Welcome to Akelablog! A page where Akela gets to hold forth on just about anything he pleases! - sort of...

First off, everyone wants to hear about the big things, so we'll cover the fun we had in the last part first and then talk about the fun in the first part last!.... so here goes.....
Cuboree ran from last Monday the 31st of March, to Friday the 4th of April. On Wednesday, it was hit with the massive storm that also affected most of Vic and Tas. The Emergency Plan was activated and Cuboree, with 3,000 Cubs was locked down for around 8 hours, as winds hit (according to The Age) around 130km/h, followed by heavy rain. Gilwell Park is heavily treed and a number of tents were damaged or destroyed by falling trees and strong winds. We were in Sub Camp 9 - all our 288 Cubs were kept in our dining marquee, which was safe, given that it was in a clear area, with steel frame etc. The Cubs were entertained with DVDs, songs, craft etc. and while some were moved back to their campsites overnight when the weather had abated, others who'd had their campsites damaged enough slept overnight in the marquee. On Thursday, with most activities damaged and out of action, plus concerns about more trees falling after they'd been hit by strong winds followed by heavy rains, we were evacuated and taken home.

I have to say, that I was impressed with the Emergency Plan... the Cubs were kept safe and (mostly!) happy. It was very hard and often stressful work for many Leaders, Rovers, Venturers, Scouts, support people and Emergency Services, but I think that the Cubs were well looked after in extreme circumstances and I believe that all of those people should be very pleased with their efforts.

So that was the end bit, but what about the start bit? Well, it might have been a day shorter than normal, but the Cubs still managed to stack in plenty of fun before they came home. We started off in Heidelberg on Monday and the Cubs of course talked non-stop all the way to Cuboree. We got there quite early, so we had plenty of time to fill in, as the 'proper' activities started on Tuesday. We got the Cubs to settle into their tents, had a look around nearby and some lunch, followed by a walk around a large part of (the very large) Gilwell Park. I think it was a bit of an eye-opener for many of the Cubs to be walking quite a way and to just continually see more and more Cubs and their tents! When we got to the more historic part of Gilwell, we went to Council Rock where we had a Grand Howl. Instead of a normal one with an individual Pack, this was with the larger Cuboree Pack 906.... with 46 Cubs. At the Hall, we always talk about not going through the circle because it's Council Rock... it was a bit easier to visualise here with a great big chunk of granite in the middle! Then it was off to "Cherry Lane" - a place where a number of different small-scale activities were running for the Cubs. After some free time and the first meal in the huge marquee, it was off to the Opening Ceremony.... with all 3,000 Cubs attending! The "Wanderers" (mostly Gang Show people) put on a great show and Tristan from 1st Ivanhoe, who had closed the last Cuboree, opened this one.

Tuesday morning marked the start of the main activities. Our Cubs had successfully negotiated their first night at Cuboree and (surprisingly) didn't wake up until they were called (now that's a first!). Our boys shared one large tent and Hannah got to share with girls from other Packs (but still within 906 of course). No-one goes hungry at Cuboree, so it was cereal and hot food for breakfast, with some changes so that the lines moved faster! Time Tunnel was our first activity, which we all got to by following the 906 flag. There were around 500 Cubs attending each activity, so each one was divided into sections and sub-sections so that we could move through without anyone missing out. First off after a show where we travelled around the world, Cubs got to mix various white things to make some space food... which tasted suspiciously like sherbet! We initially missed out on the water cannons, but that was to be remedied later. In the meantime we went back to the stone age to race some Flinstones-style cars and check out some dinosaur relics! Then it was the cannons.... I've seen these in operation a number of times and maybe I'm a little sadistic, but it always amuses me to watch the eager cubs go to fire their cannons (soft drink bottles with water in them are fired from a tube with compressed air).... which they do, but to also find that they get a nice spray of water too.... always good fun!

Lunch was hotdogs or vegetarian and before we knew it, back to activities for "What If" where, at the very start, the Cubs got to do one of the things they really came for.... to get wet! First off it was down the huge water slides on the side of a hill.... maybe a bit slower than normal because of the drought, but ah well! Then it was off through the guts of a shark and into some games. The next part really tested some Cubs... multiple sessions designed to get the blood pumping were run... and between each one they checked their own pulse rate to see how they were going. Some Leaders did it too.... maybe it would have been best for them not to check! There were push ups, Pilates, Tai Chi, Aerobics, the Nutbush and the Macarena - hilarious (and maybe a chance to take some embarassing photos)! If that hadn't got the blood pumping enough, it was off to the commando course (set on the side of a steep hill, just to add to the challenge), and then finishing off with shooting a few aliens (as you do). The Cubs were getting into the swing of things by now, so after dinner it was quickly off for the night's entertainment and we got better seats! This time the Wanderers ended up moving in time to the first Scout Campfire at Gilwell in England, so we had an old-fashioned campfire night with plenty of old songs that the Cubs loved to get into. I tried not to sing too loud... some say that's better.

Wednesday was an 'interesting' day! We started off and had our cooked breakfast as usual, and then quickly got ready for our first activity - "Digging Down". Because of uncertainty over the weather, the start was delayed a little, but then we got into it and travelled back to ancient Egypt for building pyramids, playing Egyptian games, interpreting hieroglyphics, transporting Mummies, camel racing and digging for puzzles! After the Mummies had been chosen, they had to be wrapped (in toilet paper) and put into their coffins... then pushed up a hill using plastic tubes as rollers. The wrapping attempts varied in success and then there were some worried looking Cubs who had to trust the others to push their coffin up the hill... of course the worry was unfounded and no Mummies had to die a second death!! The camel races got pretty serious.... anyone fighting for sheep stations? Then, the organisers had been talking to the weather bureau and tracking the weather. We'd had very light rain in the morning (we were told that the radar was showing that most of the rain was skirting around us), but they knew that the wind was coming, so the activities closed a few minutes early at 12, so we could get back to our sub-camps - ready for the lockdown... and the rest is what you read at the start of this.

With something as big as Cuboree, I should say a few thank yous... firstly to Laura (Chil) and David (Bagheera). As new Leaders (David was only invested a few weeks ago), I think that they did really well and put in a huge effort throughout the week. I'd like to thank Fiona Sealey from 10th Ivanhoe who was our Pack Akela for 906. She did a great job with both the Leaders and the Cubs. Also, to Jan Bryar from 1st Ivanhoe, who was the Leader of Sub Camp 9, which 906 was part of. Her level of commitment and achievement is always amazing, while always making it seem so easy (which it's not!). I'd also like to thank 1st Ivanhoe, 10th Ivanhoe and 1st Eaglemont Scout Groups for the use of tents etc. for our Cubs and Leaders. There are of course tons of others who had a direct or indirect role in making Cuboree work for our Cubs, so thanks to all of them as well.

