Year 8 Camp

Year 8 embarked on a three day camp to Killalea State Park earlier this term. Lola and Anika share their reflections below.

I really enjoyed camp, I had lots of fun participating in all the activities and working with my group. On the first night it was too windy to set up tents so we stayed at a nearby lodge. On both nights we learnt to cook our own food in Trangia Stoves, and chopping up our own vegetables. 

My favourite part of camp was definitely the bush regeneration. I liked learning the difference between the plants we were supposed to cut down (lantana) and which ones we would leave standing, and why we were doing it. After we cut down some of the lantana we cut it up into 30cm branches and threw them in a pile. Then we would plant four native grasses and one native, koala friendly tree and we were promised that they would still be there if we ever came back. 

Some challenges I faced during camp were definitely canoeing and setting up tents. Canoeing was a challenge because I was a bit scared to fall in but I’m glad I did the activity because my partner and I had a lot of fun and we even won one of the challenges! Setting up tents was challenging because I had never done it before and it was very windy, but my group of three worked together and we did it.

Some of my favourite memories from camp were talking and laughing with my friends when we were doing the bush regeneration and hanging out and talking about our days with girls from other groups the second night during our free time. 

Lola Dery

The Year 8 Camp we anticipated was not the camp we experienced. Imagine sitting on the bus with 100 other students, hair braided, singing our hearts out excitedly awaiting the arrival of Killalea National Park roughly two hours from Sydney. What we found upon getting off the bus were conditions similar to a mini cyclone. Tents flying everywhere, hats scattered in bushes and trees, the odd bathroom roof lifting up and tensions running high. This obstacle didn’t stop the fun and memorable experiences Year 8 had created so far. The wind had increased and we were told that we could no longer sleep in our tents as planned. So, we travelled hungry and tired to cabins on our first night and were hoping to stay in tents on night two.

Not the start we anticipated… the wind died down and the fun picked up.

The highlight for my group was surfing at The Farm beach in the picturesque waters where we discovered new surfing skills, participated in mini triathlon competitions and learnt about rip detection in the surf. We never wanted to leave this paradise. Another incredible experience on this camp included more water sports such as canoeing along the lake whilst playing games in groups on the water. Throughout the camp, we bonded over long walks along the coast, star gazing at night, setting up tents (eventually) and learning new camp songs and games.

Every night each group was in charge of cooking dinners under the stars using Trangia Stoves which fostered independence and resilience in the great outdoors. We also managed to fit in planting trees and plants in the national park whilst learning about bush regeneration and the history of the land and waterways we encountered.

My lasting memory of Year 8 Camp, after a variety of experiences sits squarely on our enormous water fight. It started off with playing a game similar to “duck duck goose” called “drip drip drop” which was designed to fight the soaring temperatures. Long story short, it ended with a saturated group and a few drenched teachers.

We packed our bags and were ready to depart. We left with spirits high, new connections made and braids that desperately needed to be washed.

Anika Buchanan