Got back from Year 12 Camp about 2.5 hours ago.
It was amazing. So much happened with an amazing group of people and lots of fun.
The weather was brilliant. Not too cold but not too hot. No rain and very fresh!
I'm gonna go day by day of everything that happened so yes. This will be a long post.
Photos will have to wait till I can get it off teachers and some people.
I will edit this post or make a new one with pictures once I get them
DAY 1 (16/03/2011)Got to school around 8.15 am. We were supposed to be there by 8 but we were only leaving at 8.30 so it wasn't that big of an issue.
Met up with some people, looked around at how much people were bringing for a 3 day camp and got our names marked off. The buses were late so we didn't actually leave until a bit past 9.
The ride there was alright. Talked a bit, played the iPhone a bit, enjoyed the scenery and we were there. It wasn't that long. The place looks amazing. It's a pretty hilly place surrounded by trees and obstacle courses/facilities all over the place. Got our stuff off the bus and waited around till we got sorted out into our tents/cabins. Cabins had like 12-16 people in theme while tents have 6. The tents are all lined up together and it's like a nice community/get together place outside with a building with a mini kitchen and TV so that's pretty cool. I got a tent with 5 other people cause cabins were filled up pretty quickly. There weren't enough tents so they had to put some small ones up at a place away from the other tents.
After getting organised, we went to the lodge where we meet up and have meals and whatnot. Listened to a bit of an intro and a bit about setting goals.
The guy we had was pretty funny but got a bit long winded in the end. He went on about "shopping" and how we bleed time etc. It would make more sense if you heard it.
Then we were split into 2 groups. Half of us had to stay back and fill out forms for Year 12 while the other half went for Orienteering then we swap spots. I got to do the Orienteering first which was good cause we were sitting down for so long running around was really good. Went with Nicole, Bridgit and Tiffany and what a funny team it was. We were given a map that was marked with different sites where we had to go there and find this stamper thing which was cleverly hidden.
For a few of the stampers, we had to run into the forest areas and because Nicole was the good one with maps, she led the way. We soon found out she wasn't THAT good cause she made us go the bike track way, up hills and slopes instead of the nirmal trekking path. Durr
We didn't have time to find all of them but we got 10/12 so i think that's pretty decent. After that we had to fill up the forms and then we had time to chill before dinner.
Dinner was surprisingly really good. LASAGNA AND GARLIC BREAD!Cheesecake for dessert. And we were allowed seconds! hahaha
Anyway after dinner, my group (Group 2) was on duty for clean up. The others had like 30-40 minutes free time while we had to do the dishes and wipe down the tables. It was actually really fun doing them. We had to first rinse out the dishes and bowls then stack them along with cups, jugs and cutlery onto these trays to put in the dishwasher. Then dry it and put it back to where they were found. We divided the job really quickly and pumped up some music and it was just fun. We did around 150 of each dishes, bowls, cutlery and cups altogether and it didn't take us that long.
About 5-10 minutes after we finished the dishes we went straight into the next activity. Trivia night. It was pretty good. Just tested general knowledge, some showbiz stuff and guessing the names of teachers whose pictures were edited horrendously. hahaha
There were 5 rounds and 3 bonus rounds which took us till about 9.30pm. Before we left we were told to look out for some car keys because a teacher has lost them. We went back to our tents/cabins and chilled a bit till 11 or so then it was lights out. We had to bring sleeping bags even though the tents/cabins (The big tents anyway) had mattresses cause there were no blankets. We were also supposed to bring a pillow but I couldn't be bothered since it was 2 nights and lugging a pillow is 'meh' so I just slept on my jacket. I didn't actually get to sleep until around 12.40 or so cause the people in the other tent were noisy.
Did I mention we had teachers around out area too? haha
DAY 2 (17/03/2011)This day was just FILLED with stuff happening.
So I woke up at about 6.45 am to go jogging. Mr VP (PE teacher) organised morning jogs for his two PE classes to demonstrate a few things and those not in the classes were welcome to join in. Met up with Nicole half way there and then walked with the whole group to the entrance of the camp. The reason? There is this cemetery which had roads "around" it. And these roads were built on a hill. Here's a diagram:
------------
|Cemetery |
|.............. |
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Except that it was actually longer vertically but anyway, the vertical bits were REALLY steep slopes so what we had to do was run down the right side, and then go across and run up the other and so forth. It was bad. The slope isn't too bad until you get to the top and you just die from being out of breath. I only managed 2 laps continuous before walking down the slope but running up the next one. So you can say I did 2.5 laps. Mr VP did 4.5 laps continuously and so did some of the guys in his PE class. Yeah fit people... Finished off with some sit ups and push ups.
