Adventure & Teamwork

Friendship brings us together

With persistence we achieve

Our family camps are for all sections & all family members to join in and enjoy

United through Scouting we explore & discover

Participate together and experience the fun

Next Family Camp: -

Friday 24th - Sunday 26th November 2023

Lake Fyans Scout Camp - Grampians National Park

After a wonderful Scouting year of fun, adventure, learning, badgework, achievement and friendship it was time to come together as a family and enjoy some 1st Ballan Family Fun. Arriving at Eumeralla Scout Camp in Anglesea everyone settled into their accommodation and our family camp for the weekend was established.

It was an active weekend where through the program everyone was challenged to engage and have fun. Parents challenged Children, Children challenged Parents, Joeys challenged Cubs, Cubs challenged Scouts, Scouts challenged Venturers and Venturers challenged ALL and everyone had a lot of fun as they all immersed themselves in the program and thoroughly enjoyed participating in all the activities and experiences offered.

While canoeing, surfing, climbing, swimming, crawling, flying, tunnelling, swinging and chocolate making all faces were full of smiles and determination resulting in a lot of laughter, fun, teamwork, success and friendship bringing everyone together for an exceptional Scouting weekend. This is our Family Camp ....

Homfray Nature Adventure Trail

Waking up, it was time for everyone to have some fun together while working in small teams to complete the initiative course known as the Homfray Nature Adventure Trail. It was fantastic to see everyone using their Scouting, communication, leadership and initiative skills to overcome the challenges and succeed as a team.

Challenge Valley

With our families now nimble and warmed up, it was time for everyone to participate in the Eumeralla Challenge Valley. Again teamwork, communication, leadership and initiative skills were the order of the day as everyone actively engaged in each challenge. It was great to see the adults support & challenge the youth ... while the youth also challenged & supported the adults ... fun for all.

Challenge Valley - Wire Walk

Challenge Valley - Cargo Net

Challenge Valley - Cargo Net ...... Family Feud

Challenge Valley - Flying Fox

Challenge Valley - Kitten Crawl

Challenge Valley - Monkey Bars

Challenge Valley - Up & Over

Challenge Valley - Stirrups

Challenge Valley - Our Family Teams

Challenge Valley - The Wall

Challenge Valley - Tunnels

Canoeing

During the afternoon, the Joeys & Cubs jumped into canoes and explored the Anglesea River. Getting up close and personal to a number of bridges along the way only heightened the challenge and added to the excitement and enjoyment of canoeing. Along the way skills were learnt and plenty of fun was enjoyed by all.

Surfing

The afternoon also included a time for the Scouts to go surfing. With the swell up and the support of Go Ride A Wave the Scouts excitedly arrived at Anglesea Beach ready to extend their skills and Hang 10 as they surfed the waves. A great experience and achievement for all involved.

Investitures

Becoming an invested member of a Scout Group is an important step in your Scouting Journey and during the evening our youth invested two new leaders into our wonderful 1st Ballan Family. Our Joeys invested Possum, welcoming her into the Joey Unit ... while our Cubs invested Mud Crab into the Cub Unit. It was fantastic to see the Joeys & Cubs not only accept the challenge of Youth Lead Adult Assisted they welcomed the experience and did an amazing job investing both Possum & Mud Crab.

Welcome to our 1st Ballan Family Possum

Welcome to our 1st Ballan Family Mud Crab

Caving

Bringing back memories of VicJam, our Scouts lead everyone down to the Caving site where we were met by an instructor and introduced to the activity of Caving in shipping containers. It was a great experience for all, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of crawling through the narrow tunnels and seeing what they could discover inside the cave system. For some, it was very easy to move about and crawl through the tunnels ... for others, it was a bit more challenging ... but still an enjoyable experience.

Community Service - Building a Wildlife Rope Bridge

A Scouting Journey is not all about adventure activities, challenge and physical movement, it is also about Community Service and helping nature, people, Communities and programs. Prior to the Family Camp, our Scout Group had been challenged by the Moorabool Shire to make a wildlife rope bridges for the animals of the Wombat State Forest. In one night, a storm had come through the forest knocking down hundreds of trees in its path and destroying natural corridors and restricting the movement of wildlife throughout the forest. To help the wildlife, our families came together to accept the Moorabool Shire challenge and create a rope bridge for wildlife and also had a lot of fun during creation.

The Chocolate Factory ... Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery

Throughout the entire weekend a secret was maintained and all everyone kept talking about was a visit to Charlie's House on the way home ... but who was Charlie, where was his house and what would we do there? Finally, with everything packed up, final parade completed and everyone eager to go, it was time to go to Charlie's House and eat plenty of chocolate at his Chocolate Factory .... with the biggest challenge being trying to work out who was more excited to go to Charlie's House, our youth or parents.