AJ2019 – the 25th Australian Jamboree

In 2017 I went to SL2017 – the Danish International Jamboree as part of the radio station team. I was the only person on the team of 28 who wasn’t a Danish national and also by far the oldest member of the team but this being Scouts none of that mattered.  (Although the fact that everyone there spoke really good English helped!)

It was an amazing experience and one that I hoped to repeat. In 2018 my chance came with a Jamboree in Australia.  Again I was the only non native on the team and again I wase the oldest by far, but  none of that will mattered as we were all Scouts. 🙂

In Denmark my wife and I combined the Jamboree with a holiday as she came out for a few days before I went off to camp. However for some reason she didn’t fancy Australia (or maybe travelling halfway round the world on her own towards the end of the camp?).  So this was a solo trip.

The camp ran from 4th-13th January 2019 and was being held about 100 km outside Adelaide in South Australia at “The Bend Motorsport” venue. I was to be the Assistant Program Director on the radio station BEND FM 91.1.  This was an off-air role supporting the on-air team to make the best programming they could. I signed up early in 2018 and was really looking forward to seeing another country’s Scouting in action.

Lots of planning for me ahead of the camp. It would be high summer in Australia with temperatures nudging 40 centigrade, a dusty campsite with the Aussie wildlife in evidence. So strong suncream, bug repellant and no open footwear.   Travelling to the camp was expensive of course as I had to fly to the other side of the world, and I made it MUCH more expensive by treating myself to business travel. Well, once in a lifetime and frankly I think I deserved it. (and more importantly so did my wife!)

So, what follows is a chronicle of my journey.

Getting There

On this flight the plan was to stay awake so that I’d be tired when I got to Adelaide. This I almost managed by watching film after film but I missed most of the last one as they woke me up for dinner! Passage through Adelaide airport was pretty seamless, my hotel was only 100 yards away and pretty soon I was checked in, showered again and ready for bed.

So here I was, in Australia for the first time, tired, jet-lagged and so excited at what’s to come.

Tent Pegs

I was picked up in the morning by David (the station Program Director) and driven to the camp site which is about an hour from Adelaide. The country side gradually got drier until when we hit the site the full import of the photos I’d seen ahead of time hit me. Basically there is no grass, or it’s so sparse as to not really qualify.

After a tour of the place we went to pitch my tent in the entertainment team area where a nice chap called Jeff gave me some HUGE marquee pegs to hold my hike tent to the ground and a HUGE mallet to bang them in with. We have about 2 inches of “topsoil” and then solid limestone. They had helpfully put a thick layer of mulch over the dusty earth so i dig holes in that and with Jeff’#s help banged in a few rock pegs and a marquee peg or three to hold the tent to the ground. Apparently it gets windy…..

As time went on I realised I was lucky. On many parts of the site the only way to get a peg in the ground was using a hammer drill or to look for a crack in the rock!

Next on the agenda was to sit down with David and go through the current status of the station setup, meet the team and start work.   It turned out that many of the team won’t be here for a couple of days and that some that are here will be working on the opening ceremony until Friday night. David was in charge of the firework display so also will be busy elsewhere until Saturday. I guessed it was going to be a baptism of fire and I wasn’t far wrong!

On the plus side, everyone was really friendly as befits scouts, the studio looked fantastic and we had 10 days of fun ahead to look forward to.

Opening Day

Most of the scouts coming to the Jamboree on the Saturday and place turned from a mainly open area into a fully populated town of around 10,000 people. It was also the day we started broadcasting although it’s not the main focus  – that was getting everything ready for the big Opening Ceremony.  The format was being kept quiet, especially the identity of the headline act.  Not even the radio team was allowed to know this – so it was the day’s guessing game.  I was hoping for Coldplay or a Pink Floyd reunion but it didn’t happen.

The Ceremony was fairly typical of it’s type (he says boasting about how many he’s been too!).