I'm glad that the Cubs still got to have as much fun as they did. It was a bit sad that they missed the last day, but we'll always put safety first and parents wouldn't expect otherwise. It was good that, even during the lockdown, the Cubs were fully enjoying themselves... the highlight of which was the selecting of people to have their heads shaved for the "Shave for a Cure" fundraiser. We started off with Leaders, but some Cubs who had parents there to give permission were determined to join in... so they did! When it was announced that DVDs would show right through the night if we had to, the cheer from the Cubs was deafening! All part of the adventure. So, they still got the experience of their (Cub Scout) life.... in 2010 some will be off to Jamboree in Sydney as Scouts and for the new Cubs coming along... roll on Cuboree 2011!
Akela

21st March, 2008
What happened to the year?... I last wrote an Akelablog at the start of January and now it's Easter already! But, isn't Easter early? Well, just some useless information for you(!) - reliable sources tell me that no person alive has seen Easter any earlier than this (because it was 190 years ago) and you'd have to have a Gran or Pa who's 95 or older for them to have ever seen it even this early, because it last happened in 1913 - and guess what.... unless you plan on getting really old, you'll never see it again, because it isn't happening again for another 220 years, in 2228! Maybe if you're going to try to beat Methuselah, you could do it - he's said to have lived for 969 years!

Anyway, Term 1 is done and now we're getting ready for Cuboree and Term 2. So, what have we been up to so far? We got into Term 1 at the start of February with a games night, followed by some Promise and Law Boomerang testing. Then it was time for the Cuboree Orientation day for Leaders at Monash Uni. We all got to troop off down there so we could find out a bit about what this Cuboree's going to be all about, pick up some gear and generally make some plans. Back at Cubs, it was time for some initiative games. This is different to a normal games night, because the games are ones that require the Cubs to think about what they need to do and usually to work as a team to get it done. If they don't take the time to work it out, they won't be successful. We had some games inside and others outside. There were some interesting times - I think that Hannah nearly got drawn and quartered during the Nitro game!

The week after that, it was time to start work on the World Conservation Badge. As you can see on our Badge Page, there are a number of Special Interest Badges, such as Heritage and World Conservation. These take more effort to earn than Achievement Badges and, while we work to earn the new version of the Heritage Badge each year, we also try to work with the Cubs to get another of these badges - and this year it's World Conservation. It'll take us more than one night to finish it, so we got started with a number of activities, including a walk down into the Rosanna Parklands, where we had to look for evidence of how man has both improved and damaged nature.... and also to do our bit with a bit of a cleanup - the cubs had rubber gloves and each pair shared a garbage bag. We only covered about 100 metres along the treeline before the Cubs all had plenty in their bags - pretty sad really, but it was good that they could get a clear result for their efforts. We'll be doing the second part of the Badge in late May.

In late Feb, the Leaders of Banyule District had their monthly Seeonee meeting - this time was a bit different because we picked up all the Cuboree gear for those Cubs attending - shirts and hats flying everywhere! THEN it was time for the first of what I reckon were the three most interesting nights of the Term! We had our Cooking night, as part of our Boomerang testing. A number of our Rovers helped out by supplying food and gear and then running the cooking activity (thanks very much guys!). They turned up early to get the fires going (you need to let the fire settle down to coals for the best cooking) and then worked with the Cubs - the older Cubs cooking a meal by wrapping the food in foil and placing it in the coals, while the younger ones made damper twists to wrap around sticks and cook over the fire. I think some of the Cubs have never been around fire before... it was a new experience getting close enough to cook, but ensuring they stayed safe! The meals all seemed to get cooked OK, but I think some of the dampers were a bit raw - some of the Cubs found it a bit hard to stay still long enough to get the dough to cook through (that's what they didn't wear on their shirts)! It didn't matter to them - they ate it anyway!

Last week we had a Mythology night - based on Greek mythology. We tested the Cubs' memories by giving them names from mythology to see if they could remember them for the night (mixed success!) and had some fun with Pandora's Box, some messages based on ancient Greek, and plenty of themed games and activities. The following night was a Cuboree Info night for parents. It was supposed to be a District night, but only 1st Ivanhoe and Rosanna parents turned up! It was great to see that we had parents for ALL our Cuboree Cubs come along - great support.

And so, we finished off the term with two big activities. Firstly, last weekend, we took part in the Banyule "Arty Farty Fest", with the parade in Heidelberg. 1st Ivanhoe Sea Scouts led the parade as they're celebrating their Centenary - while we're all celebrating the Centenary of Scouting in Australia in 2008, 1st Ivanhoe is one of those Groups that started in Australia in that first year of 1908 - so while we at Rosanna Cubs celebrate our First Birthday, they celebrate their 100th! Behind Ivanhoe, I think that all the rest of the Groups in Banyule District were represented. After the Parade, we moved on to the Festival in the Park, with 'ScoutLand' being a prominent part. As well as recruiting, there was, among other things, a display by the Sea Scouts, maze, Scouting Heritage display, a huge rope bridge and the climbing wall from Camp Warringal. The temperature was pushing 40 and while a number of Leaders, Rovers and others had done tons of work putting the display up and later dismantling it, I was involved for a little while in pulling down the climbing wall and a couple of other things - I can't believe how many bolts there are in that wall and how long they all are!!

The second thing for the week was our final night for the Term - the BBQ and Yabby night at Binnak Park in Nth Watsonia. We had a great start to the night with the investiture of David - Bagheera. Alan Brook, from 1st Eaglemont, kindly came along in Barb's stead to perform the Investiture and to present me with a certificate for 10 years service as a Leader. It was great to be able to Invest a Leader out on an activity and to make it a bit special. I know that David enjoys Cubs, and I hope he gets a lot out of it. He's had his baptism of fire at Big Camp last year, and he must have liked it, because he's back for more at Cuboree next week! After the BBQ, it was on to the yabbying. It was getting dark earlier than expected because of the heavy cloud, but I think that it added to the fun... the Cubs loved it and, although some were sure I was making up stories about yabbies being there, in the end plenty were caught! AND, I'm surprised to say that, even in the dark, no Cubs fell in the water - amazing!

