Rovering in Victoria
Encyclopedia
Rovering in Victoria is part of Scouting in Victoria
Scouting in Victoria
Scouting and Guiding in Victoria, a State of Australia, is predominantly represented by the state branch of Scouts Australia and Girl Guides Victoria, a member of Girl Guides Australia.-Scouts Australia - Victorian Branch:...

 and is predominantly the Rover
Rovers (Australia)
Rovers, formerly Rover Scouts, is the fifth and final section of Scouts Australia, and began in 1918. Rovers are aged between 17 and 26 years of age and are organised into local Crews, which can be associated with a Scout Group or operate as a stand-alone Crew. Crews accept anyone interested in...

 section of Scouts Australia
Scouts Australia
Scouts Australia is an organisation for children and young adults from 6 to 26 years of age. Scouts Australia is part of the global Scouting movement and has been a national member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement since 1953...

 in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, which is run by the Victorian Branch Rover Council. At the 2008 Census, there were 950 registered Rovers in Victoria, in roughly 100 Rover Crews.

Rovers, is the fifth and final section of Scouts Australia, and began in 1918. Rovers are aged between 17 (usually 18) and 26 years of age and are organised into local Crews, which can be associated with a Scout Group
Scout Group
The Scout Group is the local organisation for Scouting in most countries where it is active. It combines together the different sections into a single body. Scout Groups can consist of any number of sections in the different Age Groups in Scouting and Guiding...

 or operate as a stand-alone Crew. Crews accept anyone interested in taking up Rovering, whether or not they have been in Scouts before. The section is based on Baden-Powell's book Rovering to Success and the theme of knighthood. Rovers 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.

Rovers are distinguished from other scouts 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
Joey Scouts (Australia)
Joey Scouts is the section of Scouts Australia for the youngest age group in Scouting. The section is named after a Joey which is a baby Kangaroo. Boys and girls aged 6 - 8 can join. They join what is called a Mob, made up of no more than 20 children. The word "Mob" is used because a group of...

, yellow for Cubs
Cub Scouts (Australia)
Cub Scouts is the section of Scouts Australia for boys and girls aged 8–10½. They join what is called a pack, made up of no more than 20 children and 3-4 sixes.The cub scout section is largely based around the Jungle Book story...

, green for Scouts
Scouts (Australia)
Scouts is the section of Scouts Australia for boys and girls aged 10.5 - 15, although they can move up to the Venturer Scouts section from the age of 14.5. It follows the Cub Scout section. Scouts belong to patrols, headed by a youth leader as Patrol Leader, with an Assistant Patrol Leader. Patrols...

, maroon for Venturers
Venturer Scouts (Australia)
Venturer Scouts, formerly Senior Scouts, is the fourth section of Scouts Australia, and was first formed in 1946. Venturers are aged between 14.5 and 17.5 years of age and are organised into Units, which can be a part of a single Scout Group or a stand alone group. both types of Unit take Scouts...

 and red for Rovers) on the left shoulder, symbolising the role of the Rover Section in helping and protecting their younger brothers and sisters.

An interesting fact is that the Victorian Rovers 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.

Branch Organisation

There are seven Region Rover Councils operating in Victoria and these Councils are used to run events, help with marketing, and otherwise support local Rover Crews. They report to the statewide Branch Rover Council. Numerous sub committees of the Branch Rover council also manage some of the Rover property and 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 Merlino
James Anthony Merlino is an Australian politician serving as the member for Monbulk in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, as a member of the Australian Labor Party.Merlino was elected at the 2002 state election defeating Steve McArthur...

, for their road safety programme targeted to scouts at the Australian Scout Jamboree
Australian Scout Jamboree
The Australian Scout Jamboree is a jamboree which is held every three years by Scouts Australia. The Jamboree is traditionally held in early January and typically runs for 10 nights....

  in 2007.

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
Yea
Yea or YEA can refer to*An archaic form of yes, used mainly in oral voting, and the opposite of nay.*A mistaken spelling of the word "yeah" which means "yes." See also ya.*Yea, Victoria, a town in Australia....

, it is a 130 Hectares mix of open land and scrub.

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 Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n town of Mafeking, which was besieged
Siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...

 for 219 days during the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

. The Garrison was commanded by Scouting Founder Lt General Lord Sir Robert Baden-Powell of Gilwell, who with 2,000 British 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. 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
A campsite or camping pitch is a place used for overnight stay in the outdoors. In British English a campsite is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using tents or camper vans or caravans; this British English use of the word is synonymous with the...

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 and flora, such as Kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

s, Koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....

s, Swap Wallabys
Wallaby
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...

, Possum
Possum
A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...

s, Bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

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.

Rover Skiing

Alpine Rovering in Victoria takes place mainly in the W.F. Waters or Baw Baw Rover Chalet and the Bogong Rover Chalet, home to the Alpine Rover Crew and now also the Alpine Venturer Unit.
The Alpine Rover Crew was formed in 1940 by W.F. "Bill" Waters
W. F. Waters
William Francis "Bill" Waters was a Victorian Rover Scouting notable in Australia.He worked for the Department of Defence and later for the Department of Trade and Customs until retiring in 1962...

, Branch Commissioner - Rovers during 1930 - 1965, to promote the Bogong Rover Chalet. All invested Rover
Rovers (Australia)
Rovers, formerly Rover Scouts, is the fifth and final section of Scouts Australia, and began in 1918. Rovers are aged between 17 and 26 years of age and are organised into local Crews, which can be associated with a Scout Group or operate as a stand-alone Crew. Crews accept anyone interested in...

 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
Venturer Scouts (Australia)
Venturer Scouts, formerly Senior Scouts, is the fourth section of Scouts Australia, and was first formed in 1946. Venturers are aged between 14.5 and 17.5 years of age and are organised into Units, which can be a part of a single Scout Group or a stand alone group. both types of Unit take Scouts...

 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
Mount Bogong , located in the Alpine National Park, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia. The Big River separates the massif of the mountain from the Bogong High Plains to the south. "Bogong" in the local Aboriginal language means bigfella...

, where the ashes of W.F. Waters were scattered.

Bogong Rover Chalet was one of the first ski lodges on the Bogong High Plains
Bogong High Plains
The Bogong High Plains are a section of the Alpine National Park in the Australian state of Victoria and are situated south of Mount Bogong. This area forms part of Australia's Great Dividing Range and in winter is one of the largest snow covered areas in the country. It can be easily accessed from...

 which is why it is so far from the village of Falls Creek
Falls Creek
Falls Creek may refer to:* Falls Creek, New South Wales, Australia: a small town on the South Coast, New South Wales* Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia: ski resort* Falls Creek, British Columbia, Canada: a waterfall and creek in Wells Gray Provincial Park...

. Similarly, the WF Waters Lodge is the closest to the carpark at Mount Baw Baw Village.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK