SCOUTS LEAVE FOR SYDNEY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29398, 28 December 1960, Page 11

SCOUTS LEAVE FOR SYDNEY

N.Z. Representatives At Jamboree Seventy-one scouts from Canterbury, the West Coast, and Otago left Christchurch airport last evening in a Tasman Empire Airways Electra for the international scout jamboree at Lansdowne, near Sydney. They were seen off by hundreds of relatives, friends, and other scouts, who packed the overseas section of the airport terminal. They are part of a New Zealand contingent of 290 scouts, the others leaving from Whenuapai and Rongotai. Earlier, five Dunedin scouts left the airport for Melbourne to visit the Melbourne Ivanhoe troop before going to the jamboree. Last evening’s party included about 45 scouts from Canterbury. Nearly all are over 15, and for most of them it is their first trip abroad. Most troop leaders carried Maori spears and clubs they had carved in the last few months. As well, there were tikis and carvings that will be used to decorate a Maori stockade in the camp grounds. One of the scouts’ most prized possessions is a model pataka or food store, made by the leader of the, party (Mr D. A. Love). It has a painted kiwi embryo design taken from the Waitaki rock carvings. One of the most authentic looking carvings was a 2ft figure with paua shell eyes, made by Lewis Simpson, a senior scout from Southbridge. Each troop has taken barge boards to decorate its tents. Many are of intricate designs, and one has a reproduction of paintings on the Hehua Maori meetinghouse. Mr Love is assisted by Messrs S. Knipe, R. D. Sterling, G. W. Graham, and I. D. Joll.