Year 9 Camp

In this collection of reflections, students share their experiences, insights, and favourite moments from their Year 9 Camp Urban Experience. From visits to Melbourne landmarks to challenging adventures, these reflections offer a glimpse into the diverse and exciting activities that take place.

Year 9 Camp Filled with Adventure, Education, and Delicious Food

The Year 9 Camp was a great experience, and I learned a lot about the food in Melbourne over the four days we were there. On the first day we swung by Harcourt and picked up all the kids waiting on our way to Werribee Zoo. We also found out our room number and group numbers. My favourite animal was the rhinoceros because of its imposing horn. We then visited Go Climb and enjoyed watching the teachers do the leap of faith from a great height. On the first night, Mexican food was on the menu, and it tasted great. We then headed to our new rooms, unpacked, and went to bed.

Day 2, Noah and I were the transport leaders for this day, and we visited the Vic Market, and I bought some jam doughnuts to eat. First stop was to the Salvos where we learned about homelessness and poverty in Australia. We caught the tram to the Shrine and heard about World War II and Australia’s involvement and impact. In the evening we had a cruise on the Yarra River, and our group decided we would eat food after we docked. The cruise was lots of fun and I danced with my friends. We had to duck our heads under bridges if we were on the top deck. After dinner, Noah and I lead our group onto the wrong tram as we tried to return to The Miami Hotel. It was not the end of the world as we hopped onto another tram after studying Google Maps.

Day 3, we woke up, ate breakfast, and got prepared for the day. Noah and I were the group leaders today, and we had the challenge of figuring out what we were doing. We caught a tram and went to Blender. Blender is a cool art place where we were allowed to spray paint pictures. We had to first make a stencil and then spray paint an image onto it. Next was the museum where we saw dinosaur fossils and they were big! We also ate pizza at a pizzeria, and it was yum. Then we went back to the hotel for a rest, then visited the biggest cinema in Melbourne, IMAX. We watched the movie The Super Mario Bros. There was a false fire alarm that interrupted and ruined our food plans at the pub, so we had no choice but to eat at McDonald's instead. (There is a rule that no junk food is allowed but we had no other choice).

Our final day was spent at the Melbourne Cable Park which is a big inflatable water park and Mr Williams tried his hardest to push us off the inflatable obstacle course and into the water. We teamed up on him and put him in the water instead.

I really enjoyed my experience in Melbourne and would like to thank all the Year 9 teachers for putting in their time and effort for our benefit.

Henry Martin (9 Jones)

An Exciting and Educational 4-Day Experience

The Camp was a 4-day experience filled with many exciting opportunities that were not only interesting but educational. Some of the activities included an informative, homelessness workshop, Blender street art, the Yarra River cruise, and a movie at IMAX. Then to wrap up the week, a trip to the inflatable water park! As well as all the activities, there were multiple opportunities to be independent like choosing where the group ate for dinner, navigation, and safety officers. Overall, the Year 9 Camp Urban Experience was one to be remembered for a long time. The Year 9 teachers spent long hours planning everything and it wouldn’t have been as successful as it was if all their effort wasn’t put in. 

Rowan Edwards (9 Jenkin)

A Memorable and Exciting Urban Experience

I was one of the lucky few chosen to write a small paragraph about the Year 9 urban experience in North Melbourne. The Camp was an absolute blast and everyone had so much fun. We had to get to School pretty early and it took around two and a half hours to get to the Werribee Zoo. It was so awesome, there were many animals to see and my favourite was the giraffes. 

After finishing up at the Werribee Zoo we all went to a fun and active place called Go Climb! It had so many things to do. There was a huge climbing centre as well as a mini golf course and no one can forget about the play area, that place was crazy! We saw some of the teachers do the leap of faith and the vertical slide, and it looked like so much fun. 

When we were done at Go Climb we all went to our hotel and it looked great. I was with one other person and it was very cozy. We all settled in for an hour or so and then we got into our groups and headed off to dinner. We went to a unique restaurant and the food there was amazing. After dinner, we all walked home and went to our rooms to go to bed. 

The following day we got up early and we went to the Blender art area. We did a bunch of spray painting and learned how to use spray paint right and it was quite fascinating. After that activity, we went to the Salvo’s workshop and we had a good bunch of fun out there. 

Afterwards, we went to get some lunch and then settle down for a little while before the Yarra cruise. When we got to the Yarra River we got in a cruise boat and we had so much fun and I took a bunch of selfies with my mates. 

Then the next day came and we had the Amazing Race and the Shrine. The Amazing Race was where you had to take pictures in specific areas and send them to Mr Smeelie. At the Shrine, it was very interesting about how the war happened and how it worked. When we finished that we went back home until it was time for the movie at IMax. It was the Super Mario Bros movie in 3D and goodness it was just so much fun, very entertaining and I had the time of my life. 