So anyway, we went straight to breakfast. We were not too sweaty cause it was nice and cool. Breakfast was simple, your usual toast and jams or cereal. After that we were given a bit of time to chill and then get started on activities. All the Year 12's were split into 8 groups and we had a different activity and rotated.
Groups 1+2: Goal Setting
Groups 3+4: English session
Groups 5+6: Snowy River+Snake Challenge
Groups 7+8: Bush and Cave challenge
So I started off with Goal Setting. We had a German guy and his accent was pretty funny. Too bad the stuff he talked about was boring and irrelevant. It was a pretty bad session. The only thing I picked up was that he used the phrase "For sure" constantly. At one point no one was answering the question he was asking and I was just sick of it already so I went ahead and replied. He then said I was amazing and asked for a hug. A bit awkward. Just a bit. Never gave it to him. ahahah
We had a break and during the break they announced that the teacher who lost her car keys also lost her laptop so they asked us to go back to our tent/cabin to see if we might have grabbed it accidentally. I don't know how you can do that with a laptop but anyway, we did that and all was good. They didn't suspect the students but they just did it to cover all possibilities. Those two things still missing.
With that, we went on to the next activity.
My group did the Snowy River first while Group 1 did Snakes.
The Snowy River Challenge was a team challenge and it consisted of 5 parts.
1) Walking over a log to the other side that is suspended on a small mud pit. If you fell in you start over.
2) Get over a ~2.5 meter high wall with only the help of teammates. People who were boosted over cannot boost again and can only support the other people from falling behind.
3) Walk over a wire suspended over a river. You had two ropes at the side to hang onto
4) Crawl through this man made wombat hole which had very bad smelling stagnant water
5) Swing across to the opposite platform on a rope. All members had to be on the rope before our time was taken.
Our team had 13 people and only had 3 guys but one of them (Mark) was pretty tank so we weren't too bad. We started off well with people crossing the log pretty easy. I tried and because I am so uncoordinated almost fell and managed to jump back to the start. I decided to be lame and crawl my way over. As in lying flat on the log and pulling myself across. Apart from a few stains on the clothes, it was good. According to the staff there I was the first person to do it that way and not fall over. Achievement! ahaha
We went to the wall next and blitzed right through it. Mark boosted everyone up and we supported each other real well. I, being the uncoordinated one again, got over but somehow managed to fall back on the starting side but manage to push myself back on the wall and over the other side. *cough*
The wire was a breeze and it was over before we knew it. Then it came to the wombat hole. You had to crawl into it because it was not high at all. Most points I was crawling on my hands and knees while some points I had to be in a "push up" position (To avoid getting completely drenched in the horrible water in there) while using my elbows to shimmy myself forward. The water smelled unimaginably bad and after a being in it for a bit and getting a few scrapes here and there, we ended up crawling out of the hole like zombies coming out of the ground. Tiffany broke a scab from a previous injury from her knee which caused massive bleeding and had to go get it cleaned up.
Finally we had the swinging. It was on a rope so there it swung all over the place. We bought a hint with a 2 minute penalty and aced the thing easy. We all landed on the platform easily with me landing on the butt and doing one of those Mario butt smashes. Yeah.
We ended up with the best time for the course and it felt amazing. We headed over to the next bit where we got to hold and put a python around our neck. Pretty cool.
Break for lunch. I washed my hands 4 times and the smell from the water in the hole was still there so I had to eat the NACHOS for lunch with a fork being careful not to touch it. Yes the smell was that bad. After lunch and a quick break it was on to the next activity.
My group was in the English session. Since myself and Tiffany don't do mainstream English, we didn't have to sit for the session and got free time. Well we were supposed to do stuff with Ms Campbell (Very awesome teacher) but she was happy to give us free time so that was that. We sat around and had a chat with some teachers and then went for a walk to see what the other people were doing. We went to the Snowy River challenge and a team was halfway through the Wombat hole when something happened. A guy came out of the hole in a weird way and dislocated his knee (He had a bad knee to begin with). By dislocated I mean the whole part of his leg from kneecap down got twisted to the side. It didn't sound pretty. We didn't go there to see but yeah. Ouch. The Snowy River challenge was then closed for the rest of the day while they got an ambulance to take him to the hospital. I pity the teams who didn't get to do the amazing course but not more than the guy (Luke). It was his 18th birthday the day before too.
After that, another short break and off to the last activity. We went Bush challenge first and then Cave. Bush consisted of a few parts as well.
1) Climb up this small ledge with the help of a rope.
