Justin Laver meets NSW Governor Margaret Beazley as he receives his Peak Award

"I started when I was six: Mum took me along to Joeys [the form of Scouts for ages five to eight] back in 2010 and, at first, I didn't even want to do it.

"Mum thought that it would be good for me and it was. It was really good for me.

"After about a year I started making friends and I really enjoyed it and wanted to keep going and here I am."

"Here I am" doesn't just cover Mr Laver's subsequent 12-year involvement with Scouting, it also covers the fact he was at NSW Government House recently to receive a prestigious award from a familiar face.

Mr Laver was one of a number of Venturer Scouts who got to meet NSW Governor Margaret Beazley as they received their Peak Award, which is designed to challenge and encourage them.

"That was very surreal," he said of meeting the NSW Governor.

"There were 39 Venturers that achieved their Peak Award and it was pretty different because most of the kids were from Sydney North or Greater Western Sydney or South Metropolis - they're all Scout regions. So [it was] pretty much the Sydney area.

"There were a lot of Scouts from there and most of the other Scouts were from along the coast."

So a Scout from Bathurst stood out?

"I felt like it a little bit, yep," he said.

"However, I was fortunate enough to know one person there because we both used to live in Albury about four years ago and we achieved our Cub Peak Award and our Scout Peak Award together.

"So I got to see them, catch up with them.

"And then I knew a couple of other people through other people.

"In this region, there's people that do state events and they knew some of the other people who were at the presentation, so I got to put faces to names."

Attaining his Peak Award for Venturers (the form of Scouts for those aged 15 to 18) was a three-year commitment, Mr Laver said, and tested his skills - including outdoor adventure and leadership - in a number of ways.

As part of earning his Peak Award, Mr Laver was required to complete a four-day, three-night journey using manpowered travel.

"I did a four-day hike where it was two days of canoeing and two days of hiking," he said.

"We paddled up Lake Lyell [near Lithgow] on the Coxs River for a little bit, got out and walked to the Rydal Showground for camp the first night.

"And then the next two days we were going to walk all the way up on to Lidsdale forestry area and then camp near the river and then the third day we were going to walk up Mount Walker and then back down to where the canoes were and paddle back to the Lake Lyell Recreation Area.

"However, one person got sick and was throwing up and had heatstroke and another person had done their back while paddling.

"And so I decided after Rydal we would walk back down to the river and camp at the last campsite for two days and possibly do the day walk to the top of Mount Walker the day after, depending on how everyone was feeling.

"We did attempt to walk up Mount Walker. We got about halfway before someone fell sick again, so we walked back down to the bottom and paddled back home the next day."

Though the trip was beset by difficulties, Mr Laver said his experience in Scouting had prepared him for it.

"I think the change of plans just showed the leadership skills I had learnt throughout the section: making the best decision for everyone," he said.

He said Scouts was about much more than the cliches.

"When I told my friends about some of this stuff I'd done [paddling up the river and walking up Mount Walker], they were surprised that Scouts do that," he said.

"A lot of them thought it was just knot-tying and stuff.

"But I've been up Mount Kosciuszko three times in Venturers - twice during the middle of winter."

And his next adventure?

"I've got the other four Peak Awards for the other four sections [Joeys, Cubs, Scouts and Venturers] and I've just started my Rover [Scouts aged 18 and over] journey to get my Baden-Powell [Peak Award]," he said.

"And in 2025, there's an international Rover camp in Portugal that I'm hoping to go to.

"During my Venturers, I was hoping to do an international event such as exchange, but obviously, COVID was running around still."

Mr Laver is hoping to study environmental science at Charles Sturt University in Albury next year.

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