Breaking: Grey Wolf found on Grey Wolf Walk

11 Monday May 2020

Just last week, under the leadership of Grey Wolf candidate Matthew from Victor Scouts a Grey Wolf was found! Matthew took his pack on a camping trip, and then an intrepid walk through forested woodlands, over a precipitous ramshackle bridge. They then found a secret entrance to a tunnel under a mountain, leading to a wolf den within which they found some wolf cubs. Undeterred by the cuteness, they continued on up a rocky mountain side and came across the Grey Wolf of legend.

If this all sounds a bit fanciful then you need to checkout the video evidence that cub leader Chil took of whole the journey…because it all happened. If you don’t believe us ask Angus, Alana, Lucas and Oscar who were all there as well….virtually!!

How could all this happen during COVID19 you might ask yourselves? well you need look no further than the origins of the Legend of the Grey Wolf to understand that its all true (The *cough* true history of the Grey Wolf Award) that there really was a Grey Wolf who inhabited Mt Gravatt mountain. Then owing to the ingenuousness of a young cub, who, desperate for more computer time from his parents…. faithfully recreated the entire walk in Minecraft and with permission of section leader Chil and district commissioner Raven, and then took his pack along for the walk.

Special thanks to the wonders of the NBN (yes it actually does work), Zoom (hello…tap..tap…tap is this microphone turned on?) and the nice people at Aternos.com (who will let you build your own world on their Minecraft server) it was all turned into reality….kind of!

Well done Matthew on getting your Grey Wolf walk done, all from the comfort and madness of COVID isolation.

NOTE: Matthews Grey Wolf World (Minecraft Bedrock) is open for online tours by special appointment only

B..R..A..V..O..BRAVO Chil!!!

A special shout out to our section leader Chil who has been running cubs as normal over Zoom sessions, with songs, cooking/baking and other activities. He recons Zoom is better than normal because he can mute the noisy cubs when needed 😉 , well all of them except for his son (till he moved him to a seperate computer in another room) …BRAVO to Chil!

PS Raven he also did a giant big walk with family along the infamous Legend of the Bulimba Bunyip trail to take care of the physical requirements too!

Here’s Matthews invite to his Grey Wolf walk

The true history of the Grey Wolf Award

28 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by Dan in Cubs, Scouts, scouts brisbane

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Many years ago, just after the end of that war to end all wars came the great depression. It was a tough time for the people of Mt. Gravatt and so the city council of the day decided they and the people of the city of Brisbane needed something to lift their spirits. And one of the greatest ways to do so was to provide a view the growing city of Brisbane from the highest mountain offering the best of views, I refer not to Mt. Coottha, which while technically higher but offers a far inferior view) but that of Mt. Gravatt mountain.

And so work began on the creation of the road up Mt Gravatt Mountain. It was envisaged that by taking a tram ride to Mount Gravatt Central (also known as the Terminus but more on that later) the people could have a nice day out taking in the sights along the way as well. The ensuing construction givingthe underemployed something to do to benefit the people of Brisbane as well as fill their bellies from the fruits of an honest days work. It was tough work, but many of those men, returned from war and knew the value of hard-work and danger.

For danger there was, as lurking on the mountain was a wolf that had terrorised the people of Mt. Gravatt for many years, with rumours of its existence also striking fear into the hearts of many about Brisbane in general. It is a little known fact that once the road was finally constructed many people didn’t go to the lookout for fear of the wolf. Mt Gravatt central also become known as the Terminus, for not only was it the end of the tram line, but potentially where one might meet ones fate as well. And so it is to this day, sadly, that Mt. Coottha is where more people go to take in the air and views of Brisbane instead of Mt. Gravatt mountain, and the tram lines were eventually removed.

Over time, many about the town, thought that there wasn’t really a wolf at all, but it was instead the local graziers, who hit upon with hard times were using this as an opportunity to steal livestock from each other for the dinner table. Such was the suspicion that many in the Mt. Gravatt township would comment to each other “He’s the wolf, but in shepherds clothing”…which eventually became that saying commonly used today ‘a wolf in sheeps clothing’

By and by the scouts of what is now the Toohey forest district took it upon themselves to find out more about this wolf. Unbeknownst to the leaders the older scouts would dare the younger scouts to venture out onto the foothills of Mount Gravatt mountain in search of the old grey wolf. This was an initiatio, a kind of test of bravery to see if they were worthy to join the scout group. Of course we don’t do these things today, because as any scout leader will tell you, there is too much paperwork and the risk assessment is a bit challenging.

