Activity Write-Ups

Early Saturday morning the crew met up and climbed into Big Blue to make the drive to the American River. We had an exciting time rafting down the South Fork. Despite the cold water temperature, the crew had a lot of fun, and some of us even swam down the rapids. The highlights of the day were the cliff jumps that we did. While some of us found them scary, we conquered our fears and made the jump. The next day we practiced our GPS and coordinate skills walking around the campsite before finally heading home. Overall a very fun weekend filled with opportunities to try something new.

By Callie

Whangarei Falls, Matapouri Headland hike, Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach, Karangahake Gorge, Glow Worm Caves, Putangirua Pinnacles hike, rafting the Tongariro River, sailing on Lake Taupo, Tamaki Maori experience, Wai-o-tapu thermal features, Skyline Rotorua gondola and luge rides, kayaking on Lake McLaren, ZORB ride, Hobbiton.

Itinerary (PDF)
Narrative

The Venture crew helped plant flags at the graves of fallen veterans. The crew took care of the back side of the cemetery and planted a lot of flags. After the flag planting, the crew drove up to Clear Lake.

At family camp, the Venture crew helped run the swim check for the troop as they arrived. The next day, the crew did a kind of crash course of canoeing merit badge. Members learned and demonstrated the skills of throwlines and bags, paddling skills (j-stroke, pry,sweep), getting back in a canoe alone and with a partner, cross-decking, switching positions in a canoe, and some extra fun things like gunnel pumping.

By Jared

On May 12th, the crew went to Mt Madonna in order to practice necessary skills for Supertrip. We practiced splitting wood with a hand axe, sharpening axes and knives, cutting with a saw, and fire building. We also constructed reinforced tripods and a large square with an x in the middle using wooden planks and lashings (trestle lashing). Then we learned about signalling if you are lost or in trouble and some navigation skills. After that we made hot dogs and a salad for dinner.

After that, we lit a fire and roasted marshmallows. A few members ran their hands through the top of a fire for the first time. The next day, some members did a swim check for Supertrip. All in all, it was a fun learning experience. We learned a lot that would help us not only with Supertrip but also with our daily lives.

By Josh

In April we had a horse back riding trip. It was fun riding horses. We also camped at Tamorancho in Marin, CA. The weather was cold and windy. We worked on knife skills and fire building skills.

By Cory

On March 24, we helped the community by picking up trash on Mussel Rock Park Beach. It was a cold day but sunny. Afterwards they gave us snacks.

By Maddy

For this service project we did a variety of projects for the church where we meet, including gardening, cleaning, replacing burned out light bulbs, and even putting up a new TV antenna for Home and Hope, which also uses the church. The church members were very appreciative and things sure looked better when we were done.

By Pat

Our Superhero themed treasure hunt was a great success! The scouts went on a hunt, across many different parks. They had to solve codes and use all their scouting skills to arrive at their final destination and find their treasure. We finished up the weekend with an evening of camping near the beach. Overall it was a really fun and rewarding weekend, well worth all the planning to see the enthusiasm of the scouts.>

By Callie

On Feb. 24 we were ziplining in the Mt.Herman trees for the afternoon. We were freezing due to the winter breeze, but as we zipped higher and higher our bodies filled with an adrenaline rush and we warmed up quickly. We did seven courses. On our way back home, we all knocked out from an afternoon full of fun.

By Skyler

During the Pancake Breakfast people donated money to support those funding our Super Trip to New Zealand. All of us were assigned different jobs to help people. After the Breakfast was done, we got to eat.

By Luis

On the weekend of January 27 and 28, we went to the Klondike Derby! Even though we had a really early start the crew was in positive spirits. We arrived at Cisco Grove campground and carried everything into our camp on sleds, before beginning to cut blocks for our shelters. We worked for the whole day, and even though it took a lot of energy we were really proud of our forts at the end.

Day two was more exciting as the snow festivities began. We went around to compete in different stations such as: ice rescue, “tobacco” (licorice) spitting, slingshot, and spear throwing. So many parts of the second day were fun, but the sled race was definitely the highlight of the trip! We would like to say a thank you to all of the adults who worked hard to make the second day a huge success and so much fun for both us, and the scouts.

By Callie

On the 9th of December (a Saturday) we went shotgun shooting at a range near Marin. It was incredibly fun– I’m personally against hunting animals for sport and not food, but as a sport with non-living targets it’s amazingly fun to feel that power in your hands. I had heard from others about pain and bruises in their shoulders afterward, but I only felt an eager buzzing for more. The absolute satisfaction as you pull the trigger and hit your target is astonishing as you feel that hard kickback punch backwards into your body. Each station had two targets coming from different directions in different ways, and we went to quite a few different stations. All in all, it was a very enjoyable activity.

By Emma