Cossgrove Gold 2022

 

Wellington Airport Community awards

Voting has opened for the volunteer awards and as we were Poriru winners, we are now up for the big one.

The people’s choice awards have opened for the Welllington regional volunteer awards 

Thes is the link to the Peoples Choice where you can vote : https://www.wellingtonairport.co.nz/community/wellington-airport-community-awards/community-awards/community-awards-peoples-choice-award-2021/

Wairakei Camp, Taupō (Blue Contingent)

Written by Jesse - Bosun (with Bronson) of the Blue Contingent 

On day zero we were down at the den at 8 getting ready to drive to taupo. The weather on the way up was wild, in Levin it was raining and then the next hour it was sunshine and 25 degrees. Me Bronson and James sadly got separated at the last moment.

Day one at camp the blue group was headed for Rotorua, before we went to our campsite/den in ngonotaha we stopped at the amazing Redwood Treewalk. The walk itself was incredible with the option of walking twenty metres up along some massive trees, after the cool walk we went for a swim at the Blue Lake which was nice and refreshing. After the lake we went back to the Ngonotaha den and setup tents and then we went back to do tree walk at night, we didn’t get into bed until 1am, we were all really tired the next day.

Ruby, Annaliese, Bronson, Jesse, James
& Megan in the Redwoods Treewalk

On day two we went on more walks, and we walked to a fun lake with a wharf. I also forgot to mention it was NEW YEARS EVE. Me, James, Matthew, Connor and Bronson where all just Vibing during the party

The Blue Contingent at Sulpher Point
Standing on the rocks L-R: Rose, Hannah, Hamish, Ruby, Annaliese, Sam
Standing/sitting L-R: Jacob, Bronson, James,
Ash, Jesse, Toby, Kalina, Alex, Lily, Emyr, Sean

Blue Contingent - the group jump into the lake

On day three we had a sailing day and we tried to get out to the Māori carvings but there was not enough wind and we only got halfway. And I probably got some bad sunburn on my lips which is still hurting now

Emyr on helm, Annaliese on main, Hannah and
James on jib and Rose as bowman

Ash on helm, Lily bailing, Freddy on main, Toby and Kalina on jib

Ruby on helm, Grant, Connor on main, Alex and Hamish on jib

Over the next few days, we went river floating which was cool because we got to see the amazing bungee jump and hot pools, we got to go to a sweet as mountain bike park with amazing tracks that I did with Toby.

Inner tubes on the Waikato River - a great way to see the scenery

Sean entering the MTB park

We also spent another day sailing and we made it to the carvings and got to jump off a cool rock.

The "cool rock"

Rose and Hannah in fron of the main Maori carving

On our final day we got to do a white-water raft down Tongariro river with James which was the best part of my trip because I have never gone rafting before.

Kym, Amelia, Annaliese, Charlie, Ciara, Gabi

Rosie, James, Angus, Jesse, Magnus, Sean

Matt, Grant, Emyr, Kalina, Dougal, Ethan

On our last day it was the worst part because we had to pack everything away and drive home which took forever but Neil brought me as I did get to go home and see my family and sleep in my own be and not a stretcher.

Wairakei Camp, Taupō (Green Contingent)

Written by Rosie & Calvin - Bosuns of the Green Contingent

Day one: Everyone woke up quite early and drove over to the scout den still half asleep. Once everyone had arrived we started to attach the boats to the cars and sorted out who was going in what car. Once everything was done we started to drive up to Wairakei primary school. On the way, we stopped at Taihape to stretch our legs and have some lunch. After we got to the school everyone helped set up tents and unpacked all of the gear. Next, we ate the lovely dinner that the Venturers had prepared for us and went to bed ready for the days of fun and excitement that were to come. 

The stop in Taihape for lunch

Setting up camp at the school

Day two: We had mountain biking. We were to split into groups of three or more and were then free to explore the variety of trails that the park had to offer. Most people had lunch on their own time by the maps (where the cool box was), or in-between trails. After mountain biking, everyone was thoroughly hot and tired, so there was a trip to AC Baths in the afternoon where everyone had an amazing time before heading back to camp for a good sleep. 

Hamish, Magnus, Charlie and Ethan in various states
of excitement for the mountain biking

Day three: We woke up at around eight and had some breakfast. After that, we got all of the stuff we needed and we drove over to the scout den and started to rig up some boats. Once all of the boats were rigged up everyone made lunch and then sorted out the crews. After that, we put the boats on the water and went for a relaxing sail. Sadly it wasn’t windy enough and it was going to take too long to get to the Maori carvings so we just went back to the den de-rigged the boats and went for a swim.

Ethan & Ciara & crew sailing on Lake Taupō

After dinner on the 31st, it wasn’t long before the Venturers had thrown a full-on new years party for the scouts and leaders, complete with glow sticks, balloons, and youtube just dance. 

The Venturer hosted New Years Party

On New Year’s Day, we used the inner tubes to float down the Waikato River for a few hours, it was a really fun, chill time which we needed after the amazing party the night before. Near the end of the float, we also stopped to sit in some of Taupo’s famous hot pools for a while and had a great time with that as well. All in all a wonderful day. 

Sitting around in the hot pools

Day five: Everyone woke up at around eight and started to get ready for the day ahead. Once we were ready we had breakfast, made lunch, and drove over to the den. Like day three there wasn’t much wind so we just went swimming and used the boats as bombing platforms. Other than that we didn’t do anything else. It was just a nice chilled-out day at the den. 

Sailing races when pride is at stake,
but the wind is not co-operating

Day six: We packed our bags ready for an overnight trip to Rotorua, where we did the Redwoods Treewalk and later had a fun stop at a lake for a while afterward. Later on in the evening after setting up our campsite we went to see some glow worms and took the Treewalk again before a nice, early bedtime of 2:00 am. 

The light show in the Redwoods at night

Day seven: We all had a long sleep-in before we got started on our way back to Taupo. On the way there we stopped at a lake to go swimming and cool ourselves off. The only problem was that the lake was horrible, it was filled with duck poo, fish, algae, and other stuff that no one would want to touch. So instead we went to a river. The river was nice and cool and it had a big enough drop-off to be able to bomb into. After our swim, we came back to camp and just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. 

Day eight: Whitewater rafting & swimming 

On day eight the camp woke up early for breakfast in preparation for the drive to Tongariro for whitewater rafting. Scouts 13 and over were allowed to do level three, while under 13s went on level two. After rafting, we had lunch at a park, drove to Taupo scout den, swam for a while, and had dinner there. 

Top left going forward: The guide, Ash, Ruby & Hamish
Top right going forward: Neil, Hamish Brown, & Bronson

L-R: guide, Rosie, James, Angus, Jesse, Magnus, Sean

Top left going forward: guide, Matt, Grant, Emyer
Top Right going forward: Kalina, Dougal, Ethan

L-R: Kym, Amelia, Annaliese, Charlie, Ciara, Gabi

Day nine: Our last day on camp. Everyone woke up early, packed up everything, and then had breakfast. After that, we hopped into cars and drove back to the den with a few stops along the way. When we got back to the den we unpacked everything and had a talk about the many thousands of things that we did. Once that was over we all went home knowing that we had an amazing camp.

Final debrief