So, that was Term 1. Along the way, we've gained 3 New Chums and are losing one Cub.... Henry, Christian and Dale have joined us and will all be invested the first week back for next Term. Sabohan and his Mum are moving to Adelaide, so we said goodbye on Tuesday night. Overall the Pack continues to grow and we look forward to sending our first two Cubs up to Scouts around the end of Term 2. As I mentioned before, we celebrate our first Birthday this year - in fact it was just recently, on the 13th of March. It doesn't seem very long at all since we started this new Pack, but we've achieved a hell of a lot in that short time. I know it was very hard in the early days - both because we were teaching the whole Pack from scratch about what Cubs is all about, the Ceremonies etc., and also because you have a lot of kids who are all New Chums, looking at Cubs for the first time. Obviously, with New Chums, the whole idea is to have a look at Cubs and see if you like it, so they could decide at any time it's not for them and stop coming - having a whole Pack in that situation is 'interesting'! BUT, it all settled down and the numbers have continued to increase all the way. It was hard with only two Leaders, especially when one goes to the US for 3 months! - but then Laura came back and at the same time David was deciding he'd like to give it a go, so now it's up to 3, which is great - although we could always do with one or two more, especially as our numbers grow - so if you're interested, give us a yell!!

Well, there was plenty to talk about this time, but that's about it. Those of us going are all getting ready for Cuboree, which promises to be huge again. Next Term there's plenty happening - it's all on the Program Page, but just a few are Heritage, Father and Cub night, a Possum prowl at night at the LaTrobe Uni Wildlife Sanctuary and a visit to Gang Show, followed by family BBQ and Cub Sleepover - tons happening, as long as old farts like me can keep up with it! Anyway, catch ya later - I'll be wearing the "I survived Cuboree for the 4th time" t-shirt - if I do survive!
Akela

2nd January, 2008
Well, welcome to 2008! Now I've had time to catch my breath, I thought it was about time to put another entry in! Of course Christmas has been and gone and I hope that all the Cubs got what they wanted from Santa....and maybe the parents even got some peace and quiet! I got a new computer chair for my Birthday, so I can sit and write AkelaBlog in comfort!

Since the last time I wrote, we had a few more things to keep us busy to finish off the year. Back on the 20th of November we got to try out some mapping, compass and tracking skills. Our Gold Boomerang Cubs made a compass trail out in the back yard, with Chil's help, which the rest of us got to follow.... Some ended up trying to walk through a fence, so the techniques need a little work! We also laid trails to follow.... which was a bit of a challenge with so many sticks and leaves on the ground - made it hard to distinguish the signs from the rest! We even checked out some maps and learned something about scale, contours, map symbols and orienting a map. This was the Cubs' first taste of something they'll likely do a fair bit of as they move on through Scouts, so it was good to see they were enjoying it.

Now, for the next week, it was time to find out a bit about what Chil got up to in the USA. Chil told us about the Cubs and their Leaders that she met over there, and talked about things like Eagle Scouts, Tiger Cubs, Webelos and the like! She showed some of their badges - what for us are District Badges and fairly small, are huge badges in the US, plus a scarf and a whole heap of other stuff. Also, the Cubs from Pack 332 (Wildomar, California) had written to us, so our Cubs got to write back to them. Some letters were very detailed and some were very quickly put together, but it's all good... we'll see what responses we get!

As we hit December, it was nearly all over for the year, with only 2 nights to go. We had a Penny Hike (after we'd educated some Cubs about what a penny was)! Chil was running the night and pulled a swift one.... while any coin will do, of course a Penny makes it more 'authentic' and while most would have expected an Australian one from 1966 or earlier, Chil came up with a current US Penny! Now a penny hike means that whenever you get to an intersection you flip a coin to choose either a left or right hand turn. It wasn't looking good for us when after four coin flips, we ended up walking back past the Hall, having done a block around De Winton Park! Luckily the next flip at Manton St and St James Rd had us going across the railway pedestrian crossing and we were off to see something different! After working through Rosanna, up to Rosanna Primary School and back through Rosanna Parklands, we made it back to the Hall and the Cubs, some of whom would have us believe were dead on their feet, managed to still have the energy to run around on the oval!

And so, to our final Cub night for the year! Having some of the Rovers (Ross, Ben and Laura/Chil doing double duty as a Rover and Leader!) along helped make it our Group Break-up (it'll be different next year with a Scout Troop too!) I don't have to tell the parents much about this as they were almost all there - great to see such a strong turnout. We got the BBQ fired up in the back yard and the Cubs managed to get train chasing (along the fence) out of their system, in time for us to be lucky enough to score a visit from Santa, who handed out gifts to all the Cubs and their siblings. After everyone had had a feed, it was time for the official part of the night. We started off with making John a Seconder and moved on to invest Ben into our Pack. It's great to be able to do this because it means that ALL the parents and families get a chance to see someone being made a new member of our Pack - helps build the strength of our Group. The Rovers weren't left out - they had some badge presentations to do as well, which I also think is great because it means that the Cubs get to see that even at that age (18-26), the Rovers still go out and earn badges.

So, that was it for 2007.... it's been a big year for us - the start of our new Cub Pack and Group in the Centenary Year of Scouts around the world, plus Big Camp and a ton of other stuff. Now, in 2008, we have the Centenary of Scouts in Australia and a year the Government has designated the Year of the Scout. Shortly after celebrating our Pack's first birthday in March, we'll be off to Cuboree 5 at Gilwell for a fantastic 5 days. As you can see already from the Program page (with more details to come, especially for First Term), there's plenty more District stuff happening PLUS late in the year will be our first Pack Holiday to look forward to. The poor old Leaders (!) have a few more weeks' rest and then it's Game On for Cubs in 2008!

See you at Cubs on the 5th of Feb......
Akela

18th November, 2007
Hi. Sorry I'm a bit slow off the mark again this month.... but at least there's been plenty happening to talk about!

Last time I wrote was just before the start of this Term, and we've done plenty since then! We got into the Term with activities on the first two weekends! First up was a trip to the Immigration Museum in the City, where there's currently a display on Scouts immigrating to Australia. We all hopped on the train at Rosanna, while other Cubs in the District also hopped on at their nearest Station. In the City, it was a short walk to the Museum, where we were all given a pack to fill out. There were some questions to find the answers to throughout the Museum - getting them all right and figuring out the Code Word would give each Cub a prize! Now, personally, I think this was good and bad! Firstly it was good because the Cubs got to check out the whole Museum as they searched for clues. It was bad because, for some Cubs, that was ALL they did! - ignoring pretty much everything that wasn't an answer to the clues! Anyway, we worked on that a bit and I think that in the end the Cubs did all get to take in a fair chunk of info about Australian Immigration, so it was good stuff. All the Cubs qualified for their prize.... so we all got a weird finger puppet. I scored one too, which of course half the Cubs decided was better than theirs and wanted to swap! Off we wandered to Birrarung Marr for lunch and the Cubs got to play in the playground, which is actually a lot better than it looks from a distance!