Statement of the Jamboree philosophy, Dance routines, speeches by Camp Chiefs, videos and so on.  A couple of special things though. Very interesting to me was the welcome from the Aboriginal tribe whose land we are on this week.  There was a blessing, welcome and dances by members of the tribe.  For a Brit a very new experience.

Then there was the launch of the re-branding of Australian Scouting.  This includes new training schemes etc but also a new logo and other branding. This being  National Jamboree it makes a lot of sense to launch it here and no doubt a lot of discussion will happen over the next few days.

Whatever you think though, the sight of about 10,000 scouts in a “field” starting on a week’s adventure is a brilliant thing to be part of.

So it started – 10 days of sharing the highs and lows of Scouts from all over the world as they learn new skills, make new friends and memories that they will last a lifetime.

And the big act was   – Ricki-Lee.  (No, me neither! 🙂 )

Bend FM

Bend FM formed part of the overall Entertainment team which was responsible for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, nightly shows on the stages, the radio station and also video streaming. (and probably other stuff I never found out about!)  The overall team was 85 strong with around 25 attached to Bend FM and the associated state.  The Station Manager was Robert Zamora who had run stations at the previous two Jamborees andis a tehcnical engineer at one of Australia’s largest broadcast media groups.  With his technical team and a lot of equipment from the “spares cupboard” they built the station and the stage next door, complete with lighting, video etc.

The Programme Director was David Jacobs.  This was his first time in the role and he was combining it with responsibilities for the main stage ceremonies, for a project called Ozventure and for the Jamboree Talent Show.  This eventually meant he stood down as PD mid-week acknowledging that he wasn’t able to stretch himself so far.  Radio being the activity he knew least about.

I was the Assistant Programme Director, aiding and abetting David. My role was to work with the programme teams helping them to produce the best programmes they could.

We had two people producing our Station Id’s, Promos, Jingle etc.  Then there were two people for each programme. There was one professional broadcaster but many others had little experience of radio, some none at all.  Some of the team were Venturers between the ages of 16 -18 and were known to David through other activities.  Some were on the “pyro” team – those who prepared and set off the fireworks for the main ceremonies.  One worked on “AJ’s Got Talent” and another on some video work  – so at times we were pretty depleted in numbers.

Inexperience and a misunderstanding of the role requirements led to issues all week affecting most of the programmes.  And to be honest a slice of lazyness by one or two also had an effect.

So a mixed bunch, some of whom only knew they were on the radio team a couple of weeks in advance.  Possibly not ideal, but with our combined efforts we were able to put together a pretty good radio station that became very popular with the young people by the end of the Jamboree and despite everything I’ve said above I really enjoyed working with them and learnt a lot from the experience.  I would love to do it again.

Radio Schedule

Bend FM (announced as “911 Bend FM”) was planned to be live on air from 6am until 10pm.  Each day started with “Breakfast” and is followed by “Mornings”, “Lunch”, “Afternoons”, “Evenings” and “Nights”. The programmes weren’t called that of course – “Breakfast with Kat and Cam”, “Round the Bend”, “The Jam Sandwich” and “Arvos with Zander & Biggsy”. As for “Evenings” and “Nights – well we’ll get to that.

This was very different to the way we do it in UK and was much closer to what we see on commercial radio in having multi-hour shows. though we were using more presenters.  Or should I say “announcers” as that is the word used in Australia.  They also talk about “panel-ops” rather than “techies”. Maybe techies are something else?

A specification for each show was issued before the camp:

• Breakfast  6am-9am, to be fairly fast paced, building to the start of the day.
• Mornings 9am-12am, centred around reporting the onsite activities and support staff areas
• Lunch  12am-3pm, centred around the offsite activities.
• Arvos 3pm-6:30pm, high energy, competitions, interaction with scouts in the main arena
• Evenings 6:30pm-10pm, High energy supporting entertainment on main stage, run parties on Bend FM stage.
• Nights – just didn’t happen…..

