Surrey-Thomas Rover Crew
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rovering in Victoria is part of Scouting in Victoria and is predominantly the
Rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...
section of
Scouts Australia Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, with over 50,000 Youth Program Participants, and is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. It ...
in Victoria,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, which is run by the Victorian Branch Rover Scout Council. At the 2012 Census, there were 1033 registered Rover Scouts in Victoria, in roughly 100 Rover Crews. Rover Scouts is the fifth and final section of Scouting in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and began in 1918. Rovers are aged between 18 and 26 years of age and are organised into local Crews, which are associated with a
Scout Group A Scout group is a local organization used in some Scout organizations that groups a Scout troop or unit with other age programs, separate gender-based Scout troops and/or multiple Scout troops. A Scout group that groups Scouts with programs fo ...
. Rover Scout Crews accept anyone interested in taking up Rovering, whether or not they have been in Scouts before. The section is based on
Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...
's book ''Rovering to Success'' and the theme of
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
. Rover Scouts are actively encouraged to become better citizens through taking part in Scouts Australia's nationally accredited training programs, developing leadership skills, participating in outdoor activities, attending, both as participants and staff, at national and international events, providing service to the community and generally building their life skills. Rover Scouts are distinguished from other sections of Scouting and leaders by a red panel on the blue uniform shirt across the arms and shoulders, with green "epaulette" badges on each shoulder, and the 'shoulder knot' of five ribbons (tan for Joeys, yellow for Cubs, green for
Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
, maroon for Venturers and red for Rover Scouts) on the left shoulder, symbolising the role of the Rover Section in helping and protecting their younger brothers and sisters. The Victorian Rover Scouts kick-started recreational skiing's popularity in Australia, at a time where they would often have to hike up the mountains after making their own skis; this was heavily influenced by W. F. Waters, the first Branch Commissioner for Rover Scouts in Victoria.


Branch Organisation

There are eight Region Rover Scout Communities in Victoria and these Communities are responsible for the management and distribution of important information to Rover Scout Crews in their respective regions. They report to the statewide Branch Rover Council and Elect the Office Bearers of the Branch Rover Scout Council each May for the next financial year. the Communities are also elect/appoint the subcommittees for Victorian Rover Scouts assets and annual events.


Rover Scout Motorsport

Rover Scout Motorsport (RSM) is a subcommittee of the Branch Rover Council and oversees all Rover Motorsport events in Victoria, ensuring that they follow the strict speed, safety, alcohol and racing policies of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport. Rover Motorsport was briefly stopped for three years in the early 2000s when insurance was lost. It is the continued affiliation with CAMS that allows Rovers to continue racing. They were congratulated by the then Minister for Sport and Recreation,
James Merlino James Anthony Merlino (born 19 August 1972) is a former Australian politician who served as 28th deputy premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2022 under Premier Daniel Andrews. He was the deputy leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Lab ...
, for their road safety programme targeted to scouts at the
Australian Scout Jamboree The Australian Scout Jamboree is a national jamboree (Scouting), jamboree overseen by Scouts Australia. They have been held regularly since 1934, except for 1942 and 1945 due to World War II, and in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia ...
in 2007.


Rover Assets


Mafeking Rover Park

Mafeking Rover Park is a campground which is fully owned and operated by the Victorian Branch Rover Council and was originally anticipated as a home for Victorian Rover Scout Motorsport. Located 32 km from Yea, it is a 130
Hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...
mix of open land and scrub.Mafeking Rover Park
/ref> Although it is called a Rover Park, its use is open to all sections of the Scouting Movement, and any others who wish to hire it. Mafeking was named after the South African town of Mafeking, which was besieged for 219 days during the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
. The Garrison was commanded by Scouting Founder Lt General Lord Sir Robert Baden-Powell of Gilwell, who with 2,000
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
soldiers held off 8,000 Boer Soldiers until relieved, catapulting Baden-Powell to the status of a national hero. Mafeking's facilities include a 4-cargo-container-tall abseiling tower, commando, orienteering and 9-hole
golf courses A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
. Lake Surfmoot provides an area for canoeing, and there are numerous walking tracks. Accommodation is offered in the Troop Hall, Bunkhouses and on standard
campsite Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...
s. Mafeking also has numerous motorsport related facilities with well maintained tracks that are set up in compliance with the requirements of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport. Mafeking is home to a large variety of Australian
fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...
and
flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
, such as
kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
s,
koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...
s, swap wallabies,
possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...
,
bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
s, as well as a multitude of lizards, frogs, birds and fish. Local indigenous plants are used at Mafeking, both from propagated species collected from the local area, and through revegetation efforts.