The following Saturday was JOTA - Jamboree of the Air. This is run worldwide over the same weekend each year. Joeys, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers talk to each other over Amateur Radio all over the world - only limited by the where their radio can connect to! There's also another component - JOTI - Jamboree of the Internet, which uses chat software for communication. We went out to Clifford Park Scout Camp (in Wonga Park), where they were running JOTA plus a number of activities to make it more fun and interesting. In the couple of hours that we were there, the Cubs talked to other Cubs on the radio, played around with the controls for some radio controlled planes, watched a rocket being fired off, and a radio controlled glider, and took the controls of a flying shuttle - controlling the tension on a rope, so as to get the shuttle to land in the right spot. We also got to have a bit of a look around Clifford Park, which is a pretty big place! It's always interesting to watch Cubs on the radio... often kids that never shut up get on there and suddenly have no idea of what to say...but with a bit of help they figured it out and all had a good go!

Back at 'normal' Cubs for a few weeks, we had an Aboriginal Culture night and "The Cub Crusade"! The culture night was fun... we had cardboard tubes for didgeridoos and dowel for clap sticks. I taught them the theory of playing a didgeridoo.... and I do say the theory... I can't play one for nuts! A few reckoned they could master the art of blowing into the didgeridoo at the same time as they breathed in, but I think we all need some more practice. Anyway, we got them sounding fairly musical, which is as much as you can ask for from a non-experienced bunch! After that we got into the painting, which showed up some very nice artistic flair - especially Irum's, which caught my eye.

And then the next week was the Cub Crusade! We got the expected slew of Indiana Jones lookalikes, but I'd have to say full points for originality for some... we had the German who works for Hitler, the German femme fatale, and even a young Indiana Jones as an American Boy Scout! The Cubs had a great night, with activities from running from a huge rolling rock (that looked suspiciously like Akela), to eating chilled Monkey brains with our eyes shut (funny - they tasted just like red or yellow jelly!).

All of which leads us up to the biggest event of the year for our Cubs - Big Camp II. Eight of our Cubs, along with nearly 200 others from around our and nearby Districts headed up to Camp Warringal, north of Whittlesea, for 4 days of fun, excitement and..... rain! Who would have thought that in the drought we're having, we'd get so much rain in such a short time! At least we were luckier than Melbourne and Geelong, that copped even more! However, in the true tradition of Scouting, we just got on with it and had fun regardless of whatever weather was thrown at us! We got there early on Saturday morning and some of the Cubs saw something they'd never seen up close before.... a tent! With Leaders, parents and Cubs, up went the two tents - an 18x12 for the 6 boys and a smaller one for the two girls. Down went the tarps and in went the bedding.... and before long there were lessons to be learned.... like we don't take all our clothes out of our bag and put them onto the ground where they'll get soaked as soon as the rain comes, do we Zach? Next morning we got to organise a trip for a Leader into Whittlesea to dry the clothes at the Laundromat... thanks Davo! There were lots of things to learn about camping and activities... and that's what it was all about - getting ready for Cuboree next year, so it was a great introduction for our new Pack.

Our first activity was canoeing/kayaking.... it was cold, but of course some Cubs couldn't resist tipping their craft over and getting soaked.... and then of course others had to join in... Akela's not silly.... they bought the craft to shore by themselves to get turned upright! Some were a bit squelchy on the way back! The Cubs certainly enjoyed the Horse riding... except for Sannan, who fell off. However, although he got a sore hip for a while, I think he enjoyed the overall experience! Saturday night was VERY wet. Some parents couldn't handle it - one (not from our Pack) called the camp at 1:30am to make sure we hadn't floated away! Sunday wasn't so bad... still cold and showery, but we got stuff done in between....and just try and stop them going on the flying fox - even if it was pouring rain! I should say that while the Cubs were awake before 6 on Sunday morning, I got to wake them up at 7:15 on Monday and they were still asleep at 7:30 on Tuesday! So, on Sunday there was all sorts of stuff - minigolf, bikes, climbing wall, archery, crate stacking, flying fox (sorry - aerial runway!), bush skateboards, stilts and mulching, + a Disco! I think that is was a toss up between the flying fox, bush skateboards and crate stacking for most popular. They thought it was a good idea to try to run over Akela with the bush skateboards while he was taking photos.... missed me tho! By Sunday night the rain was finally clearing away and Monday morning was more fun with Billycarts, some Scouting Heritage stuff, and then onto Funfields Adventure Park.

The BIG thing Monday night was the 1860's 7 pounder cannon... check out our Videos page! It was brought in by a Leader from Greenhills and, even firing off blanks in a fraction of the normal charge, it still went off with a huge BANG!.... many times! Then it was off to a campfire with songs.... something I don't think any of our Cubs have experienced in that form - especially the Cub Haka! (again, see the Videos page)...... and then, on Tuesday morning it was all over - time to pack up the tents and go home! It was certainly a huge experience for the Cubs.... and now they're pumped up for Cuboree!

I was very ably assisted on Big Camp by Samuel's Dad - David. He worked very well with the Cubs and enjoyed it so much he's decided he'd like to become a Leader, so we welcome him as Bagheera to our Pack.

What I didn't mention so far is that on the Monday of Big Camp I disappeared for a few hours... to go to Melbourne Airport and welcome Laura (Chil) back home after 3 months overseas. In the last month she'd done things such as heading off to Arizona for a few weeks, going to the Grand Canyon and spending a few days at Disneyland and some other parks. She'd had a lot of fun, and could have found plenty more to do over there, but I'm sure she's also glad to be back! The Cubs wanted me to bring her out to Big Camp to say hi.... but she just wanted to crash in bed!! She was back at Cubs this last Tuesday and will be running a night next week on her time with the Cub Pack from Wildomar, California.

So, how do we top Big Camp? Well we can't really.... not until at least Cuboree next year! In the meantime, to bring us up to date, we headed off to Athens on Tuesday night for the first of what I intend on running annually - our Cub Olympics! We commemorated the First Olympiad of the modern era at Athens in 1896....the Cubs took part in some weird and wonderful events including the gumboot throw! Next year, we'll be up for the 2nd Olympiad in Paris, 1900!

Well, I've really rabbited on this time.... time to say goodbye as we move towards the end of 2007.... See ya next time!
Akela

5th October, 2007
G'day. I thought I'd get radical and do this update only a month after the last one - very efficient eh? Well I guess the Cubs won't be too happy to realise that today's the last day of the Holidays - back to school on Monday! Ah well, CUBS is back on Tuesday!!!