Each program was allocated two announcers who were expected to spend the time leading up to the Jamboree planning their shows and also trying to find sponsors.  Sitting in UK I didn’t see any of this happening or anyone getting upset about lack of progress so just assumed it was being done.  As it turned out progress on that side was patchy and led to issues at the camp.

Once on site we discovered that the Bend FM stage (which was next door to the studio)  had a full program of bands, discos etc so that the Evening program couldn’t go on as planned because of the noise from the stage so most days we were live from 6am to 6:30/7pm with live feeds from either the main or Bend FM stages being taken after that.

Weather

Of course in January it is winter in UK and summer in Australia.  Whilst not wishing to over-egg the pudding I think it’s fair to say that in Southern Australia summers are just a tad more extreme than we have at home.  The sun feels much more fierce, you can almost feel your skin crisping whenever you’re out of the shade.  Wide brim hats and high SPF sunscreen are absolutely essential and even though I’ve been very generous on the SLIP, SLAP, SLOP routine I sometime still felt a little itchy on my arms and neck.

The temperature on the hottest day peaked at 45 C. Hotter than I’ve experienced even when in India or Mexico.  Luckily mostly it was high 20’s – low/mid 30’s but it’s still not comfortable at all.  And the temperature difference between night and day could be huge – some nights I woke up cold in my sleeping bag as the temperature had dropped right back.  No bravery trying to wait for it to warm up, I just put on a layer and snuggled down.

The worst thing though was the wind.  This came up in the afternoon (the “arvo” as the Aussies call it) and whilst it varied in strength it always came from the same direction, was gusty and thanks to where we were camping was laden with sand and dust which it deposited everywhere you don’t want it.  That includes inside a zipped up hike tent with a zipped up flysheet.  Quite how it got in I don’t know but take my word for it, it happened.  One of the Troop camps had an offer of a “Free Rock” if you took away a bucket of sand.  (Did I say the site was also covered in rocks?).

The last couple of days the temperature ramped up again and my day in Adelaide before I flew home was fairly uncomfortable.  In the week after the Jamboree Australia experience record breaking temperatures right across the country so in a sense I was lucky it wasn’t even hotter while I was there.

My Daily Wander

For me most Jamboree days involve getting up early, working pretty much all day and going to bed late. Over the years I’ve learnt that if I’m not careful I can miss out on much of what is going on so now I’ve taken to having a couple of hours a day (or most days anyway!) to have a wander around and see what I can find.

At AJ2019 the on site activities where gathered in distinct themed areas – Whizz, Bang, Splat, Hi-Tech, trades and The Cube. These covered just about everything from Hairdressing to Water Slides, Land Yachting, Robotics, Surfboard Designing, Escape Rooms plus all the usual climbing ,abseiling, games etc.  Off-site there was a water activity base down on the Murray river, a trip into Adelaide (city and beach!) and a lot more activities at the Woodhouse activity centre. Plus for those who booked ahead there were powered glider flights over the campsite and a few laps around the motor circuit in a sports car.

I didn’t manage to see all of that in my daily wanders but what I did see was pretty impressive. The Cube, for example was a massive scaffolding tower with climbs, abseils, caving ladders, surrounded by lots of ways of getting muddy! Trades was a new thing for me – instead of the Craft activities we tend to have in UK the scouts were plumbing, doing car maintenance and making Solar lights which will be shipped to Africa.

I also spent some time in the “lines” (the troop campsites) chatting to leaders and young people about how they camped, how they were organised, drinking tea and coffee and hearing about adventures good and not so good. (Scouts never seem to have minor issues, anything that goes wrong is a “disaster”!). I was impressed with how much the Patrol system was being used and how much responsibility Patrol Leader’s seemed to have. Of course in a Jamboree setting there will be quite a lot of organisation by the Leaders but in most cases there did seem to be a partnership going on.  Standards were mostly very high and everyone appeared to be having a good time. The main talking point was always the dust though.