Incidentally the only recorded sighting of the Wolf from this time was by a young lad Charles Victor from the Greenslopes Scout Group. He went on to become quite a well known scout in Australia, with the group Victor scouts on Victor street in Ho;land Park being named in his honour.

In the years that followed legend of the Grey Wolf (because he must have been very old by then) became ritual in all the Toohey forest scout groups, as a rite of passage for the young cubs. Cubs being the name for those wanting to join the local group but hadn’t paid their subs yet.

Now like all good organisations, when management hears of something popular it is essential it is claimed as their own idea. And so Scouts Queensland hearing about this, told Scouts Australia all about it. After 6 committee meeting, 2 special resolutions, a special funding round and a letter to the Queen the ‘search for the grey wolf’ became an official part of the scouting movement, by turning it into a badge……and who doesn’t love a badge…am I right?

So cubs, if you missed out on the search for the Bulimba Creek Bunyip and if you want to find out more about the real Grey Wolf Award join Matthew on his Grey Wolf Award hike as he sets out, like the scouts of old did, to find the secret of Grey Wolf and maybe even his lair. Details TBA

PS We got our friend Scotty from Marketing to help write this, so you know its all true 😉 No animals were harmed in this recounting of the aural history of Mt. Gravatt

The legend of the Bulimba creek Bunyip

03 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by Dan in Cubs, scouts brisbane, Uncategorized

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bulimba creek, bunyip

Bunyip (from Australian National Library collection)

With an upcoming Victor Cub Scouts Grey Wolf walk planned along Bulimba creek, it was thought some local history might be a useful reflection. In the process we uncovered the legend of the Bulimba Creek Bunyip…

Many years ago, before the lands of Mansfield, Carindale and Belmont were populated with houses they were set aside for grazing of cattle, and the growing of sugar cane. To support this work in the suburb of Carindale and along the shores of the creek that passed through the area was an abattoir for the preparing of meat for the inhabitants of the new town of Brisbane’s consumption. The by products of which drew various carrion and scavenger animals, including the Bunyip.

Many at this time thought the legend of the Bunyip from the indigenous peoples of the surrounding areas to be something to frighten small children into emptying the chamber pots at night and not to ask for an extra serving of bread and dripping at dinner time.

Bunyip skull by Henry Dowling, John Murray – Reproduced from The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Scienc

Around this time the founding mayor of the City of Brisbane, William Jolly had a prized bull that was to be put out for stud along the creek. This bull was amongst the largest ever seen, with the Brahmin bull not yet being seen on our fair shores. You see this was around the beginning of Australia’s reputation as a legendary cattle producer. By all accounts the bull was a productive member of the herd, however as fate would have it it simply disappeared one day.

All the known cattle rustlers of the day were rounded up in an effort to locate the prize bull, however to no avail. It is though that it was at this time that the most dangerous cattle rustlers made their escape, including the famous Captain Thunderbolt who fled to the interior around the granite belt and Tenterfield regions.

In due course the remains of the bull were found down near the bank of the creek, after some loud noises were heard one night . Of course no one approached, for fear of the legend of the terrible Bunyip had again gained prominence. A young boy named Arthur Scurr (who went on to start a well known hardware store) was said to have seen a terrible creature whilst fishing by the shores of the creek the day before and he bravely approached the scene the next day.

“Bull in Bunyip” he declared to all that would listen and this soon became accepted fact as the remains when finally examined bore the marks of huge teeth upon it. By and by the story faded somewhat and the fishing area became known as ‘Bull in Bunyip’ to the local boys. Eventually as all boys do, they grew up, some becoming future civic leaders, when the area formally became part of the City of Brisbane. That favourite fishing hole, which is still there today (for those that dare look), became known simply as Bull-in-Ba and the creek that flowed through it eventually becoming known as Bulimba creek.

And so this is the story of how Bulimba creek got its name, by way of a big load of bull!

