Remembering the Zombie Apocalypse

Stopping at McDonald's Grafton under a sky that looked as though it had taken a king hit one day reminded me of another in which we'd wandered under this rail bridge and into the popular car trip rest stop.

That day the sky had been hitting us with serious cancerous rays. It resembled being in a desert as some days in Grafton do. We been taken, in a rusted old van and blindfolded, to a distant edge of the Jacaranda City. There were six of us and most I vaguely knew. Keeping our eyes peeled for zombies we shuffled, laden with hiking packs, through the suburbs. Sweat clustered in my hair under my hat while I straightened the matching headband.

We scrutinised the gravestones of the local cemetery and unafraid of zombies (who we knew were completing their HSC) we dumped out packs in shopping trolleys to enter the busy intersections looking undead ourselves. I was glad at the information centre, breathing in the air conditioning as we found out how long their video ran for. At the near deserted train station we clapped our companions on the back, astonished at their survival in the boiling toffee of the air of the air.

The bridge was a real horror movie set. A hundred years old it hung in rusted folds over the swollen river. The train tracks rattled to our left even without a train and above the cars inched along like us. We dragged ourselves to a cute vintage red phone box and rang it only to find we'd forgotten the Baptist church. Apparently their opening times were important and we emerged on the hardest journey of all.

Water had evaporated right out of our bottles and we hadn't eaten since breakfast: it was already 2. With our trolleys abandoned only determination dragged us back along the main drag and to the river front.

Finally we were supplied with food and water and had two sick and heat exhausted venturers to coddle. But we prevailed, building a raft from two canoes and two poles. Once more we crossed the expansive river to arrive at Susan Island.

Apparently zombies had crossed this fast flowing water and arrived ahead of us on the island. Because zombies cross water all the time (they hate water). Regardless we had to build a tree fort to hide from them when they would inevitably swarm us tonight. I was glad we didn't actually have to sleep there. We were saved so that we could trek through a darkening forest probably inhabited by Slender man. I'm sure our spooky stories just egged him on.

On the way back down the 4km k island we didn't need torches however because we were far too enthralled by dancing fireflies. Oblivious of our tiredness they were joyful. They were bright sparks in the welcome cool of night.  By this time (probably 7:30) we looked forward to dinner.

And we got it:
1 cup tiny dry pasta
1 tablespoon "surprize" dried peas
1 cup-a-soup packet
1 can of tuna (and twiggy sticks for everyone else)

That's right, Venturer scouts can cook their own meals, especially when camping on an island (apparently swarming with zombies).  The hike-style main meal was made up for when our group (red) was presented with dessert.  Tinned fruit and custard, mmhhmm.  

We all went to bed in our sleeping bags happy, still ignorant of any actual zombie attacks. 

Day 1 of the Inititave Course had passed for 32 Venturer Scouts on Susan Island.   Missing, Assumed Dead. 

Dragonskin: City Rail to Campbelltown

Besides only just catching the 8:03 train we were excited. Between Central and Campbelltown there was about an hour to kill.

On the third carriage and just before Strathfield I submit to being tagged with sharpies in bemusement. VIRGIN in capital letters is written by the girl with a shaved head and SLUT on her arm. My companions also get SLUT and it seems that a tagging frenzy has begun. I become a member of Hayden's army in open rebellion against Flynn's forces. Several others see our uniforms and leave their marks on our arms.

The city rail is clogged with us all in matching shirts, clots of hiking packs lounging across double seats. Anticipation hums beneath the surface and mingles with the efficient static of the train like a badly kept secret .

We see scarves of many colours on our journey down the train. They all bear the purple script saying "Maddie xx" down their arms and we're searching for this mystery girl who could complete our team. Pushing through the narrow doors my sleeping roll gets stuck again and again then finally releases me into the shifty ledges between cars. At stations we play leapfrog, rushing from one carriage to the next in a search that seems fruitless once we reach the first carriage. Is this some elaborate hoax?

