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 There
was cake, cake and more cake as almost 500 competitors and 1,000 spectators
enjoyed Kon-Tiki's 25th birthday bash. The flying trapeze rig was
decorated in red and white bunting and the Sea Scout Base looked like it was
ready to rock. The circus theme was an opportunity for everyone
to get dressed up in their red noses and there were some really imaginative
theme costumes. The weather, predicted as 60 to 90% rain for the
weekend, played along and except for a bit of wet weather on the Saturday
morning, the rest of the weekend was pretty good.
The only
major upset of the weekend was the girls spoiling the boy's party. The
girls of Naruna and Constantia Scouts that is. They came, they saw and
they conquered. The boys from Naruna and Constantia posed a threat
last year and the girls came along and finished the task. In what must
have been one of the most innovating raft designs of the competition, they
still could not take the construction trophy away from 1st Durbanville,
winners of the Darryl McEwan shield for raft construction for the 4th
consecutive year. The Naruna and Constantia girls came first
in the STA competition, joint 4th in the raft construction, and second for
the raft meal competition, winning the competition with the highest overall
aggregate. The prize for the spectators was to see their reaction when
the winners were announced. Yep, the girls had
come along and spoilt the boy's party but they did it in style !! Well
done Naruna and Constantia. You sent everyone a signal last year and
this year you saw it through. 1st Durbanville
also went on to win the Dolphin Lawson Trophy for the highest aggregate in
the Kon-Tiki fringe. The boys of 7th Green and
Sea Point showed the true spirit of the competition. They waited the
whole of Friday night and part of Saturday morning for their equipment,
which never arrived. They then asked for permission to build a smaller
raft using the few items that they had managed to bring along.
They launched on time with the rest of the fleet. Their tenacity
earned them a special merit award for construction, for not giving up and
for competing against the odds. The event was officially
opened by the CEO of SA Scouting, Luke van der Laan. This was followed
by the always spectacular launching. For myself, the raft that caught
my eye was that of team number 36, 1st Somerset West. Their bright
red, specially designed T-shirts, caught everyone's eye. The beautiful
art work on their raft was commented on by everyone who saw it.
And
what a birthday it was. The cake was baked and the streamers were
flying. So were the young guys and gals on the flying
trapeze. The young artistes of the Circus Workshop gave a
performance worthy of any big top. The presentation of
the prizes and the final words came from Area Commissioner, Brian
February. "That's all Folks!"
Keith Anderson - our 2003
VIP
Special guest at Kon-Tiki was well-known stage designer, Keith
Anderson. Keith designed the T-shirts for 2003. He has trained
many flying trapeze acts that are still touring the world and the trainers
of Circus Workshop trained under him as well. Keith was the
stage designer as well as the designer of the animals for the ICC Cricket
World Cup Opening Ceremony. He was also Show Director with Ringling
Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for many years. His current
project is designing the sets for "The Sound of Music" which will
be opening at ArtScape soon.
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Kon-Tiki works with a support team of nearly 50
people. Without even a single one, the event would never be as
successful.
Peter Bosch, who has been the "soundman" for as
long as anyone can remember, was busy putting up all the speakers and
equipment with Terry Coetzee. They were busy with the last set, on top
of the superstructure when Peter decided to test his swallow diving skills
and fell off of the top of the superstructure, the equivalent of a two and a
half storey building. He got off lucky, fracturing his humerus,
which wasn't funny. And a dislocated shoulder and badly lacerated
arm. He was back on the Friday evening enjoying curry and rice in the Kon-Tiki
Kitchen.
Planning for Kon-Tiki starts in earnest in September each
year. Then, from the beginning of February, the details are put into
the event, books are printed and score sheets prepared. The
weekend of Kon-Tiki started on Wednesday with the setting up of the flying
trapeze rig. Then on Thursday the campsites and construction sites
were laid out. Early Friday morning the setting up of the sound
equipment started alongside the finalising of the sites. Around
all this activity, preparations were made for the kitchen and tuck shop with
deliveries and collections happening all week. The new ablution
facilities were still being finalised on the Friday morning.
Teams started to arrive around lunchtime and the Info Desk
opened at 15h00. From then, until 8pm Sunday, the entire team were on
the move, judging and refereeing and moving this and that and preparing
something else. For the staff, Kon-Tiki is hard work, but it is
fun. Our guest Scouters from Port Elizabeth, Kathy Douglas and
Mark Akers will be back next year. Well, Kathy is always back.
In recognition for the years of active involvement in the
event, Kathy Douglas and Terry Coetzee were presented with Certificates of
Appreciation from the Scouters and Guides and event organisers.
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