Sharing Stories of Grant Recipients
Nik’s AV2018 Experience
Without the generosity of the Lord Baden-Powell Society, Nik’s AV2018 experience may not of been achieved.
AV2018 was an event held at Camp Warrawee, just north Brisbane during January 2018. Arriving there on the 2nd, we moved into our expeditions and set off down to the Gold Coast for the start of our expedition, “Get Urban”. Our first full day was spent travelling around the Gold Coast, completing challenges and using public transport to travel from point to point, Amazing Race style. The final point that afternoon was at the top of the world famous Q1 Tower on the Gold Coast. Someone wrote #AV2018 in the sand below the tower whilst we were up it!
After we finished up Q1 Tower, we took the train up to a Scout Hall in South Brisbane, where we stayed for the night, before continuing the Amazing Race around Brisbane. We rode the Wheel of Brisbane and travelled the ferry network in an attempt to finish the quickest. Dinner that night was barbecued at Kangaroo Point – a spot with good views of the city centre!
We had the next day as a free day and could explore Brisbane as we wished with who we wished. This made a nice change from trying to do things as quickly as possible. We all met up outside Eat St Markets for dinner that night, and once I got there I found myself wondering why I hadn’t been before. It was amazing. There was so much to see and try there that to have everything I wanted to have, I would need to have dinner there every night for three months!
It was an early start the next day with the 7:20am train to the Sunshine Coast for our final day of racing. We started at the Caloundra Bus Station, and raced with our teams of six – and one watermelon – up to our campground in Noosa. One of the strangest things I’ve ever done is take a photo of someone else’s sandcastle with a watermelon. That night was at a campground – but not before a party on the Noosa Airstrip. A great place to be after sundown.
Ice skating was something I’d never tried before, and I was surprised to find I wasn’t too bad at it.
The next day was the start of Phase 2 of the Venture. Whilst we camped as Units within expeditions, we could spend our time with whomever we wanted. There were numerous onsite activities and other things to do to keep us entertained. That night there was an opening party which we all attended. Over the remaining days onsite, we had the opportunity to attend two offsite activities which we had booked previously. One of my choices was an hour at Bounce in the morning, followed by three hours at an ice skating rink. Ice skating was something I’d never tried before, and I was surprised to find I wasn’t too bad at it. My other offsite activity was archery tag, laser tag and geocaching. Archery Tag was something I’d never tried before, and I’d like to do it again at some point. Laser tag is always fun, and Geocaching is always interesting. After all that, we then hurled powder paint at each other for a bit and then jumped in the pool to cool off.
Our final day was spent at Old Petrie Town, a historic site near Camp Warrawee. There was plenty of things to buy and look at, and we all had vouchers for soft serves and snow cones – very welcome during the heat! Overall, AV2018 was a great camp to go to, and I thank the Lord Baden-Powell Society for helping me get there. I had an amazing time with amazing people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.
