Scotch College) Venturer Unit.

Over the January break our Annual Camp took the form of a bike ride from Benalla to Wangaratta. Over the 7 days we rode more than 100km, hiked another 20km, and spent the rest of the time relaxing, swimming and eating.

We welcomed two new members to the unit, David Butterworth (Yr 10) and Douglas Lyons (Yr 9), who were invested, on the camp, and wish them the best of luck in obtaining their Queen's Scout awards.

The Venturer unit usually meets at Scotch on Friday evenings, where we spend a couple of hours winding down and enjoying a range of activities. Already this year we have been roller-blading along the waterfront at St. Kilda, kayaking with other units in our zone and had an interesting visit to the Police Search and Rescue Unit.

We spent a Sunday canoeing on the Yarra at Warrandyte, and participated in a successful 24 hr Hike. We also had a number of boys attend 'Anything Goes', an inter-unit camp near Moe, where they could jet-ski, scuba dive, and much more.

Coming up over the term break is the 'Hoadley Hide', an annual hiking competition for Venturers across Victoria. 1st Hawthorn has a fruitful history in the competition and this year has a definite chance to be co-holders again.

The deadline for Venture 2000 applications is getting closer. This is a jamboree for Venturers, held this coming January on the surf coast of Victoria. 10 days of new friends, new experiences, new places, excitement, thrills, spills and fun with Venturers from all over Australia and the Pacific. Scotch will certainly be well represented as many of our Venturers are attending.

Venturing at Scotch is on the increase and we surely will have another activity packed year ahead.

Ben Hallenstein, Unit Secretary