In April 2023 our ADC Scouts took part in an amazing journey to Perth, Australia to take part in a camp with over 1000 Australian Scouts. Here’s his story.

For those who are interested, I’ll start at the very beginning. Around 2013 I was taking part in an event called ‘Jamboree on the Internet’ , JOTI to those who take part. Quite simply in the first weekend in October we organise a giant internet chat room just for Scouts and Guides. This obviously takes some setting up so as Leaders we check and test we know what we’re doing in there. On one occasion I found a Leader who was struggling to get into a filing cabinet that wasn’t locked, just jammed. There were about 5 leaders involved in this conversation, with suggestions ranging from ‘Shoot the lock’ from our friends in the USA, to use a tin opener! Being the inquisitive engineer I am I talked the Aussie Leader through opening the cabinet. Once opened she said ‘Cant talk now. be back soon’. ’24 hours later she was back. The cabinet contained what I can describe as a time capsule, photos, record cards receipts etc from 10 years previous. All in good condition and readable, it was like Scouting gold dust. That was my first contact with Rena (Kanni as we call her). From here I was to be known to them as UK Oak, there was already an ‘Oak’ down under so the ‘UK’ was needed!

24 hours later she was back. The cabinet contained what I can describe as a time capsule, photos, record cards receipts etc from 10 years previous. All in good condition and readable, it was like Scouting gold dust. That was my first contact with Rena (Kanni as we call her). From here I was to be known to them as UK Oak, there was already an Oak

From there we became Facebook friends, chatting monthly, then weekly, then almost daily. In fact as I write this we are chatting now! Kanni would update me on camps and events that were coming up and jokingly asking if I was going. Then in 2018 she asked me to attend a Western Australia state event ‘AJ2019’. I said ‘Yes’ and there was a funny pause and I had to confirm to her…. if the circumstances were right, I would come down for the camp. Then COVID happened. No camping anywhere, worldwide, for a long time.

In early 2022 news started emerging of something called One Camp. It was new and exciting. For 10 days in 2023 the Aussies had planned to get over 1000 Scouts together for a major event near Perth Australia. This seemed ideal and I started working with Goolal Greenwood Scouts who would host me for the event. We did Skype calls from major events both here in the UK and Australia, Bingo sessions and lots of ‘overnight’ meetings.

The One Camp event was new to the Aussies. The plan was to have all sections from the youngest Joey Scouts, aged 6 to the oldest Rover Scouts aged 26 on a camp all at the same time. The bulk of these would be Scouts aged 10-14, the age group I work with here in the UK. To help things along, and probably because she enjoys a challenge, one of the Aussie Leaders ‘River’ offered to the main event to be the International Co-ordinator for the event. That left her group a leader short, a gap I could try and fill.

So in April 2023, with just a small daysack I was taken to Liphook train station by a good friend Jack. Ironically my wife Jackie couldn’t take me as she had diagnosed with Covid the day before. Yes that was all the luggage I took, a 7kg day bag and that was about it.

From there a train to Heathrow, then a 15 Hour flight to Kula Lumpar, Singapore. It was quite a thoughtful flight as we went over Germany, past Ukraine, over Iraq, and Afghanistan. All war zones either now or in the past. Very thought provoking. As for ‘Chicken or Beef….?’ I had chicken , twice!

I think it was here the absolute ridiculousness of what I was doing struck home with me. I had raised over £1200 through generous donations from friends and family, to travel 9,000 miles to stay with people I had never met, with minimal belongings, on the strength of a few e-mails and calls….. on my own.

20 hours later…. I was met by River at Perth Airport and after a very short night time view of Perth I was dropped off at Kanni’s. After 10 years we finally met!

Kanni always starts the day with coffee. Thats a given. I was also told I had to hit the ground running, the camp would start 2 days after I arrived. There was people to meet, places to go, and kit to pick up. The Leaders of my host group had been amazing and I was lent sleeping bag, holdall, plates, etc. Being an international organisation we attracted international attention. The following photo received over 500 likes at 1st Facebook Scout Group. I also had a reasonable ‘Fan Club’ both here in Australia, and not just Perth!

A question I was often asked was ‘What do you want to see?’ or ‘Where do you want to go?’. Having based my plans on nothing more than the Perth Monopoly board, I’d left it in their hands. I wasn’t disappointed. Then, finally it was time. One Camp was on!

We were bussed from a stadium in Perth to the site, this was the first time I had met the Scouts, the parents, and the other leaders. From the Scouts there were lots of questions, mainly about snow, which they had never seen, but before long I was on site. Putting up tents was something to be remembered. Here in the UK a Scout tent is typically about waist high, this is because of the wind and rain they are exposed to. In Australia they are tall square tents, with lots of ventilation, big windows, so they can get rid of the heat. As far as tents go its definitely horses for courses! Tents up and food collected from their massive food distribution point we go to grips with gas cookers, connectors, pipes and gas bottles.

It quickly became apparent we were a very formidable leadership team! With Quill heading us up we had Kanni as our Health and Wellbeing person, Kaa, a fabulous Irishman dealing with logistics, that left me to ‘run’ the Programme element for the Scouts. Something I knew practically nothing about!

As well as a daily newspaper, there were You Tube videos produced daily of what was generally happening around the site.

Heres an example of day 1…

https://onecamp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Daily-Comet-Issue-1-Apr-11.pdf

For my part hitting the ground running was very apt. Day 2 I took part in something called ‘The Amazing Race’ where Scouts have to head around Perth City, visiting checkpoints and finding things. I was asked to look after a checkpoint in the Perth Museum in the morning, then head to the zoo for the afternoon. To help me get to the museum I was ‘given’ a team of Scouts who also needed to get there first thing. To say I was well looked after would be an understatement and the 13 year old patrol leader took me under her wing and safely delivered me to the museum, making sure I had my lunch, sunscreen and knew where the toilet was!

Day 3 of the camp saw me starting a 8Km (5 mile) canoe paddle down the beautiful Swan River into Perth itself. On the water the instructors were fabulous, I even had a comment about me having a good paddling technique, and I was often paired up with Scouts who were struggling a bit with the distance. At the end of the trip I had a surprise. I didnt realise the trip included a zip line down the Matagarup Bridge! As per here in the UK we can’t post photos or videos of Scouts without a multitude of forms, but here’s what we did!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr5Y_0DpeYy/

I think the rest of the camp passed in a blur. The activities were fabulous, it was very well run, but one thing really stood out. The people I was working with were fabulous. I was welcomed with open arms into their Scout Group. I really fitted in well with the team and can’t thank them enough for what they did for me. From Quill who loved listening to our stories, through Kaa, the tea drinking no nonsense Irishman, River our very accommodating spy on the inside, Boomer our ‘can you just bring to site’ guy, Bungaroo our new leader who was on his first big camp, through to Kanni who put me up for the whole trip. I cannot thank you all enough.

Anyway, a long post I know, here’s some more photos of the camp.

Of course no international camp would be complete without a home hospitality visit. That is for Part two of this amazing international trip. The link is here!