Scotch College

Venturing into a year of challenging activities

Scotch Venturers venture into another busy year.

Words: Calvin Tan • Year 10

The Scotch Venturer Unit’s annual camp in Gippsland during January was a great way to start the year, exposing us to a wide range of experiences, from power stations to gold mines, and from the devastation of the bushfires to the serenity of canoeing on the La Trobe River. Our thanks go to David King and Lachlan Fraser (ex-Venturers and members of the Old Scotch Rover Crew), who helped us.

At the start of the year we welcomed new members to the Venturer Unit, and we’d like to encourage other Scotch students to come and try Venturers. I’m sure they also will have the opportunity to become addicted to all the fun activities in which we are involved.

We began our year by completing our canoeing charge certificate over a number of Friday nights. This involved canoeing on the Yarra River, which was a thrilling experience; especially at night when the street and house lights were glowing and a restaurant boat motored by. Part of the fun also included the capsizing, deep water rescues and the occasional ‘accidental’ fall into the very ‘tasty’ Yarra River.

‘Anything Goes’ was the next memorable weekend activity. It was a major camp attended by more than 400 Venturers from all over Victoria, and some of the exciting activities included mountain biking, scuba diving, flying, horse riding, abseiling, swimming, canoeing, go-carting, surfing and snorkeling.

Mountain biking was one of the best experiences I could have had, besides the pain side of it. We went on Olympic standard tracks, coming out very bruised and cut. However, experiencing the adrenaline rush I felt while dropping off solid ground was not to be missed. As well as the main activities, many of us played pool, rock climbed, did archery, met other Venturers, stayed up till three in the morning for days straight, while playing cricket or socialising with our new friends among the tent lines.

In term one, a group of Scotch Venturers met at Studley Park to take part in a navigation activity and to prepare for the hikes that we would be going on soon, including the Hoadley Hide, a competition activity–hike held in a secret location over Easter. With the help of Phil Schneider, our Assistant Venturer Leader, we learned or revised navigation skills and then enjoyed a barbecue in the park.

Contact Robert Evans (Venturer Leader) on 0418 532 505 if you’d like to know more about the Scotch Venturer Unit.