Duke of Edinburgh Year 9 Camp

Last week I had the joy of venturing out to Colo River with the year 9 students for their Duke Of Edinburgh Adventurous journey. As they loaded their giant packs onto the bus I couldn’t help but soak up the excitement. It has been 2 years of zoom catch ups and virtual activities since our last camp together and the prospect of 3 days of quality in person (phone free) time together was just amazing.

As we disembarked at the somerset campsite, surrounded by the sheer beauty of the Australian bush, the students were soon busy at work packing their hiking packs, learning the fine art of cooking on a camping stove and solving the complex geometry problems of setting up a tent. 

The first night we all camped out together on various campsites near the home base. This meant that there were lots of games of footy between different groups or even the occasional head torch dance party before everyone settled into their own campfires for a diner of nacho’s and damper.

Those night owls who stayed up for a chat on the first night were awoken bright and early to pack down tents, clean up the campsite and pack their bags ready for the 10 km hike on the second day.  The hike brought with it challenges and triumphs. I am proud to report that each team came together to support and encourage each other through the steep ascents and enjoyed the rest breaks to admire the view. Some groups also rallied together to challenge and push each other to the brink of their physical capabilities with an unofficial race emerging between the Wombats and Dingos. Both groups completed the hike in record time in record time before squeezing in 3 hours of the most enthusiastic ultimate frisbee game I have seen in my time at the Fort.

As dusk approached I got to witness some of the culinary prowess of the year 9 students, who cooked up some of the most inventive versions of 2 minute noodles I’ve ever seen on a camp stove. As evening settled in and the campfires were lit, year 9 settled into another night of quality conversations, giggling, singing, card games, stargazing and even hair braiding.

As morning dawned on the third day I was greeted by some tired faces, but nonetheless everyone rallied for the second day of hiking.  After farewelling the local cows and donkeys the year 9 crew set off on their final day hiking, which in some cases turned into some A grade level bush bashing. Returning to home base exhausted and perhaps a little smellier one thing was undeniable, >…….

Thank you to the team of teachers who made this possible; Ms Thompson, Ms Nolan, Mr Wilkinson, Mr Moon, Mr Patulny, and Mr Latimer who worked tirelessly with their groups to make this a truly amazing experience for everyone. And a big thank you to all of year 9 for sharing their joy and resilience with me, it’s not often a teacher gets to say with all honesty that I came home this came revitalized by camp.