2) Jump into a pit that is kinda deep filled with some sponge/foam. Then we have to boost each other out of it.
3) Walk across two wires with a partner. The wires were further apart as you went along so you had to support each other an move.
4) Memory game. Lift off buckets from a small poles revealing the colour underneath and if it matched the bucket was off, if not it stays on. Only a pair of people are allowed to take one bucket off per match.
5) Jigsaw puzzle.
At the start of activity 1&2 we had to hold onto a puzzle piece at the start of the activity while we get another one each after doing activity 3&4. So off we went.
First one was pretty easy. Threw the puzzle piece up to whoever who got up already and just pulled myself up. Headed off to the pit and jumped in. Boosted one person up and passed the pieces to her. Mark boosted everyone again and this time I didn't fall back. hahaha
Because we had to get the other two pieces across the wire as well, Tiff and I placed it between us and used it as our support instead. Done that pretty easily and went on to the memory game. Did that and then the staff told us that at this point there are 4 more pieces hidden around the place to find so off we went. We spent a bit of time on the puzzle cause it was quite confusing but finished it after a bit. We were 30 seconds behind the fastest team so yeah...
After that we went on to the Cave challenge. We went down this trapdoor which led us to a dark tunnel and had to find our way to a room. We went down in pairs or threes which made it pretty simple. People were hyping up this activity so I expected quite highly of it but was a bit disappointed that it was actually really short. If it was longer it would have been really good.
We had another break and then dinner. We had an early dinner at 5.30 pm consisting of rice and curry with mint yogurt. It wasn't too bad. We had an early dinner because we were doing the MONSTER COURSE at around 6.30. We were told to get changed into stuff that we wouldn't care to get dirty and wet.
So off we went and came back to meet up to have the whole course explained to us. This whole thing is again, a team challenge.
1) Swim in the really cold and dirty lake to an island in the middle, ring a bell and swim back. Then fill a bucket that has holes to a certain level with water.
2) Grab ten tyres and run to the next station. We have to be linked at all times when running to another station. We get to drop one tyre after completing a station.
3) Get 5 charades right and push yourself over a ramp
4) Throw one of the tyres we have onto a pole
5) Two ends. One end with 5 red tyres and the other with black. There is a sled in the middle and we had to place tyres on it one at a time and pull to the other side.
6) Lobster challenge. Four people have to support one person lying on their belly and that person had to pick up 15 balls scattered around an area.
7) Grab puzzle pieces and run across a mini obstacle course and place it on the other
8) As a team, collectively do 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 star jumps, 100 squats, 100 mountain climbers
9) Go through a mud pit under a net with all members linked together with the remaining tyres we had.
10) Get frisbees and throw them across a mat and try to get the majority of one to land in the bullseye area.
11) Run to the finish point and have the whole team touch a pole to finish.
So yes.. It's a Monster course indeed. My team got to go second. I was pumped to do it.
Now this is probably one of the stupidest thing I have done in my life. Like REALLY stupid. We started off and we jumped into the lake. I FREAKING forgot to take my glasses off and didn't realise until I got to the middle of the lake. At this point the lake was really deep and I couldn't swim properly in fear of my glasses sinking to the bottom of the lake. Panicking, I suddenly started flailing for help and looked like an idiot who couldn't swim. I was holding onto my glasses so staying afloat was quite difficult as well.
The thing about that though, the thought of drowning NEVER crossed my mind. I just had the feeling that my teammates and people around me would be able to help me get out of there and within a few seconds, they did. Two teammates swam over to give support and our year level coordinator, Mr Tuck dived in to pull me back. Once I could touch land again, I got on my feet and just ran back to shore. No one laughed and they were cheering instead. I took a few seconds to shake it off and continued with the rest of the team to do the rest.
My mistake here was being an idiot and not taking my glasses off, underestimating how deep the lake was and panicking when I could have easily just swam back to shore instead of staying there.
I feel like such a retard for actually doing that but everyone makes mistakes and I am glad I got through that and experienced a tight situation.
Anyway, back to the course, we grabbed our tyres and raced off to the Charades and so forth. We had a few issues with getting the tyre on the tall pole but managed it after a few tries. The rest of the course was pretty simple but just exhausting. We got to the end and just waited around for the other teams to finish since each team started 3 minutes after the other. The sun was starting to cold down and it started getting really cold. Everyone was just shivering and you could only imagine our joy when they said we have to go do the whole thing AGAIN!
Some people were reluctant but most just did it again anyway. I didn't go rushing into the lake this time because I was just too cold to be bothered swimming. While plugging up the holes in the bucket to be filled, I still got people pouring the lake water all over me anyway so I was freaking drenched as we ran to the next station. Shivering and shouting at each other, we all pulled through and finished the whole thing all over again. Those who finished rushed straight to the showers.