So, what HAS been happening since last time? Well, there's been a few things, so here we go. We started off the month with a visit to Totally Reptiles, in St James Rd, the other side of Rosanna Rd. Lachlan and Zach's Mums had told me about it at the swimming night, so I gave the shop a call and they very nicely agreed to run an hour session for us. Some of our Cubs informed me they "don't walk!" - but they're in Scouting now, so it was time to start their education! Off we went and checked out the Lizards, snakes, turtles and other animals there... it was great. The people brought out all sorts of animals for the Cubs to look at and they learned a lot. I think that it was a good thing that the Scrub Python stayed in its cage - it's as long as a school bus! I think that the Cubs were quite surprised when the turtles put in a bit of a sprint! I wonder how many Cubs now have a reptile for a pet!

The next week we got into some Boomerang work, looking at Symbols of Australia. For Bronze it's mainly about the Australian Flag, Silver focuses on Victorian symbols and Gold on the Australian Coat of Arms. I think that the best part is that the Cubs doing Gold have to teach the Bronze Cubs how to roll the flag.... then we get to see who teaches who!

THEN.... it was the big finale for Term 3.... Dragonology. With plenty of input from others, I've developed a program based on the 'Dragonology' book, so we had the Cubs dress up as Dragons or Dragon hunters.....although it was a bit of a struggle getting across to the Cubs that a Dragon hunter in this instance is looking to preserve dragons, not kill them! We had plenty on for the night - 'Akelion' the Dragon Hunter showed them all the equipment they'd need... like the flame proof note book, map book, pen and camera, helmet, goggles, radio.... and a fire extinguisher if it all goes haywire! Of course they didn't realise they'd have to remember all the gear for their own Dragon Hunter books later. They had to decipher a 'dragon code' in the book too, which was interesting.... they all naturally formed into small groups to help each other. Also, we went outside to follow the trail left by a dragon - who seemed to have taken roost in a tree! The night wound up with making dragon faces on biscuits (icing and lollies... of course the Cubs had to be forced to do that!) and using garbage bags to make the best dragon... we even had a little brother join in to get decorated as a little dragon! Check out some pics on the photos page.

So, what's Chil (Laura) been up to? Well, up until recently, she's been in LA. Through our website I was contacted by a lady named April from Cub Pack 332 in Wildomar, California. I'm told it's around 2 hours drive south east of Hollywood. She was looking for penfriends for their Cubs, but was quite excited when I told her that Chil is currently over there. April arranged to drive up to pick up Chil and take her to Wildomar. They did some stuff during the day with April's family, and Chil was to attend their Cub Scout meeting that night. In the US, as I understand it, they divide their Packs up into 'Dens', which have separate meetings with a "Den mother". Then, every so often (monthly?) they all get together for a meeting of the entire Pack, which was what happened on this night and Chil was the guest of honor.

In this case there's 50 Cubs and, as they were a bit concerned about having a proper chance to meet with Chil, they organised a dinner with the Scouting families prior to the Cub meeting. I'd emailed a heap of Rosanna and Australian Scouting stuff over to April, which she had printed and put onto a large piece of cardboard to make a poster, which gave Chil something to work from as she talked to the Cubs about our Cubs and about Scouting in Australia. The Cubs there are writing to our Cubs here in Rosanna and we'll arrange to write back to them! Chil has told me she had a fantastic time and April has emailed me to say, among other things, "The pack meeting went GREAT!!! The kids were so interested." - so it was great to see it went so well. We got some photos back, so I've wacked them up on the site for you to have a look at.. click here. So, Chil's headed off to Arizona now - staying near Phoenix for a week or two and visiting the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Then she'll be heading back to LA and going to Disneyland and then back to Aus just before Cup Day!

So, what's coming up? Well, of course we're into Term 4 on Tuesday, with a games night and Investing Samuel. We've got something on for the next two weekends.... next Sunday is the District visit to the Immigration Museum and the following week we'll get into JOTA - Jamboree of the Air, out at Clifford Park. We're also going to try out some Aboriginal culture and craft, and because the Dragonology night went so well, I thought we'd try a different dressup night, as we get into "The Cub Crusade"! All of which leads us up to Big Centenary Camp at the start of next month. Plenty to keep us occupied! Ah well, that's about all for this month... see you at Cubs!
Akela

1st September, 2007
Well, it's been almost 2 months since I last wrote here... pretty slack, I know. And there's a lot been happening, what with Chil going off to the US for 3 months and us getting a fair way into Term 3. All I can say is that with Chil going off to have fun, it's pretty busy trying to run a Pack of 14 Cubs on your own (14+ now!), so some things like this and the Badge of the Month have suffered a little... Ah well, such is life...here is your update, so on with it!

We started off Term 3 by having some fun with games - burn that energy off(!) and then straight into some Boomerang work the following week with 'The Natural Environment'. Chil even went off to photograph some 'roos as part of helping us learn about it all, and we sorted out who knew how to sort out rubbish. Following it up the following week was a Handcraft night... The Cubs got to let their imagination run free and create their own Aussie animals... but not just any animals.... mixed ones! Like a kangabat, or a bilbaroo.... whatever they could imagine and make! Some Cubs were a bit tentative at it, but others really let themselves go!

This was Chil's last night before heading off for the US.... although she did have one more engagement.... she and 3 of our Cubs went to the annual Sixers Dinner - this year at 1st Ivanhoe Sea Scouts Hall. Sixers Connie and Xavier, as well as Ethan (standing in for Hannah, who was on holiday) went along, had a meal, and watched the entertainment - including the Leaders' weird and wonderful collections.

Something you might find interesting.... on Sunday the 5th of August, the Scouts of Banyule and Nillumbik Districts held the "Fantastic Scout Race" along the railway line from (I think) Montmorency to Darebin. They all started from our Hall at Rosanna and then, working in Patrols, were given clues as to which station to catch the train to... at each station there was a 'Country', where activities could be done to earn points. When they'd finished, they'd get their Passport stamped and a clue to their next 'country'. As we don't have a Scout Troop (YET), I helped out 1st Ivanhoe. Their country was the UK, where Scouts did stuff like Caber Tossing (complete with a Scout Leader in a kilt!), cricket, line heaving and others... all up around 9 things they could do... they had to do a minimum of 4 before moving on to the next Station. The Scouts all had a great day - something to look forward to!