I did manage one day offsite where scouts were spending 24 hrs doing a whole load of activities based at the Adelaide Scouts permanent campsite, Woodhouse.  David and Peter spent two days trying to get me bus tickets to go – and then when I got on the bus no-one wanted to see it!  Apart from the activities there were three things that I will remember especially about my day there. Firstly the site had grass! – this I hadn’t seen for a week by then.  Secondly there were real live Koalas in the trees, and thirdly the very kind lady in the Leader’s cafe who insisted on giving me some badges and a Jamboree necker from 1989 but refused to that anything in return.

Bump-Out

As I’ve seen at all large Scout camps troops start early on the last day taking down tents and packing things away so that by the closing ceremony the site starts to look pretty empty.  At this time it’s easier to see the scale of the place without all the campsites in the way.  Also the nature of the ground becomes even more obvious.  Anyone using that area in future may find a “few” tent pegs lodged in the rocks as they were just as hard to get out as they were to get in. There are some strange rock formations as well. Lots of rows of stones in various configurations put there when people cleared their tent sites on arrival.

After the closing ceremony it was all hands to the pump starting the “bump-out” as the dismantling of the Jamboree infrastructure is called in Australia.  Some of the Scouts had already left site by the time I’d walked back to the station from the main arena.  They had a long way to go and would be travelling all night and most of the next day.  Their camping kit would travel separately and wouldn’t be unpacked until days later.  Apparently it can take up four days to travel back to Western Australia by truck!

The aim for the radio team was to get everything down and packed for leaving on the Monday around lunchtime.  My memory of bump-out is mainly one of coiling cables.  Is it possible to have a radio station without hundreds of cables?  Maybe, but certainly on this occasion there was no shortage.  One of the more difficult tasks was to take down the transmitter mast.  The mast itself came down fairly easily but getting the guy bolts out of the ground was a nightmare!  Pretty much everything was covered in dust and dirt and had to be cleaned before packing although it would have needed cleaning again when it go home.  As Sunday progressed we lost some of the team as they left with their contingents and despite everyone working hard we were up until the early hours of Monday trying to get it done.

When I left shortly after lunch to catch the minibus there was still heaps to do so they didn’t leave as planned.  Their journey was to take them back to New South Wales and I understand they had problems on the way home as the trailer broke down – as it had on the way there.

Adelaide and Home

I left the camp site by mini-bus along with two others in our team also headed for the airport.  They were straight off home whilst I was spending the night in the airport hotel and the following day exploring Adelaide before taking the late night flight home.  I had dinner in the hotel and spent the rest of the night packing and repacking my gear and picking mulch out of my towel.  For some reason I had totally failed to get into my tent without getting the stuff on my towel every single time I had a shower.  Once I’d got the worst of it out I decided to leave it until I got home.

After breakfast in the morning I caught the share bus into the city and started my tour at the Botanical Gardens.  These are very impressive, a fine collection of trees and shrubs, a whole building dedicated to a water-lily (?) and a formal rose garden.  The tropical house is very impressive (see above)

Just down the road from there is the City Museum where I spent a lot of time in the galleries dedicated to the Aboriginal people.  Very interesting and also at times quite alarming.  Up to a point I can understand that things were really bad in the early days as the white man arrived and took over but how long things took to improve and how far they still have to go is disturbing.  Taking children away from their families to try to “educate” them out of their culture?  Really?

Had a good lunch in the museum and moved on to the art gallery. Found that a bit mixed for my taste, I didn’t really understand how the pieces in some of the galleries held together although there is some stunning art on show. The basement has an exhibition of William Morris and related artists. I was very pleased to see a “Strawberry Thief” curtain – our placemats at home have this design on them.

I decided I’d had enough culture for one day so headed of to Rundle Mall to look for the pigs that had been the inspiration for the one at the campsite.  Couldn’t find them and got lost in the elevators so left and went to the Central Market via Haigh’s chocolate shop.  It was a VERY hot day in the city so I had to eat the chocolate straight away before it became a squidgy mess. 🙂

Central Market was interesting both because of it’s size and the sheer variety of produce on offer. But nothing I could take home so I crossed the street into the Santos Cycling Tour village where I sat in the shade and sipped two iced coffees whilst people watching.  There are definitely a set of people who would look better NOT wearing cycling lycra!  (I count myself amongst these).

