The Lord Baden Powell Society

AJ2025 Experience 

Thank you Lord Baden-Powell Society for helping me get to AJ2025! Here is what I did….. 

January 5th, the day it all started. Busy parking lots, many buses and cars waiting for the departure of the Scouts. It was a nice, warm day, all the Scouts from ACT had gathered up for the ride to Queensland. The bus ride was quite long, though it was worth the memories. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a crowded campsite. Hundreds of tents, gazebos and many Scouts. The campsite was huge, a total of 5 sub-camps and long walks to get from one place to another.  

Once we set-up camp, the opening ceremony was held. The whole crowd of Scouts were cheering for these big names and astonishing fireworks, ending the first day with a hyped night. 

During “Your Adventure”, we were assigned archery tag, geocaching and the trail cycle. While we couldn’t do archery tag due to a time shortage, we still managed to find both geocaches and ride the trail cycle full of puddles, dips and bumps. 

“Your Choice” activity was a hard one to find, as the map didn’t directly show which sheds had the activities. Though after some struggle, we managed to find them and make a leather press keychain.  

There were other activities like woodwork and puzzles, although there wasn’t much time left as we spent a good portion learning about the radio waves and ways of communicating. 

At “Your Action”, we were assigned archery and pioneering activities. I loved the archery, as we got to learn how to use the bow and arrow, along with shooting. I managed to get quite close to the higher scores, though I didn’t get to the bullseye.

The pioneering park was an interesting yet fascinating one, as it was shocking how pieces of rope, poles and some strength could create a playground as fun as the ones in our neighbourhoods. 

As for offsite activities, I wish I would’ve skipped the steam train at Maryborough, as it caused a medical emergency and therefore had to miss that too. Although I was able to go to the zoo and seaside, which I very much enjoyed!  

At the zoo we saw many animals such as koalas, kangaroos, snakes, elephants, zebras, meerkats, and many more. We also watched the crocodile show, which was such an amusing performance. I enjoyed much of the memories we made, seeing fun and fascinating animals.

At seaside, I loved making the PVC rafts, as we got to ride them in the end! Although the tide was low, it meant we were able to have a nice walk out, riding our rafts in shallow water. I also enjoyed the patrol-based water activities, as they brought us to work together and build our communication and teamwork skills.

Thank you, Lord Baden-Powell Society.

Report by Carina – Scouts ACT