At lunchtime on Tuesday the 7th, Chil took off on her way to Auckland, NZ - then on to LA. After MANY hours cramped up in 'cattle-class' on Air New Zealand, she arrived in a nice hot LA! (most days recently have been in the mid-high 30's - click here to see what today's weather is (click on 'metric' if it's showing Fahrenheit)). So where is she at the moment? Staying with friends in the Nth Hollywood area, not far from the Hollywood Hills and the film studios. Soon she's off to Arizona, Las Vegas etc., and back to us in early November. You can keep up with her occasional updates of what's going on, by looking at her "Reni in the USA" 'blog site'. Note that it's 'PG', so Cub parents should look at it and decide if it's ok for their kids. They're 19 hours behind over there.... add 7 hours to the current time, then take off a day!

So, back to Cubs... while Laura was flying somewhere between Auckland and LA, we were doing the first Achievement badge for all our Cubs - Codes and Signals. The paper we used was a bit too absorbent for our food colouring to show up our secret messages as well as we'd hoped... but it worked reasonably well! I wonder how many tried to use secret codes at home! We continued on with our badgework vein the next week and, back on Boomerangs, learned about Safety. I should say that all along the way we've been having parent helpers come out and help me each night, which has been great. Even with a couple of us, running Boomerang work for 3 age levels has been challenging, but we get there in the end!

On Aug 21 it was time for something different... initiative games. I told the Cubs that they'd need to use their brains for these, in order to figure them out. Some Cubs still took it as a way of just mucking around, but they did figure out that if they wanted to be successful, they did have to work together! In the same week, we had our annual District Swimming night at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar Swimming Pool. We had 10 Cubs turn up, which was an excellent turnout for a 2nd night of Cubs in a week. A few Cubs are still working on the swimming, so some were able to play in the water, while one got as far as he could, leaving less to finish off. We had 7 earn their Swimming Badge - a great effort. The races were fun afterwards, then it was time to hit the showers.

All of which got us to last week - our Mother and Cub night. We had a Father and Cub night to prepare for Mother's Day earlier on in the year, so this time it was time to try it with the Mums coming along before Fathers Day. I must say, I've run Mother and Cub nights in the past, where the Mothers were clinical killers when it came to getting their own back on the kids! However, in this one, they were much quieter and nice - all very disappointing really! ....Although I did notice that they quite happy when they won the 2nd part of the chair race in the first game! Under Mums' (or Aunty etc.) supervision the Cubs made something nice for Fathers Day, giving us enough time for more games before finishing. A week before, a new Chum, Samuel, started with us, so this week it was time to give him a white scarf.

The last Scouting thing I did for the month was to go to the footy with the 1st Ivanhoe Sea Scouts last night.... Collingwood lost... bummer!

So, only 3 more weeks for Term 3.... and still plenty happening, what with stuff like a walk up to Totally Reptiles for a session this week, and "Dragonology" to finish term. Don't forget to start getting a dragon or dragon hunter costume ready... and don't forget also that the Dragonology night will be on Monday the 17th.... I'll be away with work on the Tuesday! Of course, coming up next term is Big Centenary Camp!. It'll be great fun.

Anyway, that's us up to date.... I just had a look, and saw I got around two months' stuff in about the same amount of text as last time.... mustn't have rabbited on as much! Email me if there's anything else you'd like me to cover in future!

See you in the future....
Akela

6th July, 2007
Well, we've completed our first full term as Rosanna Cubs - not bad eh? As usual, plenty has been happening over the last month... dunno if it ever stops! Ah well, here I am relaxing through the School Holidays.... putting up another edition of AkelaBlog!

The first thing we did since the last Blog was to have a Scientific Discovery night. As I said last month, Chil was busy with rehearsals for Gang Show, so Hannah's Dad came along and helped... shortly before they took off on a 15 week trip around Australia... lucky them! We measured things, steamed up the kitchen, had our two Gold level Cubs trying to talk underwater and all had sparklers going in the dark! Good fun!

The next week we moved Cubs to a Monday for a change and visited the Greensborough RSL. For some this was the final part of their Heritage Badge... for others it was the first part. The President of the RSL and his offsiders looked after us well - feeding us with plenty of party pies and other hot food, plus drinks, while they talked about service in war, poppies and showed us some artifacts like an SS helmet, hand grenade, gun, cutlass etc. The Cubs enjoyed it and the reports we've been getting back indicate that they did actually learn stuff!

Then, it was time for our biggest activity so far - Gang Show, BBQ and Sleepover! On Saturday the 23rd we went to the matinee of Gang Show - the second of nine performances held. We had something like 23 of us there - parents, Cubs, siblings - and the Cubs were on the lookout for Chil in the show. She had them all laughing with her part in the first half and overall all I've heard back from the Cubs and their families is how much they enjoyed it. Then we came back to the Hall for a family BBQ. We had the parents joining in to help - cooking the BBQ, working in the kitchen etc., while I endeavoured to keep the Cubs occupied! After the BBQ and cleanup, it was time to say goodnight to parents and settle in for our Sleepover. Connie's Mum stayed so we'd have enough adults for supervision. A bit of a baptism of fire, but I thank her for coming and hope she enjoyed it!

We had setup our beds and played some games, then it was time to watch some videos. First up we watched one on the last Cuboree in 2005 - giving the Cubs some idea of what sort of things to look forward to when we go to Cuboree with 3,000 other Cubs in April next year! After that we watched Finding Nemo and then, of course, Supper!... well, all except Sannan, who had carked it by that stage and was sound asleep! NOW.... the amazing thing.... we finished Supper and sent the Cubs to bed.... and they were all quiet by 11:30 ! Unprecedented in my experience with Cubs! And they didn't even wake me with their noise until after 6:30am! After that it was almost all over bar the shouting.... toast and cereal for brekkie, pack up the bedding and off home with the parents who'd just had a night of quiet! I'd like to be able to say I went home to go back to bed and get some rest... but no such luck. - Such is life!

The following Tuesday was the last of Term 2. With Chil doing her 4th Gang Show performance for the season, Sannan's Dad kindly came in to help. By far, the highlight of the night was Investing another 3 Cubs. One by one we invested Irum, Imaad and Sabohan into our quickly growing Pack. Still looking for more Leaders.... any takers out there? We moved on to have a Jungle night... focussed on games based on the Jungle Book - trying to wear the Cubs out before the end of Term!

The Term wasn't quite over for Chil... she had shows throughout that week, culminating with two shows on Saturday. I attended the finale - it's always interesting to see how the Gang Show changes a little in various areas throughout the performances - as things that don't quite work well are re-jigged and small improvements are made everywhere...... and then it's all over for another year! Chil loved it as usual and now she's focussed on her next big thing for the year - heading off to the US for 3 months in early August.

