Cuboree 2016 Maryborough
Sunday 18th to Friday 23rd September
By Chris Yesberg
Getting There and Day 1
Raining at Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens as we were getting on the bus at 7.30am. Archie and I (only ones from Kenmore) waved to Grandma, Mum and the dog. Really raining at 9.30am. We stopped for a toilet break and again for morning tea in the 3 hours to Maryborough.
Helped put up some tents in my raincoat, though not too muddy underfoot. The tents have 3 rooms – one in the middle for bags, with a sleeping room on each side for 3 kids each. Lunch was really nice hamburgers, then I did badge trading in the big tent and got a great wolf badge and lots of other district badges.
A leader told us our tent was already messy, but it looked alright to me.
There were 26 boys and girls in our pack called Chickasaw of the tribe Cumorah (7 packs). The other tribes were called Uluberia, Buldeo and Sameena, which spells CUBS. We took turns either being a second or a Six in our packs for the day.
Our pack totem pole was really cool. It had feathers hanging down and fairy lights you could turn on at night with a model of Akela howling and Cub Scouts written in glowing green wax down the side. We carried the pole with us to meals and activities.
The whole camp did a Grand Howl, which was very loud, before dinner - lasagne with peas, carrot, corn (yum) and zucchini (yuck). Dessert was apple crumble with custard and we got 2 bowls because some people didn’t want theirs.
The opening ceremony was a bit weird because we mostly just watched people dance. No shower tonight.
Day 2
Had to go the toilet in the night – glad I had my torch. Got dressed then breakfast was scrambled egg, toast and cereal.
Activity base today was Seeonee Hills where we made hat woggles and whizzers with streamers. In Rotations I spent most of the time at the sponge throwing where I put my face in a hole and people tried to hit me with the wet sponge (the leaders wouldn’t do it). There was also a ballista where you shot cans at the monkey city with a big sort of crossbow. It was hard.
Morning tea was fruit and either a popper or 2 biscuits. Lunch was cheese & vegemite, and lettuce & ham sandwiches with cordial. After lunch we went to the rest of Seeonee Hills which was firstly a place with lots of badges on blankets and a sheet of questions about finding badges and information on them. Cool part – we had flint and steel to try and burn a cotton ball. When you got it alight it burnt from the inside. Then we cooked apple skewers on homemade camp ovens which were yummy because we dipped them in cinnamon and brown sugar.
At Sameena tribe we went in a ball pit and had a battle with a bubble machine.
Had a sore tummy and didn’t go to the bush dance. Went to bed early.
Day 3
Breakfast fried eggs toast and cereal.
Tuesday’s activity was Cub Scout Magic which included Harry Potter themed stuff like Quidditch, a maze with puzzles to do (easy!) at Cubworts. A man waved a wand and turned glasses of water into the different colours of the Hogwarts houses, which was really cool. Gryffindor won the Cupworts Cup.
We learnt trick knots at Rope Magic and watched white jelly crystal balls turn clear in water at Water Magic. A funny trick was when a bottle of water with mesh over the opening didn’t let any water out when he said the magic words, but it poured out (on a Cub’s head) if he didn’t.
I gave my Cuboree postcard to Tortoise to post and it arrived home the same day I did (Friday). It has a special Cuboree post mark. I received a Cubogram message from Mum.
Dinner was meat and vegetables with marshmallows, custard and jelly for pudding. Afterwards we watched the cartoon version movie of the Jungle book from the grandstand.
Day 4
Breakfast was Rice Bubbles then scrambled egg and bacon.
BP Mafeking was activities run by the Scouts and Venturers. I made a catapult out of paddle pop sticks and rubber bands. There were ballistas which we used to fire plastic balls at leaders and the other team. Then we had a fun time throwing flour bombs at a leader called Tortoise. We used water pistols to shoot at plastic figures hanging from a roof. Also there was a rotation where we pegged tennis balls at a pyramid of cans, and then tried to get different sized balls through holes in a piece of material. One Venturer talked about Cub Scout things, and then we had to get through a web of ropes without touching them.
Cumorah hosted village activities later on with singing and games.