Finally back on the third carriage we find her- not exactly what I was expecting. The script and her movement down the train had put in my mind the image of a small, lithe girl terribly excited, enthusiastic, entirely sociable. Instead we introduce ourselves to a farm-girl, heavy set with similar thick-necked companions. But here we have it-the completion of our half-abandoned team. Sure enough we're in, its done and my two friends lose their interest.

They slouch so much like gear, no doubt worn out from a sleepless night upon our other train; oh well, they're sluts and have been this way before. But me-m I can't stop looking at that first word on my arm and am filled with buzz; I can't sit still. Out of my pack I pull a precious, terrible prize. Fire-engine red its an amazing opportunity- to meet new people as a scrawl my name across their skin.

Dragonskin: 4 days, a 1 000 teenagers, one forest. Can't wait for next year- a birthday, easter and Dragonskin all at once :D  

the Challenges: great and small

My name is Sarah HP and I’m a Venturer Scout which means I have special abilities.

They’re supposed to be secret but, I think I can trust you.

I can leap off cliffs and survive. Just Imagine it for a second… You are teetering on the edge of a precipice. So high that below you the people are like ants. Your heart pounds, your knees shake, your hands clench and you lean back…

Over the edge you’re just… floating. You can see the rope that holds you as you safely abseil down the rock face.

That’s my real secret: I’ve learnt how to abseil.

Thanks to scouts and school excursions I’ve have the opportunity to do things that are a little wacky, but also fantastically fun!

Thus last holidays I led a four day hike over more than 70km along the Great North Walk. We started along the picturesque Hawkesbury River and pretty soon figured out it was harder than we’d thought.

It was the five of us against nature. Joe, Eli, Lachlan, Stephany and I all teenage venturer scouts ready to face this adventure. So hard that within the first ten minutes there were already whining children at my heels:

“Sarah, why’d you have to pick a hike with so many hills?” Oh yeah, oops.

On the plus side the brush was bursting with brilliant blooms, it was like somebody had emptied a flower kaleidoscope upon the hills. The views were spectacular after we’d dragged ourselves up 100’s of metres to the ridge-tops. They were a sweet reward for our efforts.

But there were still greater challenges for us upon this hike.

On the second day Stephany sprained ankle an ankle and the next day we lost her for a number of hours, but that all paled next to our final day:

The last day of our journey and we were so close to our victorious descent into Yarramalong, our endpoint. When…

Joe broke out in hideous fiery rashes. They spread across his skin, burning, itching and unstoppable. We had no antihistamines. No phone service. Panic set in for all of us: What if you were helplessly watching as dangerous rashes spread over your friend? Would you know what to do?

Eli and Lachlan heroically sprinted the 2kms to Yarramalong and called up for antihistamines. Steph and I were left to look on as the rashes got angrier. Can you imagine the feeling when you’re itching, almost as much as Joe was, to do something (anything) yet you can only wait.

After what felt like hours Eli and Lachlan came back to us. Help was on the way. Joe was just tough enough that he could walk so we stumbled onto the main road and fell with relief upon our emergency anti-histamine carriers. We hopped in the cars not even a k from our end point, not quite finishing as victoriously as we’d imagined. But everyone was safe, finally.

And with that happy ending here’s the moral.

 My four day journey was also a metaphoric journey of discovery. A challenge conquered. Everyone should be challenged because it is by challenges that we learn and improve.

So to better yourselves I challenge you, all of you, to take every day as an adventure for yourself. Make the most from life, grab every opportunity and be the best that you can be.

Thank you.

** Tonight Orara High School had five entrants (of six) into the Coffs Harbour Club Lions Youth of the Year competition of which I was one.  The speeches were tremendous and above is mine, given to a room of teachers, parents and most importantly Lions members.  Thank you to Lions for the opportunity to speak to you all.  It was a fantastic night :) 

Sailing on the wind @Urunga

Sailing, with the wind full and fast is probably the closest feeling to flying I've ever had. Each sport out there gives you a distinct sensation when you're doing it just right. Canoeing its peaceful; a gliding sensation that you feel as you balance and in the muscles as they bunch for another stroke, keeping rhythm and time.