The next day it was time to go. We packed up and ended up leaving a little early for the Melbourne Cable Park. We all had so much fun in the water park and the water was freezing. My mates and I were having a great time and there were so many activities on. When we finished up there we were all so exhausted and it was a quiet ride home. It was an absolute blast and is definitely the best Camp I have ever been on. The Year 9s next year will definitely be having a blast as well. Thank you for your time.

William McLean

(9 Jones)

A Thrilling Adventure from Heights to Water Parks and Beyond

From the scary heights that we challenged at Go Climb, to the battle scars from slipping and sliding at Cable Park and the occasional trip on the wrong tram, Year 9 Camp was definitely eventful. In Term 1, all of Year 9 were lucky enough to get the opportunity to go down to Melbourne for four days as part of the ‘’Year 9 Urban Experience Camp’’. 

On Monday morning all the Year 9s jumped on the buses excited for the day’s activities, them visiting the Zoo and Go Climb. After an eventful day including some animal sightseeing and watching our fellow teachers challenge their fears of heights at Cable Park, plus having our first meal out on the town we were all happy to see our hotel beds where we quickly fell asleep. 

Over the next two days, we had many fun activities and some amazing night experiences like the party boat and IMAX. But by the end of the two full days, we were definitely ready to go back home, but not before we stopped at Cable Park where we had lots of fun on all the obstacles and slides and even had some time to push our friends off the side before finishing off with a barbeque and then heading back to Bendigo. 

Thank you to all the teachers for all the effort that you put into this Camp. We all made some memories to last a lifetime. 

Imogen Stewart (9 Aherne)

A Melbourne Experience to Remember

As a regular Melbourne visitor, I was not expecting the year 9 Urban Experience to be particularly interesting. But how wrong I was. Not only did we see and do things that I’d never done in Melbourne before, but I got to do it with some friends and some fantastic teachers.

All activities were very enjoyable and included rock climbing, a Yarra River cruise, Werribee Zoo, Blender workshop and more. However, I think almost any student who has ever been on this Camp would say that nothing was as fun as the water park.

I am confident that I can speak on the behalf of the entire Year 9 cohort to say that the Year 9 Urban Experience Camp is one of the most incredible memories that will be kept forever.

Luke Fisher (9 Millward)

My camp experience

So, where do I start? Camp was one of the most fun experiences in school so far! I was full of excitement and adrenaline when we hopped in the bus on Monday morning after a bit of a drive we got to the zoo, it was amazing to see the animals up close on the safari bus. At go climb later that day we played mini golf, ran around the playground then climbed up the weird and wonky walls. It was so much fun, and I was seriously tired out by the end. That night we got to our hotel and got into our rooms. The first night was delicious Mexican and it was great to try new foods. The second day we woke up nice and early and started the days activities. Firstly, we went to the Vic market, I got some amazing Turkish food called gozleme. After that we navigated to the salvos stores for our workshop, it was a very informative and eye-opening experience. After a lunch in China town and a massive helping of noodle soup we went to the shrine. It was amazing to see the incredible, thought-provoking displays and the view from the balcony was stunning. That night we had burgers then our party boat ride. Lound music, screaming lyrics I hardly know and jumping up and down as a way of ‘dancing’ with all my friends. It was so much fun!

Wednesday, I started bright and sparky for another day of activities. I was navigator that day and got us all to the museum. The new triceratops exhibit was really cool to see! Next, was blender studios and I got to spray paint a beautiful picture of my frog character, Derp. After a break at the hotel, we went to Imax to see the new Mario movie, we got evacuated 20 minutes in but luckily everyone was okay! We finished the movie and were going to go to an Italian restaurant, but we had to cancel. So, we ended up going to a fast-food place, defiantly not the plan but part of our camp was to learn to be flexible and we certainly had to be on Wednesday night! The last day was probably one of the best. At the cable park we got to run around for two hours on a massive inflatable obstacle course with all our friends (even some teachers!) after properly tiring ourselves out we had a sausage-sizzle lunch and drove home. It was a great way to end a fantastic camp!! I’m going to remember this for a very very long time!

Elizabeth McGrath (9 Millward)

Exciting, Inviting and Enjoyable

The four-day camp consisted of many different activities done in a group setting. These activities included street art at Blender Studios, an eye-opening workshop with the Salvos about homelessness that provided all students with more awareness and knowledge about what it is like living on the streets. We also participated in many other activities that were aimed for students to be more independent and confident to work and contribute with a group. Students were not dependent on teachers and had full control of transport and meals. Which allowed everybody to share ideas and organise bookings and timings for travel. Overall, the Year Nine Urban Experience was not only fun and enjoyable but also allowed students to learn key skills of independence and organisation within a group. 

Lily Rohan (9 Jenkin)