Wednesday was Pie for dinner, with Ice cream, tinned fruit and cream for dessert. It was also very loud because people were yelling “Cub Scout Magic” and “Shazzam”, then the chefs and servers shouted “Pie Night”, then everybody was shouting Pie Night. It was so noisy that the Servers had to call the next night, Quiet Night.
Afterwards was Campfire but the fire was just a video. We sang songs which I mostly knew. I learnt a new one but have forgotten it.
Day 5
Today for breakfast I had 3 cheerios and cereal. There were also baked beans and toast but I didn’t eat them.
About 200 Cumorah kids took buses to Hervey Bay and all got on one big boat called the Spirit of Hervey Bay to go whale watching. We travelled for around 20 minutes out to the area and then we had bun loaf, biscuits and cake for morning tea. We saw whales fairly close, particularly mothers with calves, and the boat followed them sometimes. It was awesome! Even better than pie night. The sea was pretty calm, but a couple of kids were sick, and Oliver had to be given a boat shirt to change into.
When we got back to Hervey Bay we got on the buses and went to the Historical Museum where we had a sausage sizzle for lunch. Then we spent the afternoon looking at all the displays, answering quizzes, watching corn husking and we had a go at rope making. Did you know that sugar bags were used as school bags in the early 1900s ? It’s true. The museum was very interesting and I had a good time there.
When we got back to Maryborough we had free time, then meat and vegies for dinner followed by ice cream, brownie and custard for pudding. At the showers afterwards someone took my pants and shorts by accident and I had to wrap a towel around myself to get back to the tent. I never found them, or my woggle which fell off, even though they were named and I looked in lost property.
The closing ceremony was really just a video that showed us what we did during Cuboree, and presents and watermelon thank yous to the staff. I think the chefs got the biggest applause.
Moranbah kids got on buses to drive home, so only 4 left in our tent.
Day 6 and coming home
Got up really early and packed. Breakfast was eggs and Rice Bubbles. Packed up the rest of the tents and then signed each other’s shirts. Lunch was sandwiches and a popper.
Had to run around a lot to find out when we were leaving (went home in Dingos car, not the bus). It was very frustrating and I had had enough!
All in all Cuboree was magnificent!!
Sunday 18th to Friday 23rd September
By Chris Yesberg
Getting There and Day 1
Raining at Mt Cootha Botanic Gardens as we were getting on the bus at 7.30am. Archie and I (only ones from Kenmore) waved to Grandma, Mum and the dog. Really raining at 9.30am. We stopped for a toilet break and again for morning tea in the 3 hours to Maryborough.
Helped put up some tents in my raincoat, though not too muddy underfoot. The tents have 3 rooms – one in the middle for bags, with a sleeping room on each side for 3 kids each. Lunch was really nice hamburgers, then I did badge trading in the big tent and got a great wolf badge and lots of other district badges.
A leader told us our tent was already messy, but it looked alright to me.
There were 26 boys and girls in our pack called Chickasaw of the tribe Cumorah (7 packs). The other tribes were called Uluberia, Buldeo and Sameena, which spells CUBS. We took turns either being a second or a Six in our packs for the day.
Our pack totem pole was really cool. It had feathers hanging down and fairy lights you could turn on at night with a model of Akela howling and Cub Scouts written in glowing green wax down the side. We carried the pole with us to meals and activities.
The whole camp did a Grand Howl, which was very loud, before dinner - lasagne with peas, carrot, corn (yum) and zucchini (yuck). Dessert was apple crumble with custard and we got 2 bowls because some people didn’t want theirs.
The opening ceremony was a bit weird because we mostly just watched people dance. No shower tonight.
Day 2
Had to go the toilet in the night – glad I had my torch. Got dressed then breakfast was scrambled egg, toast and cereal.
Activity base today was Seeonee Hills where we made hat woggles and whizzers with streamers. In Rotations I spent most of the time at the sponge throwing where I put my face in a hole and people tried to hit me with the wet sponge (the leaders wouldn’t do it). There was also a ballista where you shot cans at the monkey city with a big sort of crossbow. It was hard.
Morning tea was fruit and either a popper or 2 biscuits. Lunch was cheese & vegemite, and lettuce & ham sandwiches with cordial. After lunch we went to the rest of Seeonee Hills which was firstly a place with lots of badges on blankets and a sheet of questions about finding badges and information on them. Cool part – we had flint and steel to try and burn a cotton ball. When you got it alight it burnt from the inside. Then we cooked apple skewers on homemade camp ovens which were yummy because we dipped them in cinnamon and brown sugar.
