Amelia & Kalinas' Adventurous Journey

Chief Scout Rimu Award Adventurous Journey

by Amelia Short and Kalina Zaric

Amelias Report

Plan

Before we started our adventurous journey we had to plan. Between us we planned

• A gear list
• Equipment we needed to take
• A menu and subsequently a Shopping list
• The route we took
• The logistics

We also filled out a rams form.

Do

We started our tramp at our scout den from which we were driven to Avalon park by a

parent who we had organised to drive us prior. We then had some fun at the park

including a train ride around the park. We started walking at around 2pm and walked

down the river to St James scout den, where we were staying the night. We made a

dinner of Nachos including a vegetarian version and headed to bed.

In the morning we cooked a breakfast of pancakes and then set off on our walk to Days

Bay ferry terminal. All of our scouts managed very well on the busy road, staying to the

side and crossing properly when needed. We arrived at Days Bay earlier than expected

and spent some time on the wharf. We caught the ferry to Matiu/Somes Island. When

we arrived at the island we underwent a biosecurity check and had to empty our packs

to look for rats, mice and insects. We then went up to our accommodation Caretakers

Cottage where we were staying and dropped our bags off. We explored the island for a

little while, looking out for lizards and other wildlife. Unfortunately we did not see any

lizards but saw some birds and sheep. On the way back we stopped at the visitor centre

and had a look around. Later we made a delicious dinner of Mac and Cheese which

everyone very much enjoyed. When it got dark we headed down to the beach to see the

penguins. It took a little while for them to come out but when we saw them it was worth

it. We went back up to the cottage seeing penguins as far up as the cottage.

In the morning we again cooked pancakes but much better this time and set off to do

some orienteering. We ended up just exploring the island as we couldn’t find the

orienteering. We didn’t get to explore for long as the first ferry broke down and we had

to catch an earlier one than intended to Queens wharf. We had wraps for lunch and

then caught the train to Mana and walked to the scout den.

Review

After we got to the den we had a little review of our tramp. We discussed our favourite

parts of the trip, what we had seen and things we could have improved. We then shared

a presentation about our time on Matiu/Somes island to the cubs the following week.

We also reconciled our budget and reimbursed where necessary.

Kalinas Report

Plan: 

Before going on this journey me and Amelia had to plan loads of things. Such as the

following:

• Planning a menu
• Shopping list
• Gear list
• The route
• Logistics
• Budget
• A gear check
• RAMS Form
• AIF

Do:

We started our trip by meeting at the den, then got driven to Avalon park in lower hutt. We

ate lunch, played a bit and even rode on the little train. Our next destination was St James

scout den. We got there by walking along a trail by the river and it ended up being roughly a

2 hour walk. When we arrived we all chose where we wanted to sleep and played card

games till we decided we should make dinner. After finishing our amazingly made Nacho's

(Thanks Amelia and Ellie) we all went to bed and woke up refreshed in the morning.

We packed up and ate a breakfast of pancakes then we were ready to go. We walked

between the motorway and waterfront for 2-3 hours till we reached day's bay. Our scouts

were very responsible along the busy road and listened to all instructions and wore high vis

on their packs. The weather wasn't that great that day so while we waited for our ferry we

found shelter under a bus stop and ate our lunch (which was some yummy wraps). When

the ferry arrived we caught it to Matiu/Somes island. When we arrived we were asked to do

a biosecurity check and had to empty out our packs. After that we walked up to our

accommodations known as the caretakers cottage. Not too long after arriving we decided to

go on a short walk to the lighthouse as well as exploring other various parts of the island. We

stopped to look at the boards of information on the way and became preoccupied by a

painted rock with a cat on it. We returned to make a delicious pot of mac n cheese (your

welcome) and once around the table we shared something we had learned about the island

to go towards our better world badges. But by far our favourite thing that happened on the

trip was our encounter with the little blue penguins. A bit before it got dark we walked down

to the beach to wait for the penguins. We could not find any for a while but we eventually

spotted penguins huddled by a bush. They had set off a night vision light so we were able to

see them in the dark. It was absolutely incredible to see them waddle up the hill to their

boxes. We spotted some on the way up even all the way by our cottage! After that we got

some sleep and woke up ready for our last day (even though some people took a while to

get up cough cough me). Then we all ate a breakfast of pancakes and left for our day's

activities. We decided to do some orienteering. Unfortunately we didn't get to properly start

what we had planned when we had to leave the island due to the earlier ferry breaking

down. We were a bit disappointed but quickly cheered up when we got to ride up the top of

the ferry doing titanic poses. Upon arrival we ate our lunch and headed to the train station.

We caught the train back to mana,signed our flag and had a quick review with Derrick and

our other leaders.

Review:

When we got back to the den we reviewed our tramp with the leaders. We asked the

younger scouts how they thought it went and how they think we could improve it next time.

The feedback we got was very positive. We shared a presentation to the cubs about the

island and a bit about our journey. We also reconciled our budget and refunded where

necessary.

More pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sAvAcR7G8U3FRmqj6