So, it's back to Cubs in a week and a bit... what's happening in Term 3? Well, it's a surprise at the moment! (OK, we haven't sat down and worked out the program yet, but it won't be long, honest)! So far, I know we'll be having a Sixers Dinner and hopefully a District Swimming night. But for the rest of it, you'll have to keep an eye on the website for the new program to arrive soon!

Don't forget... Big Centenary Camp is coming up on the Cup Weekend in November.... if you haven't already done so, get those applications in - we'll get those tents organised and get out there for four days of camping and, of course, FUN!

Well, that's it for me! catch ya soon!
Akela

11th June, 2007
Welcome to...the next entry!. It's been a busy month - tons to talk about!

For starters, we had our Father and Cub night. The aim was to have some fun and make something for the Mums for Mothers Day. But the games were first and those dads were killers... no quarter given.... let my son or daughter win? Not a chance! The Cubs managed to win one game, but that was like a red rag to a bull - there was no way they were going to be allowed to win the next one! We made bath bombs for the Mothers Day gifts - it was all a bit tentative at first, but then they all got the hang of it and there was no stopping them. I reckon some of those bath bombs would be pretty strong with the amount of essential oils and colour that went into them!

The next week was started off with the 2nd of our Investiture sessions. This time we had 7 new Cubs to invest and so we did! We Invested Connie, Xavier, Hannah, Sannan, Brandon, Christopher and Zach. We also have 3 more New Chums, getting ready to get invested in a few weeks. Our Pack continues to grow!

Now some of you who've been paying attention will know that Chil (Laura) is, as well as being a Leader with our Pack, a Rover in the Flinders-Petrie Rover Crew. Rovers is the final youth section of Scouting - for those aged 18-26. Flinders-Petrie Rovers are based in our Hall and, with the creation of our Group (Rosanna Scout Group), of which our Cub Pack is the first operating Section, they've formed an association with us. We had some of the Rovers help out with our first Investitures last month and then, on the 22nd of May they came to Cubs and ran the night for us. I think that both the Cubs and the Rovers got a lot out of it - especially the Cubs with all the lollies they got! The Rovers taught the Cubs some knots, and played some games - including the now-famous catapults!
This last weekend the Rovers were all out at Mudbash - they go to Mafeking Park and race cars they've prepared around in the mud all weekend - a typical activity for Rovers!!

You might remember from last month's Blog, I mentioned that I'd started work on a Training course for Cub Leaders. Since then, it's been another Saturday and then a full weekend starting on the 26th to complete the course. The full weekend involved staying at Clifford Park Scout Camp near Wonga Park - we'll be out there later this year for Jamboree of the Air. I reckon that the weekend courses are the best (rather than a single day) because the new Leaders get to know each other better and have a lot more fun as they learn. The Cubs would be interested to know that we had them doing Boomerang Badge and Achievement Badge stuff just like Cubs, as part of their experience! We had a large number of Leaders and they all passed, which was great. Our District benefited because we had two Leaders pass.

A couple of weeks ago we headed off to Essendon Airport to visit the Air Ambulance. Ethan got strapped into a stretcher for a ride on the plane's hydraulic lift - I think his Dad would like to buy the straps! We checked out the planes and then drove over the other side of the airport to see the Police Air Wing and the Police and Ambulance Helicopters. The Cubs loved it and I was impressed with their behaviour and the good questions they asked!

Well, after that it was into June - last month of term - and time for a visit to Bundoora Cubs. For the last few months we've been focussed on our own Pack - getting it up and running and learning what it's all about. I'd approached Bundoora Cubs and they kindly agreed to having a joint night and even got a number of their Scouts to come along and help run it. The night started off with a walk in the dark for a bit and then back to do four bases based on 'CSI' - codes, fingerprints - all sorts of good stuff. The Cubs from the two Packs joined in and worked together really well - it was a really good night. Thanks to Bundoora for their efforts.

And so, we're about up to date! We've got a few weeks to go for this term and still plenty happening - does it ever slow down? Tomorrow night is going to be ambitious - Scientific Discovery while Chil's away at Gang Show rehearsals - Hannah's Dad has generously agreed to help out, so we'll get there in the end - should be fun! Then next MONDAY we've got our Heritage night at the RSL, on the weekend we've got our big Gang Show / BBQ and Sleepover.... and then if that isn't enough we're gunna finish off the Term with a Jungle night.... and we might even have some more investitures........ and then there's Third Term!!!
Akela

6th May, 2007
Here we are with another entry and now we have our first invested Cubs in the Pack and more to come in a couple of weeks!

We started off the Term with a games night... I've found that the first week back at Cubs is usually one where the Cubs have plenty of energy and haven't settled down after the holidays yet, so we focus on having some fun! In the next week we started on some badgework with the first night of working on Boomerang badges - depending on their age, our soon-to-be Cubs were started on either the Bronze, Silver or Gold Boomerang. We started the Boomerangs with Health & Safety, which ranged from talking about generally looking after your health, to passing messages (need to do this accurately if there's an accident) and on to some bandages and slings. Learning how to focus on the badgework was a new experience as well as the badgework itself, so it was a challenge, but good fun to see - especially some of the slings!!

Of course, the 25th of April is Anzac Day, which is always a big day for Scouts. We started off the day very early with the Dawn Service at 6am at Simpson Barracks. Xavier, John and Christopher made it out of bed to come along and take part in the service along with thousands of others! Then we went off for a cooked breakfast in the Mess... time to warm up and have a chat!

A little later on, it was time for the Anzac Day March at Greensborough. Hannah, Lachlan, Yevinda and Xavier came along to join in - and got to march with Chil and I at the front of the Scouts - just behind all the District Flags. We marched up to the war memorial and watched the service, before heading back down to the RSL for some free drinks and food! Some of our other members took part in Anzac ceremonies elsewhere, which we'll be counting towards the Heritage Badge.

The Cubs who come along to take part in Anzac Day enjoy their time there, which is great because it's important to try to get them involved, so that they can get a better understanding of those who served for us.

All of which brings us to last Tuesday - our first Investitures! Our first four to start - Lachlan, Ethan, Yevinda and John - of course are our first four to be Invested as Cubs. Because it was a big night in the history of our Pack, Barb invited all those who play a role in the Leadership of our District (eg. District Leader for each Section), plus some such as Ada Wilkinson who has been involved in our District for a very long time. We also had Cr Tom Melican come along - he's going to be our next District President I'm told - and we presented him with one of our scarves.

