Jack Roberts Camp 2005 “Boot Camp”
Jack Roberts camp was an absolutely incredible experience that I will never forget. For me, it was my first year, but for many ‘veterans’ it was their umpteenth time at the camp. This year was the 40th anniversary of the camp which started in 1965, so was a memorable one for many people.
Admittedly the camp was a lot of hard work and very energy draining, but it is all completely worth it when you see the smiles and hear the laugher of the boys having a fantastic time.
This years theme was “Boot Camp” and so all of our onsite activities were based around an army theme. Each patrol rotated round the activities, run by the dedicated leaders, trying to score points for their team. Some of the activities included catapulting an enemy fort, bayoneting enemies,
tank rides – powered by venturers, searching for body parts in a battle field of jelly, throwing magnet grenades at tanks and various commando courses.
We spent in total, two days offsite. We went to Port Adelaide and went on a Dolphin cruise along the Port River. Due to the fires in the hills, we also went on an unplanned shopping trip to Westlakes mall – which certainly was a challenge.
We also spent a day at the local pool, which was really nice – considering the hot temperatures of the week.
There were also very entertaining and fun evening activities planned by the leaders including a quiz night, movie night, a visit from the CFS, which ended up in a huge water fight and of course, a dress-up party on the last night.
The days were long, and the sleep was little but the amount of action packed fun and excitement was contagious and kept us going all week. Many times throughout the camp I wondered what I’d managed to sign myself up for, but the friends you make and the buddies you meet and look after made me
realise why I went. To me it was just another week of my holidays, but to the boys that come to camp, for many it is their only time away from home all year and a camp that many of them look forward to each year. The week that we spent with them gave them a chance to meet new friends and to
have a week full of fun – as well as camping out in tents! Now that its all over, I have a bunch of happy memories and pile of new friends and I most certainly can’t wait for Jack Roberts 06. Hope to see you all there!
Heather Browett
Belair Venturer Unit