I liked what I saw of Adelaide.  Not so big as to be intimidating, not so small you can see it all in a day.  Everyone I met or asked help from was very friendly and I even got stopped once by a parent wanting to thank me for volunteering at the Jamboree. Would be good to come back one day and look around the area a bit more.

Eventually it was time to go and I caught the express bus back to the airport ready for the journey back to UK.

My journey home was unremarkable really except for the fact that I found out at Adelaide airport – after I’d checked in – that I’d packed all my long trousers in my hold luggage.  So I had to travel home in shorts. Yes – I was that man who arrived back in the middle of the UK winter in shorts having come from somewhere warm!

Reflections

It took me quite a long time to get my wake/sleep patterns back to normal, even longer to be able to process what I’d done and seen at the Jamboree.  It wasn’t until the team held a “debrief” meeting that it fully struck me how big a thing it had been, not just for me, but for everyone involved.

I’d not been part of such a warts and all debrief before and I was very impressed with the honesty and openness of the people involved.  I shouldn’t have been surprised though as that was my overriding impression of Australian Scouts throughout my adventure.  Many were genuinely interested that a bloke from UK would travel all that way on his own to take part in their Jamboree.  It got me several cups of tea and coffee around the site!

Listening to the meeting I was amazed at how much work the Entertainment team had to to do in the few days before I got there.  Site preparation was way behind it seems and everyone had to pitch in and do whatever was needed to get it ready, much of the work having nothing to do with their own roles.  A couple of comments I remember –  “We do what Scouts do and make it happen”  and talking about the contractors on site  – “For them it’s a contract, for us it’s 8000 kids”.  This explains why the station wasn’t as ready as I’d expected – people were too busy doing the basics to get to the pretty stuff.  I feel a bit guilty for not getting there earlier to help out.

As I usually do I spent almost all my time working on my allotted role to the point where I probably missed out on quite a lot.  Daft really, but I’m  there to do a job so I feel that needs to be the main focus.  I found the role pretty difficult this time, mainly because the plan and the actual were quite some way apart and I struggled to adjust early enough in the week.  Despite the difficulties the station we produced seemed to go down well with the kids and as the week went by we got more and more involved with them.

One surprise was just how manic the badge collecting/swapping is in Australia. Scouts of all ages carrying round bags full of badges looking to add to their collections.  There seemed to be dozens of badges to collect, one form each Jamboree activity and team as well as the troop badges.  Our Bend FM badge appears to have been one of the scarcest on site and we were constantly pestered for them.  We had decided to give all of them away as competition prizes to scouts – which didn’t go down well with some adults.  Unfortunately a few people put theirs on ebay the minute they got home, including one of our own team.  I only have a few as I didn’t have anything to swap, but next time I’ll take a load of badges with me.

Australia only has a Jamboree once every three years and it is noticeable how that makes it so special for all concerned.  The team running it had never done it before and although they were beating themselves up a little bit about the mistakes made they really shouldn’t.  Our team leader Peter told me that he’d wanted to run an Entertainment Team at a Jamboree since he was a child.  It was his dream job and here he was doing it.  And in my view he did it excellently – the measure of a Jamboree is the enjoyment, adventure and learning that the Scouts get out of it  and that was there in abundance at AJ2019.

Finally let me thank all those who allowed me to get there and who were so giving whilst I was on my Australian adventure.  It was a massive thrill and honour to be there and work with these people.  I think I’ve learnt a lot from the experience.  If nothing else I have a set of  memories that will stay with me forever.  (And some really great shirts!)  It shows once more that there are huge advantages to being a Scout, even at the ripe old age that I have attained.  I now have some “Friends4life” on the other side of the world and I hope one day to see them again.