So, to the most important part - our 4 starters were brought up to the front, along with Hannah and Sannan to hold the Cub Flag and, with parents watching and taking pictures and videos, we created our first Cubs! We congratulate and welcome them. They'll be the first of many as we Invest another 7 on the 15th - more on that in the next entry! We continued on the night with some more badgework - Cub Scout Traditions - Chil wrote the program and you wouldn't think she was a new Leader - it was great with all the learning being done as part of games and fun activities - something that's often hard to do when you've got to get so much covered - well done!

Well, we're almost up to date now.... yesterday I was doing some more Scouting things... All new Leaders go through a program of training that teaches them what they need to know to properly lead the Cubs. I've been involved in helping to run training courses for a few years (I even got to do some extra training courses to learn how to run training courses!) and yesterday I started on a Cub Scout Basic Course at Heathmont - we had 18 new Cub Scout Leaders doing the course, which is great to see - even two from Banyule District. It's good fun! After the day on the Course, it was off to a Trivia night for Parents and friends of those involved in Gang Show... we didn't win, but we had some fun! Looking forward to Gang Show in June - don't miss out - get your forms back this week!

OK, that's all folks for this time! Father & Cub night, Rover night and Air Ambulance visit all coming up this month - get on for the ride! See ya later!
Akela

1st April, 2007
Well, our Cub Pack is now officially 3 weeks old! Not long at all, but a lot's happened in that time. We got started 3 weeks ago with 3 'New Chums' - Lachlan, Ethan and Yevinda. It was still Daylight Savings, so we spent most of our time outside having some fun and even doing some Gold Boomerang stuff with our trails and tracking!

Week 2 had a huge jump in numbers, to 4, with the arrival of John! Doesn't sound like much, but the numbers were growing, and that's what we were after.... it would have been pretty demoralising to have started a Pack and have two leaders sitting by themselves twiddling their thumbs! One thing that's different for us as Leaders is that normally when New Chums come along, they pick up plenty of stuff from just seeing what the other Cubs do. Of course in this case they're all new, so we get to teach them everything from scratch (and Chil even gets to pretend to be a Sixer as part of the New Chums' training)! Also it means that while the stuff we teach New Chums about Cubs and Scouting is usually done separately from the rest of the Pack, in this case it can become a central part of our programming.

So, for week 2, we focussed on learning and playing games revolving around the founder of Scouting - Lord Robert Baden-Powell - plus the theme that Cubs is built on - The Jungle Book. Certainly different and great fun. Of course with new kids coming along every week, we'll need to revisit that with those that missed out, but that's fine, we'll get it covered.

Last weekend we had our first outside activity - the March for the Banyule Festival. Our theme was around marionettes... and it was fun watching Cubs try to get a marionette to walk quickly along the road while also trying to keep up and in a straight line! - it almost worked!

Then, two weeks down the track and Rosanna Cubs really kicked in... 11 new arrivals and our number of New Chums hit 15! Barb's recruiting efforts hit their straps! (Barb is our District Commissioner and acting Group Leader). We had 13 Cubs on the night because one of our originals couldn't make it and, a new one couldn't make it, but made sure she dropped in first to hand in her membership form! Now Chil might reckon she remembers everyone's name, but poor Akela hasn't got a hope! Give me a week or two and I'll be right! Of course you guys aren't making it any easier for me to remember.... I'm told that there's at least another 3 kids starting on the first week after the holidays. Ah well, it might be hard for me to remember, but it's a nice problem to have! We're all stoked to have so many kids coming along and so much enthusisam. Now we need some equally enthusiastic parents to join us as Leaders!

For our third night it was end of term, so we thought we'd have a theme/party night. I asked the New Chums on the first night and they came up with 'Army'. I thought... hmmmm, I hope these parents don't come along thinking Cubs is militaristic or anything... but then I thought, ah well, I've been involved in Cub themes including Space travellers, Cowboys and Indians, Aliens, Dragonologists, Pirates, Eqyptians, Wizards and Jungle animals... this is just another theme to explore - so we just went in and had fun with it! The New Chums collected their land mines (lollies) for disarming, did basic training through an obstacle course, played as MP detectives and captured the enemy bandits from over the Banyule hills! And of course they all got promoted and got to eat their party food in the 'Sergeants Mess'!

So, what's next? Well, early in Term 2 (probably around May 1 and 15, but we need to talk to parents about that) we'll have tons of New Chums to invest into Cubs.... There's plenty of other stuff coming... check out the Program page. What our Cubs will be hearing lots more about is Big Camp in November (4 days over Cup Weekend) and then Cuboree in the First Term Holidays next year...plenty of preparation, but both of them will be brilliant fun!
Ah well, that's me for the moment... I hope you've stuck with me! Catch ya next time.
Akela

March, 2007
So what is an "Akelablog"? What colour is it? What does it look like? Well it's just words really, so if you're here looking for pretty pictures and flashing lights... sorry, you'll have to ask me at Cubs and we'll see what we can do there! For those of you who don't know, a 'blog' - short for 'WebLog', is just like an online diary - a place for someone to write whatever they want to - whatever comes into their head. Now Chil might say that this should be very short then (!!), but she also knows that Akela can rabbit along for ages about anything!

So, what is it? It's just a place for me to write down some stuff that I see and hear about our Cubs, what they do, and about Scouting stuff in general. Some blogs are very fancy... this one's just going to be nice and simple... I hope you find something you like and keep coming back for a look.... otherwise it'll just fall down in a screaming, smelly heap!!!

And so, awaaaayyyyyy we go!

Where have I come from? I was a Cub Leader at another Pack for a number of years. When I decided to move on a little while ago, I was asked by our District and Region Commissioners to start a new Scout Group, by starting with a Cub Pack, at Rosanna. Chil decided to move across with me, and then we had to start planning things like scarf colours, (which then had to go through an approval process), looking for equipment, planning a program and all that sort of stuff. Along with that, we've spent a lot of time setting up our website - getting all the content organised, creating an overall design and utilising the colours of the new Pack. We hope you like it!

So, we're a new Cub Pack, so of course we're starting off with all new Cubs. We hope you enjoy it so much, you stick around.... In fact, we hope you decide to stick around to go on to Scouts, Venturers and, when you're 18, on to Rovers! If you can aim to continue to enjoy Scouting for that long, you might end up like this Rover I met a while back, Here's a pic - click on it to get a better look...

....He has ALL the 'Link Badges' and 'Years of Service badges' - you earn a new Link Badge each time you go up to a new Section and then while you're in a Section, such as Cubs, you earn Service Badges to show how many years' service you've had there. As brand new Cubs, you probably won't qualify for the ones from Joeys, but you CAN do all the rest.... and have tons of fun along the way!

Anyway, that'll do me for this time! WELCOME to our new Pack - we hope you enjoy yourself!
Akela