Yet sailing is different. Leaning out over the water, under your torso there is air and spray and wind in your hair. You're sailing not just through the water but over it, flying so near to able to reach out to the ripples below you. It's a rush of speed and freedom because you know what it is that makes you move like that because its in your ears, loud and cool. There are no fumes or petrol. No chug-chugging or spluttering behind you. Its just wind and water. And you're part of it.

Two weeks ago I signed up for a sailing course with the Urunga Sail Training Club and today we had our first lesson. I was intensely excited as you might imagine from my description of sailing above but walking inside surprisingly I wasn't anxious like I might have expected. It was the third time I'd been to the clubhouse and there is something about it that sets me at ease.

When I'd stepped into the clubhouse two weeks ago I felt an instant connection. Maybe it was the ancient plaster board, thick with layered paint and patched together into geometrics. Or perhaps it was the brick fireplace and the proportions of floor, rafters, windows and doors. It was only when we got "the tour" that my eyes had picked up on the flag, green for scouts and above it the familiar portraits of Baden Powell, Our Queen Elizabeth and another more damaged.

It became more obvious even without the explanation, "Yeah this used to be the Urunga Sea Scout Hall." The structure and its paraphernalia had a commonness with all scout halls, probably across the country. Certainly it reminded me of a down-sized copy of my own group's hall up at Coffs. Surveying the tiny kitchen behind the window, the random old furniture and the murals across the walls it was like meeting the siblings of an old friend.

So here was this new hobby I had come to explore and though I wasn't sure about all the booms, vangs and curled up white material I felt an intimate knowledge of the place already.

Outside too was a tangled memory of camping, canoeing, swimming and late night games of spotlight. The Russell buildings I found today felt so much smaller like a doll's house of the originals, a brick boat house facing down the ramp to the river and the square hall above the skewed concrete dock. As scouts, when we were still allowed to stay in them, I remember camping clustered on the grassy patches between them. The Russell buildings had been like a second Station Creek; a place for water activities and exploring the river during the day and the vista of the golf course for nocturnal wide games.

As we gazed out over the river to view our sailing conditions today I glimpsed to my left around the boat shed the fig swinging low over the high tide where I'd climbed like a wily monkey. To my left in front of the veranda I could almost still see a Venturer chilling in his hammock while exuberant scouts chased rabbits.

Now in my head I know the river pretty well too, having swum my way across its heaving currents between the island and the shore several times on scout camps. But I have a feeling that it will be another thing when I am trying to steer a sailboat along it. I've learnt some of that sailing lingo today as we tightened the d-shackles to the boats up to set them up on land today. Then we capsized them to learn how to un-capsize and I tried to wrap my head around the way to adjust the mainsail, jib and steering in order to properly harness this invisible force we were dealing with.

The others may still be anxious about the sailing part, and though I don't really get all those details I'm not. I'm keen and can't wait to get out on the water next week!

A Jamboree Experience to Remember (2010)

Rambling On: Jamboree 2010:

"We  had 2 of our children go to AJ2010 , Sarah was 14 and Evan was 12.  Sarah was pretty laid back and confident about being away from home ..."

Once again it seems the mother, Emma Hazell, has posted some of my writings but I'll give her this one since I sent it to her in 2010.  A letter from the 2010 Jamboree (a.k.a AJ2010) that I wrote telling of all the wonderous things I got up to.  It was the trip of a liftetime.  I still have every single issue of the special Jamboree newspaper, and my passport, stamped for every activity I completed.

2/1/10

Dear Mum, Dad and Harry,

Its only the first day here and already we're exhausted and have had some minor adventures. We all have our bags and stretchers safely back in our tents now, off ground in case water leaks in. After hardly sleeping a wink on those rock-hard bus seats and almost dying from heat and hunger between breakfast and lunch as we slaved away at our tents, our stretchers are like heaven. Insects are definitely out in force, especially those tiny black ants whom we had to firmly relocate from our tents, patrol boxes and kitchen gear.