Now the issue here is that there are only FOUR showers in the tent are where there are like 60 guys. I was one of the few first to finish but there was already a line. So I decided to sneak on down to the toilets at the place we meet up because there are two showers there as well. Bumped into Mr Tuck along the way and had a quick chat about what happened. Just a bit embarrassing. haha
He was headed towards the showers there as well and when we walked in, there were already 3 others in front of us. 2 showering and one in the line. There were only two showers there so we waited. Anyway, main thing is showered without too much hassle of being in a long line. The line at the toilet near the tents was so long that some people ended up just using the hose outside the toilet to clean up.
After that we were invited to some really good chocolate cake and muffins for dessert at the lodge(where we meet). At this time it was probably like 9-ish so we had around 2 hours to just mingle around. Talked to a few people then went back to the tents area to see a few more people around there along with some teachers so more chatting occurred. At this point, a cabin was pumping up songs REAL loud and they were pretty much having a party in there with a few teachers so it was pretty hilarious. I would have gone had I actually known about it at that time :/ Just not cool enough. Then again, it's not like EVERYONE was there so I can't be too uncool right? xD
Off to bed a bit past 11 and slept like a pig this time. It was SO comfortable. I woke up once and wondered why I was and because it was so comfy in the sleeping bag I thought I was like back home or something. It was really warm in the cool night air. A great sleep.
18/03/2011IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY!*cough* Right. (Check out the song if you haven't. It's so bad it is hilarious)
I was going to wake up for another morning run but was sleeping WAY too well to be bothered :P
We were woken up around 7.50 am to get ready for breakfast (Which is at 8 lol) and found out when we went down there that breakfast today was at 8.30 and we had to pack up our stuff and bring it down before we had breakfast so off we went. Did all that and sat down for breakfast. PANCAKES!!! Omnomnom
During breakfast we got some really good news. Ms Sainsbury, the one who lost her keys and laptop, has found them! Apparently it was stashed in a secret drawer in her room and forgotten about it. We had a good laugh about it and she helped with the dishes for breakfast for causing the inconvenience. Good times.
A quick break after we headed off to meet for the final activities for camp. They all involve some sort of height in them and involved harnesses. What they had were:
* Flying Fox- Self explanatory
* Tightwire- Two people walk on a wire like a tight rope, meet in the middle and sorta let go of the harness rope. Not too sure
* Skybridge- Suspended over the lake, two people cross it from either side and passing each other in the middle. The tricky bit is that the planks are not very wide but they are wide apart.
* Rock Climbing- Different levels of it
* Leap of Faith- You jump off this ledge and try to grab and hold onto a bar. Then you try to get you legs hooked onto the bar and then straighten your legs and free fall with a guy handling the rope to so that he stops you in time. Worse case you land on a mattress. If you don't get the bar, you just fall. ahaha
* Summit Window- Go WAY high up and climb up this pole with steps to a really small platform. You then lean back and let go of the pole then proceed to tilt even more to a 45 degree angle.
* Giant Swing- Two people are hooked onto this wire where it is connected to a rope via a "key" and people down there pull so that you get pulled back (like a slingshot)
and then at the highest point, you release the "key" and go swinging like mad.
* "Something" Ladders- Not too sure about this one. Couldn't get it.
We got to do one of those activities, a quick break for doughnuts and then move on to another one. I did the Giant Swing and then the Summit Window and luckily still had time to fit in a quick Leap of Faith.
The Giant Swing was amazing, it was like riding a roller coaster. The first few drops felt so weird but it got okay after a while. The Summit Window was nice cause the view was great and it was simple to do but tilting back on a 45 degree angle was a little tough without feeling like you were going to fall over. As for the Leap of Faith, I managed to grab the bar but couldn't hold on and fell pretty awkwardly. Oh well, at least I tried.
So after a lunch of Hamburgers and some closing words, we hopped on the bus for the drive back. It's quite sad that it's all over. These past three days have been phenomenal. I learned and experienced a lot. So many inside jokes were created on this camp and it feels good to be part of it. I am so glad I had the opportunity to go.
The only bad thing about camp was the terrible drinking water. It tasted really bad and I almost puked just using it to brush my teeth. Thank god for bottled water and having friends bring them :P Oh and orange juice. Lots of it.
This year is going to be good. Bring it Year 12!
*If you actually read through all that I commend you and thank you so much. Only took me like 2 hours or so to type it all up. ahahah
Ciao!
