Australian scouts loving their Venture South

Scouts Australia Victoria assistant branch commissioner Bruce Ellis, of Melbourne, said some of the scouts, all aged between 14 and 18 and who come from all over Australia, had been in Queenstown since December 27 and had so far had ''the time of their lives'', despite the inclement weather.

''The good news is there are a couple of local operators, a guy called Rock [Carrick McLellan, of Queenstown Paraflights], in particular - he's bent over backwards for us. He gets the prize for the guy who's gone the extra mile.''

The Venturers had also spent time luging, jet-boating, tramping and doing their own ''amazing race'' around the resort and more activities were planned over the next 10 days.

About 800 Venturer Scouts would meet in Riverton tomorrow and be split into 80 groups of 10, before heading all over the southern South Island for tramping, fishing, scuba diving, farm stays and bike rides, Mr Ellis said.