Alpine Rovering

Alpine Rovering in Victoria takes place mainly in the W.F. Waters Lodge at Mt Baw Baw and the Bogong Rover Chalet, home to the Alpine Rover Crew and now also the Alpine Venturer Unit.www.bogongroverchalet.org
/ref> The Alpine Rover Crew was formed in 1940 by W.F. "Bill" Waters, Branch Commissioner - Rovers during 1930 - 1965, to promote the Bogong Rover Chalet. All invested
Rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...
or Leaders, who have completed a Bogong Winter Party, become a member during their first winter party. The Alpine Venturer Unit was formed in 2000, mostly by the hard work of Matt & Ian Franzke. It is used as many Venturers visit the chalet but cannot be invested into a Rover Crew. Before 1940 and the birth of the Alpine Rover Crew, the Bogong Rover Crew carried out the same purpose. However, since then, membership has become an award for services to Alpine Rovering. Members have displayed the of Rovering and are dedicated in their service to others. Roughly 200 members have since been invested, in a ceremony on skis that traditionally takes place at "Investiture Point" the closest place to the Chalet you can see
Mount Bogong Mount Bogong, located in the Alpine National Park and part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia, at above sea level. The Big River separates the massif of the mountain from t ...
, where the ashes of W.F. Waters were scattered. Bogong Rover Chalet was one of the first ski lodges on the Bogong High Plains which is why it is so far from the village of Falls Creek. Similarly, the WF Waters Lodge is the closest to the carpark at Mount Baw Baw Village.


Major events


Mudbash

Mudbash is an annual motorsport event run by the Rovers. The four-day event is held over the Queens Birthday weekend in June each year, and is now held at Mafeking Rover Park in Caveat, in country Victoria. Each year it is attended by more than 1500 people. Competitors at Mudbash build vehicles, known as buggies, to conform to CAMS regulations. These vehicles range from modified road cars to custom built dune buggies. Endeavor Rover Crew organised the first Mudbash in 1972, which was held at the Big River campsite in Marysville, and was attended by 5 vehicles. In the years since, the event has boomed and has been attended by more than 70 vehicles in some years. Notable events at Mudbash include the Obstacle Course, Hill climb (now known as Quafftumbla challenge) and Motorkhana, which takes place in the main arena at night.


Surfmoot

Surfmoot is an annual camp run over the Australia Day weekend in January, and is held at Eumerella Scout Camp in Anglesea. One of Victorian Rovers longest running events, Surfmoot started in 1931 when a group of Geelong Rovers invited a number of Melbourne crews to Angleasea for a surfing camp. Eumerella Scout Camp has played host to the event every year since 1953, except for three years when the
Ash Wednesday Bushfires The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a Bushfires in Australia, series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires, fires f ...
caused the event to be moved to Bay Park and then
Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The island is named after Arthur Phillip, Governor Arthur P ...
. Prior to being held at Eumerella, it was held at the Geelong District Campsite and also on the Anglesea Foreshore. Activities at Surfmoot include a waterslide, Super Tub racing as well as many others. Night entertainment often includes bands, djs and themed parties. There are also off site activities run in the surrounding areas.


MARB

The Metropolitan Area Rover Ball, or MARB, is an annual fancy dress Rover ball run by a committee of Rovers. It is normally held on a Saturday night in September. The organising committee is composed of members from one of the Metropolitan regions, and rotates each year.


Surrey Thomas Rover Crew

The Surrey-Thomas Rover Crew now Surrey Thomas Rover Crew (STR) is best known for its role in the development of the sport of
rogaining Rogaining is an orienteering sport of long distance cross-country navigation, involving both route planning and navigation between checkpoints using a variety of map types. In a rogaine, teams of two to five people choose which checkpoints to ...
. The Rover Scout crew was formed in 1971 in Brighton, Australia. Soon after forming, the crew undertook to run an annual twenty-four-hour cross-country navigation event. At the first Surrey-Thomas twenty-four-hour rogaine in 1972, forty starters, mostly from scouting, set off from Gembrook and circled the base camp at Basan's Corner via a series of loops along
forest road left, alt=Pathway through forest., Concrete pathway through deep forest in India. Forest tracks or forest roads are roads or tracks intended to carry motorised vehicles or horse-drawn wagons being used mainly or exclusively for forestry purposes, ...
s. True cross-country navigation was minimal, but the publicity from the event and the emphasis placed on quality base camp service and a friendly atmosphere was sufficiently popular that there was a demand for similar events over the next two years. These were followed by an important shift to an all cross-country score event set at Yea in 1975, the first such event in the world catering for the general public. The word rogaining is derived from the names of three of the founders, Rod Phillips, Gail Davis (née Phillips) and Neil Phillips (RoGaiNe, hence 'rogaining', 'rogainer' etc.) who were all members of the Rover Crew (until they died). The name was formally adopted by the Victorian Rogaining Association at its inaugural annual general meeting in August 1976 and accepted by Scouts Australia and University
bushwalking A hike is a long, vigorous walking, walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer tim ...
groups to give the new sport an identity in its own right. The crew is still thriving today with a number of the most well respected Rovers in Victoria, as a growing crew full of Rovers who are constantly assisting in community activities and other State-wide services, while working to educate and communicate the benefits of Rovers. Surrey Thomas Rover Crew Website
/ref> The Crew is often seen doing joint activities with other crews around Victoria.


References


See also

{{Portal, Scouting * Scouting and Guiding in Victoria Scouting and Guiding in Australia