Orienteering on a Sunday afternoon

On the agenda for this fine Sunday: Orienteering!

Scouts from the Troop are ready to run around on the picturesque plot & horse farm in Crowethorn. With compasses and clues set up and printed by myself in the hands of the teams of scouts, they're ready to set off and try get the fastest times and answer all the questions that I've put up along the way...

To set up the course and the route for the Scouts takes a lot of hard work. Beforehand, I have to walk the way myself, taking bearings at every turn and write it down. This is where one's mapping skills come in handy.   

Well done to Caitlin and Danielle for winning the event, they completed the route in the fastest time and answered all of the questions correctly

And a big thank you to everyone else who attended!



Kim's Shield - 2011

Kim's Shield, an experience one will never forget. As one of the few provincial events it was something not to be missed!

Kim's Shield is one of the events that can really describe what Scouting is all about. Arrive on Friday and set up camp; Wake up early on Saturday morning and set off to do the incident hike.
As one of the patrols with the expressed intention to do well, I made sure everything was perfect.
We went from base to base doing all types of activities: cooking, pioneering, first aid, knotting, GPS work, stalking, identifying spoor, fun and interesting activities like the Tower of Hanoi, bow & arrow shooting, and ground to air signalling.
At each base we get points out of 100 and try to accumulate as many as possible, this is how you win!
Of course, its not only about winning, but the simple act of participating, getting to know other Scouts from around the province and making new friends.

With my patrol of 4 boys, we did extremely well, within the province, out of 52 patrols, we came 2nd! The immense pride & happiness I felt for my boys & I was incredible! Its moments like these where I really know why I do scouts.

How To Join The Movement

At the moment I'm Based in South Africa, Gauteng, and go to 1st Honeydew Scouts in Randburg.

A scout troop can be found near you, no matter where you are- Durban, Cape town, Namibia, Kenya, China, America... Worldwide, You just have to look!

Search the internet, local directories and get in contact with someone.
If you are in the district of Randburg the best person to Contact would be James Eames: 082 294 9568
Get involved ;)

If you have any questions, you're welcome to post a comment and I will try and help you out.

Why Scouting?

Where is the sense of adventure in sitting at home and doing the ordinary?
I think everyone has that need to go and explore the great outdoors!
It's all waiting to be discovered... One great way of getting the full experience is Scouting.
Scouts is where one learns things that one would never think they would end up knowing. Skills like- pioneering, first aid, orienteering, cooking, community service, camping, hiking and most importantly- how to have fun!
Sound foreign? It should sound intriguing! And all in good time I will showcase what its all about on this blog. Don't have the patience to find out? Good! Then you need to get to the nearest troop in your area and start the adventure.

Scouting is a worldwide movement, there are over 30 million members, both girls and boys.  It has undoubtedly become... their way of life. It certainly has become for me. The ultimate goal in one's Scouting career is to achieve their Springbok - the top award in Scouts.

The best age to start scouts would be around 12, but if you have the determination, you definitely can start later. After being invested in a troop, you work your way through sets of advancements. There are 5 advancements, the last being Springbok which needs to be completed before turning 18.

The Advancements: Pathfinder, Adventurer, First Class, Explorer and finally Springbok.

I am busy working on Explorer, and one of the requirements is to display and promote scouting, so I chose to do a blog. I am going to be spreading the site as far and wide as possible, so reading this now, I hope you're enjoying it! Over the next few months I'll be blogging about the going on's of my troop  and the type of activities we do. And thus hopefully recruit a few new scouts along the way!

Scouting is something one never regrets once you've started.
Scouts teaches you discipline, hard work, leadership and invaluable skills. It stays with you your whole life and what you've learnt never leaves you.

So thank you for joining me on my blogging journey, I hope you enjoy what's to come!