At Sameena tribe we went in a ball pit and had a battle with a bubble machine.
Had a sore tummy and didn’t go to the bush dance. Went to bed early.
Day 3
Breakfast fried eggs toast and cereal.
Tuesday’s activity was Cub Scout Magic which included Harry Potter themed stuff like Quidditch, a maze with puzzles to do (easy!) at Cubworts. A man waved a wand and turned glasses of water into the different colours of the Hogwarts houses, which was really cool. Gryffindor won the Cupworts Cup.
We learnt trick knots at Rope Magic and watched white jelly crystal balls turn clear in water at Water Magic. A funny trick was when a bottle of water with mesh over the opening didn’t let any water out when he said the magic words, but it poured out (on a Cub’s head) if he didn’t.
I gave my Cuboree postcard to Tortoise to post and it arrived home the same day I did (Friday). It has a special Cuboree post mark. I received a Cubogram message from Mum.
Dinner was meat and vegetables with marshmallows, custard and jelly for pudding. Afterwards we watched the cartoon version movie of the Jungle book from the grandstand.
Day 4
Breakfast was Rice Bubbles then scrambled egg and bacon.
BP Mafeking was activities run by the Scouts and Venturers. I made a catapult out of paddle pop sticks and rubber bands. There were ballistas which we used to fire plastic balls at leaders and the other team. Then we had a fun time throwing flour bombs at a leader called Tortoise. We used water pistols to shoot at plastic figures hanging from a roof. Also there was a rotation where we pegged tennis balls at a pyramid of cans, and then tried to get different sized balls through holes in a piece of material. One Venturer talked about Cub Scout things, and then we had to get through a web of ropes without touching them.
Cumorah hosted village activities later on with singing and games.
Wednesday was Pie for dinner, with Ice cream, tinned fruit and cream for dessert. It was also very loud because people were yelling “Cub Scout Magic” and “Shazzam”, then the chefs and servers shouted “Pie Night”, then everybody was shouting Pie Night. It was so noisy that the Servers had to call the next night, Quiet Night.
Afterwards was Campfire but the fire was just a video. We sang songs which I mostly knew. I learnt a new one but have forgotten it.
Day 5
Today for breakfast I had 3 cheerios and cereal. There were also baked beans and toast but I didn’t eat them.
About 200 Cumorah kids took buses to Hervey Bay and all got on one big boat called the Spirit of Hervey Bay to go whale watching. We travelled for around 20 minutes out to the area and then we had bun loaf, biscuits and cake for morning tea. We saw whales fairly close, particularly mothers with calves, and the boat followed them sometimes. It was awesome! Even better than pie night. The sea was pretty calm, but a couple of kids were sick, and Oliver had to be given a boat shirt to change into.
When we got back to Hervey Bay we got on the buses and went to the Historical Museum where we had a sausage sizzle for lunch. Then we spent the afternoon looking at all the displays, answering quizzes, watching corn husking and we had a go at rope making. Did you know that sugar bags were used as school bags in the early 1900s ? It’s true. The museum was very interesting and I had a good time there.
When we got back to Maryborough we had free time, then meat and vegies for dinner followed by ice cream, brownie and custard for pudding. At the showers afterwards someone took my pants and shorts by accident and I had to wrap a towel around myself to get back to the tent. I never found them, or my woggle which fell off, even though they were named and I looked in lost property.
The closing ceremony was really just a video that showed us what we did during Cuboree, and presents and watermelon thank yous to the staff. I think the chefs got the biggest applause.
Moranbah kids got on buses to drive home, so only 4 left in our tent.
Day 6 and coming home
Got up really early and packed. Breakfast was eggs and Rice Bubbles. Packed up the rest of the tents and then signed each other’s shirts. Lunch was sandwiches and a popper.
Had to run around a lot to find out when we were leaving (went home in Dingos car, not the bus). It was very frustrating and I had had enough!
All in all Cuboree was magnificent!!
Photos from Cuboree courtesy Mark Langham.