References:

Scurr brothers – http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2006/05/19/1641487.htm

Mayors of Brisbane – https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/about-council/council-information-rates/council-history/brisbanes-lord-mayors

Captain Thunderbolt – http://www.guidetoipswich.com.au/experience-south-east-queensland/64-donnellys-castle-captain-thunderbolt-s-hideout

A History of Bulimba Creek Valley – http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/belmont.history/history.htm

About Bunyips – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunyip

Going green! with a little help from our friends

05 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by Dan in Cubs, scouts brisbane

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Anybody need some tubes?

One of the great challenges in running a successful scout group are the substantial running costs of the den. The largest expense there being the energy costs, in particular the lighting, which is also a big part of our carbon footprint. With almost 30 lights needed to run an evening it wasn’t hard to realise that we could probably reduce our footprint and costs here substantially by switching to LED lighting. So we reached out to the community to see what we could do about this.

And so it was with grateful thanks to Energex and the Brisbane South Area Manager that our application to become a community partner with Energex, as part of the Energy Queensland group, was successful. Early last week we have been able to convert all of our internal lighting over to LED’s. Special thanks to our friendly local electrician Dawson Electrical for getting it done too…now what to do with our old tubes?

Thats how we roll at Victor

03 Saturday Feb 2018

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Thanks to the support of the Queensland Department of Sport and Recreation for a ‘Get Going Clubs’ grant the dream of having our own trailer for the many weekends away has finally been realised and we recently took delivery of the groups new trailer.

While its often said that a camel is horse designed by commitee, we think we got this one pretty right after checking out what other groups were using checking in with Hawkeye and Komodo (our resident trailer experts). Light enough to be towed by your average family wagon, yet with braking and tires to handle the heaviest loads and fully galvanised to with stand years of …err abuse, we hope it will bring us many years of service. Samuel took delivery from Rhys (pictured) of the new trailer, probably in the hopes of earning another badge (good luck with that one).

Many thanks to the trailer guys (they also do camper trailers ) who understood our needs and were able to advise us on the pros and cons of the various features on an extensive wish list. Also big thanks to Murrays marine upholstery for the cover, spiffy pole rack up top and for organising the signage so we can be spotted easily and next district camp.

We’d also like to that MP Joe Kelly and counsellor Krista Adams for supporting our grant application last year too and Scouts Queensland for the submission process.

XMAS at Victor(scouts), we made Santa’s nice list too

29 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Dan in Cubs, Joeys, Scouts, scouts brisbane, Uncategorized

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All too soon Victor Scouts wrapped up for 2017, with a XMAS BBQ, a good old barn (err shed) raising and some new doors too!

Everyone had a turn at the power tools 😉

Being watered and feed before the shed raising

And this bit goes, over …um …here…

Santa made an appearance too, bringing us some new fire exit doors and signs to point the way out.

Now thats a door and in our favourite shade of green too

We’d like to thank the elves, Dallas from Able Doors and Building and John from Snelson Electrical for doing putting it all together.

Special thanks to Scouts Queensland for a Queensland Scout Foundation grant that helped that make it all possible and our committee for pushing all the paper round too 😉

New lights for the scout den!

04 Friday Aug 2017

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Over the July school holidays, our den lighting was upgraded to safety lights throughout both levels of the building. The new lights feature cages which will make it much safer for our scouts during their exuberant games. Dawson Electric completed the work for us over a couple of days and provided an excellent service for our group.

The lighting upgrade was made possible by the Lord Mayor’s Suburban Initiative Fund. The committee’s thanks go to Councillor Krista Adams for supporting the committee’s successful grant application.

We might go for chandeliers next time 😉

Beelarong Community Farm Rocks!

12 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by Dan in Joeys, scouts brisbane

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brisbane scouts, scouts brisbane

Joey Mob group photo (with at least one person looking this time)

This morning the Joey mob headed off to Beelarong community farm in Morningside to do a little gardening and harvesting. A spot of weeding, digging out some potatoes (they were delicious BTW), watering the herb garden with worm juice was followed by checking out the worms. Along the way they got to check out the native bees and the composting toilet and they were well on the way to completing the coveted Environment badge by morning tea time. Well actually its been the focus of Joeys this term and so it looks like there is a bit more sewing for the parents…thanks Bagheera!

The morning was a huge success and judging by the turn out of Joeys’ dads we think we think we misread the invitation…we all thought it was Beer-a-long

Many thanks to Mitch and the team, at Beelarong for having us. Check them out at ( http://www.beelarong.org.au for yourself )