The five days I spent at the 19th NZ Jamboree were stunning. Highlights included:
It wasn't all tents and knots!
Being welcomed by a vocal bunch of Scouts at the main gate as I completed my Auckland-to-Hamilton stretch of Te Araroa, and being whisked to Fuse Air (the Jamboree radio station – run by teenagers) for a live interview.
The culprits who made me do press-ups for wearing my hat in the dining tent. Dinner was yummy though!
Being interviewed by TVOne News, and having the adventurous reporter Amy (who willingly got muddy in Challenge Valley) create a fantastically positive 2-minute news segment which aired twice.
The after-effect of Challenge Valley - see the smiles?
Spending some time with Mark Inglis, the recently appointed ‘Adventure Plus Ambassador’ for SCOUTS NZ and hearing tales of his latest trip to Nepal. Mark uses Pacerpoles and a Pacer tent too!
Hanging on for dear life. He got to the end though!
Sharing some of my trek photos with the 4,000 attendees and then being part of the fashion-parade, modeling our fantastic brand-new uniform.
Helping host New Zealand’s Chief Scout, his Excellency the Govenor General, when he toured the Jamboree site and spoke at the Chief Scout’s Award luncheon for 100+ Scouts who have completed this challenging personal award.
Having dinner with TaiMaiCoat (North Shore), Western Southland, North Canterbury and South Otago – thanks to the supervision of the adult leaders, many of these youth were eating better than they do at home! Yum yum yum…
Teamwork in action.
Xtreme Subcamp ran a raffle for a box of badges, with proceeds going to my Te Araroa ‘eat healthy’ fund. They passed the target of $400 so Liam (a Palmerston North Rover) went from ‘mullet’ to ‘rough #1’ hairstyle, as promised. Thanks team! Greatly appreciated.
Catching up with all my long-time Scout friends and making even more. I applaud the time and energy all these volunteers (and the very small team of professional staff) put in to create this tri-annual event.
Now to prepare for returning to Paihia to finish off the northern Te Araroa leg. The physio still thinks I’m mad/machochistic but is relatively happy with my shin’s improvement. Fingers crossed! 🙂
Pure concentration - he was aiming at a kayak on the lake below.
Rafts made from real-estate-sign-stuff and duct-tape. Some floated. Some didn't 🙂
This was a b-i-g waterslide!
You certainly couldn't miss the South Otago troop!
Mud, glorious mud! Awesome 'Challenge Valley' created by the Rovers.
MyAdventurePlus 
Oh No!!! Not Liams mullet, that was an artform!
I tried to talk him out of it, but he was adamant it had to go. Since they used only scissors to cut his locks, his head looked like a well-loved, tufted tennis ball when it was over! 😀
so that y liam lost the mullet… i missed the story cos: a. it was rover nite we first saw it. and b. every1 was 2 busy laughing at the end result.
anyhow, western southland were pleased 2 share that meal with u, and the camping competition winners from balfour were still pumped from their chat with u when we were trying 2 get them in bed. hope ur trek keeps going well, and the aurora crew are looking 4ward 2 catching up and joining u when u get down here.
Thanks Michael – I really, really enjoyed that dinner with Western Southland and TaiMaiCoat. I was amazed to learn how much preparation your winning Camping Competition teams had put in! 🙂 Looking forward to catching up with you and the rest of Aurora when I get down there 🙂