It was quite an itchy challenge taking everything out of the ant-hill/shipping container, which, I might add, needs a very good water proofing! The tents, too, are letting the edge of my stretcher become damp! And other troops, one not two sites away, have nylon dome tents! We have heavy leaky patrol tents that will easily let in another insect which is much more deadly than a black ant. I haven't seen one yet, but there are warning signs on the way into Cataract.

Oh and I haven't told about the gateway. You'd have to be blind to miss it, 4 identical, massive concrete arches. I have a badge showing it. The weather has been balmy with random showers, and, just five minutes ago a thunder storm. Not much different from Coffs Harbour.

6/1/10

Its our fourth day here at cataract and the 2nd day of the official Jamboree. When we got here 4 days ago our campsite looked like a paddock with NSW camps dotted around. The, the next day, the spare spaces started to fill up and now we have to walk around on the paths between camps. On the 2nd we were allowed to walk around and the badge trading began.

As you walk along the main road between sub-camps you are asked which state you're from by scouts wanting contingent badges. We've got our troop badge which is one of four from all the troops from North Coast NSW.

All four, plus a region badge, join together to make a set. I have all the badges in that set.  I also have all the sub-camp badges, which make an octagon when put together, with Aquarius in the middle.  All the sub-camps are named after constellations. There is Andromeda, Gemini, Orion, Taurus, Aries, Leo, Pegasus, Aquarius and Scorpius.

Its really fun putting our troop pegs on peoples clothing without them noticing.

We made these pegs yesterday and used them up yesterday. It says, "you have been bitten by the NC123 bat colony" and has a cute picture of a bat on the peg too. I am writing this on the bus to Jamberoo water park, where we will stay for the day. Last night was the opening ceremony. There was fireworks and a live band. Me and five friends from my troop got to a metre from the front row, where there was no room to move. Tonight's a rock night, though I don't think I'll have any voice left to scream with.

11/1/10

Jamberoo was great. The best ride was the Taipan. It was pitch black, in a raft, down 200m curving back and forth. Today is the 11th of January and more than halfway through Jamboree. I'm still tired and still having

Fun. I miss you all loads!

The day after we went to Jamberoo we did adventurous activities. Our package included BMX, Challenge Valley and Laser Skirmish. BMX- I only went round the track 3 times but stacked twice. It was hard. Challenge Valley was run by venturers and was like a big commando course with mud and water in more than half the activities. By Laser Skirmish we were so tired, but it was fun.The day after that we had Endurance 2010. It lasted all day with 17 bases. We only had to do ten, we did 11. We skipped both the skirmishes in which you got dyed red with water. One of my favourites was rock climbing. There was also abseiling, mega board games, a maze & first aid.

We almost missed the bus out.

The day after, we did Brownsea Island. It re-enacted some of the activities @ the first scout camp. We did animal tracking, knotting nets & Law & Promise, and Pioneering. That afternoon we went 2 Cirque du Scout. That was awesome. We painted each others faces, practised 4 types of juggling & did trampolining.

Two days ago was market Day (Visitor Day) we had the day off to try and raise lunas (Jamboree Market Day Money). Vicki came and visited our camp. We were duty patrol that day. Our troop made an Emoo Steak stand and raised over 200 lunas.

Yesterday we went to water activities in Chowder Bay. There was canoeing, kiaking, swimming, snorkelling, a ferry ride and a scenic walk. Candle was at the snorkelling base. The ferry ride was fun because we could go right on top and see all round Sydney Harbour.  Today we had another lot of adventurous activities. We had Waterslides, giant swing and high Ropes. The waterslide was just like the ones @ the Big Banana and the giant swing was awesome! I was pretty good @ high ropes though it was scary.

Hope u are all well

Lots of Love,

Sarah

all ready to set out for the Australian Jamboree: Evan, myself, Reagan and Eli

My only regret is that I only got to attend 1 Jamboree.  Ahh well Venturers get Dragonskin.