A blast from the past

At Sydney Airport we met up with the rest of the Contingent (16 Scouts/Venturers and 6 Leaders) and took off again on a 16 hour flight to San-Francisco. 

We arrived at San-Francisco Airport at about 7:30am on 20 December 1999 (in other words we arrived in San Francisco before we met in Melbourne, because of time differences). It was a very long trip and I had motion sickness and wasn't feeling well the whole way there.  We had a 5 hour stop off, then a 9 hour trip to London. 

In London we stayed at Baden Powell House and took in all the sights, such as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls Cathedral and the Tower Bridge.  We also did tours of Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum and we did a Jack the Ripper tour, which was great because we got to see all the places where the murders took place.  

I thought London was a very old City.  All the houses were packed together.  We split into groups and went to various places for Home stay for Christmas.  I stayed with a couple in Worthing.  In Worthing there was a long pier which had a large Amusement Park at the end of it.   Ken and I (staying in the same house) met up with the other scouts from our group, who were in the same area, and went bowling. The weather was really wet and there were concerns of major flooding.  

On 26 December we all met up again and got on a plane for the long trip to Boston, where we arrived at about 1pm. We had to catch a bus to Quebec at 11pm so there wasn't much time to look around.  We arrived in Quebec on 27 December at about 6.30am.  

We checked into the Jamboree and went to our tents (our home for the next 10 days).  The tents were very large and could fit about 30 people in.  The temperature in our tent ranged from -80C to 320C.  One time when the fuel ran out and no fuel could be obtained, it got to -8 and it was really cold. In our tent were about 10 Scouts from Prince Edward Island (off the east coast of Canada), 3 from the USA, and about 8 from France.

The tallest free standing structure in the world is in Toronto, and is called the CN Tower.  It is huge.  At the top of the Tower the view is incredible.  We did some sightseeing around Toronto, then went back to the Scout Camp and found about 50 people in their Scout Hall. There were Cubs, Beavers (Joey=s), and leaders.  The Hall had been double booked, and all these extra people had to sleep the night as well.  We also witnessed two leaders investitures.

We departed on the 9th January at about 5am (getting up at about 3.30am).  We hopped on a bus and went to Buffalo Airport going through USA Customs.  We caught a very small plane to Washington.  It only seated about 30 people.  

We spent the day in Washington looking at all the sights.  We saw The White House, where there was a lady who had been protesting Nuclear Testing since 1981,  Washington Memorial, and Parliament House. We also went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  We saw the Wright Brothers plane, a piece of Moon rock and many other interesting things to do with Air and Space. The boy scout statue in Washington was interesting.

We hopped on a plane that night and flew to New York.  There we stayed in a Youth Hostel. While in New York we visited a Scout Group in Staten Island and had a Pizza Party with them.  When we were at the Party, a local Newspaper Reporter interviewed us, and my photo made it into the Newspaper, with Mark and two Staten Island members.

One day in New York was spent shopping.  We also saw the Statue of Liberty, and climbed the steps to the top.  We visited Time Square, which was so good because of all the lights and billboards.  Our group went to the movies and saw Every Given Sunday, which has not been released here yet.  It was a movie about American Football and it was an unusual movie.

On 12th of January (still in New York) we visited the World Trade Centre, which is one of the Twin Towers. It was huge.  We saw the Empire State Building, but did not go in.

We went out to a Chinese Restaurant last night (12 January) in New York, to celebrate Mark's birthday.  He turned 16.

On the 13 January we got up at about 5am to catch a 6 hour plane trip to Los Angeles.  When we got off the plane you could really smell all the pollution.  We were met at the Airport by the Orange County Scouts, who took us back to our Hotel, where we had the first swim of the trip, because of the heat.  It was wonderful.  We also went to a Mall for tea and a bit of sight seeing.

On the 14th and 15th January, we spent our days at Disneyland, with different Scout Troops from the area.  On the first day our guide knew the area, and told us where everything was, and on the second day we were supposed to wait for the tour guides but missed them and made our own way around.  It was good because we knew most of the places cause we had been there before.  

We were at Disneyland on the second day and it was dark when we left so we had the opportunity to see Disneyland all lit up.  It was magic.  I had my photo taken with some of the characters, such as Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Buzz Light-year etc.  The Indiana Jones ride was the best.

On the 16th January we had to get up early to be out of the Hotel by 8am.  We went to Universal Studios, and did the rides. We went on the Terminator, Jurassic Park, ET, and Back to the Future rides.  We also saw the shows, The Wild West, Water World and Backdraft.  It was a great day all up.  It was also our last full day.  

After Universal Studios, we caught the plane from Los Angeles to Sydney.  It was a 15 hour flight, in which we lost one day due to the time difference.  

We arrived in Sydney, but due to a delay in Los Angeles, we had missed our connecting flight to Melbourne.  We said goodbye to all the New South Wales and Queensland contingent members.

At about 12.15pm on 18th January 2000 we arrived in Melbourne.  It was a very hot day.  I greeted my family and said goodbye to the Melbourne members of the contingent.  That was the end of my magnificent trip of a lifetime.

When we left Melbourne Airport on 20 December 1999 I didn't know anybody going on the trip, and by the time we got home on the 18 January 2000 we were all the best of friends.

Due to this trip I have gained a greater knowledge of the World and it=s different cultures.  I will never forget this trip or the friends I have gained during it.  

I would like to thank all those people who have supported and helped me to participate in this trip.  They are:

• Scout Association of Australia

• City Of Knox

• 1st Ferntree Gully Scout Group

• My Grandparents - Boyes & Whelan

• My Great Grand Mother - Julie Avent

• The Jenkins Family

And a special thanks to my Mother and Father

I would also like to thank the Leaders who went on the trip and all the Scouts and Venturers for making the trip such a success.