Year 9 Snowy Camp
On Monday 7 November, eleven Year 9 students and two teachers set off bright and early, headed east toward the Snowy River. Our original plan had to change, due to the height of the river, though we still had an amazing week ahead of us.
We met our three guides, Arby, Sophie and Xavier at Buchan, where we then all set off for our first campsite; Hooley Dalley campsite at the junction of Buchan and Snowy Rivers. We all helped to pump up the rafts, set up a kitchen and put up our tarps - something that would become a nightly routine for the week. We organised ourselves by transferring all of our gear into dry bags, minimising the amount we'd be able to carry in order to keep our rafts light and our things dry.
It was evident, early on, that snake season was here, when we saw a huge red-bellied black snake slither across a path adjacent to our campsite! After we were certain it had moved on, we all enjoyed a nice dip in the Buchan River to cool down, before a delicious sausage sizzle and rum balls (prepared by Elisha and Eden) followed by our first night’s sleep under our tarps.
Tuesday began with an amazing bacon and egg breakfast cooked to perfection by Adrian, Ruby and Tayla. We all helped pack up our gear, loaded everything onto the rafts then went through our safety briefing before we were off! We paddled approximately 24 kilometres on our first day, making our way through some very exciting rapids with lots of “Yahooooo!”s.
We got drenched splashing over rocks and getting into splash fights with the other boats. When the river was a bit calmer, we took the opportunity to jump into the Snowy for a little swim (or float and drift!). We saw goannas and water dragons basking in the sun and many beautiful landscapes along the way. After a hard day of paddling in the hot sun, we pulled into a beautiful campsite called Wood’s Point, that has just been rebuilt since succumbing to the 2020 bushfires. We were treated to a camp roast beef which blew everyone's minds. Adrian spoiled his campmates to s’mores, whilst Sophie lifted spirits with some Cadbury chocolate out of the Esky. Students self-initiated a game of 40/40, making use of their head torches and many trees to hide behind.
The next morning, we had a surprise visitor - another red-bellied black snake swimming up to the rafts whilst out guides tried to pack! Once it had moved on, we were back on the rafts for a very relaxing day, with water levels high pushing us along nice and quickly. There were many chances for a swim throughout the day, with Rex, Jamie, Harry, Ryan and Mr. Graham enjoying some frisbee throwing and diving off rafts. Xavier W help steer the big raft while Arby challenged the students to do a special backflip technique to get back onto the raft from the water - something no student was able to successfully do!
Anyone on our guide Xav’s raft was lucky enough to hear his amazing stories which lasted a long time and ended with a very bad punchline. We travelled approximately 18 kilometres, seeing many more animals, including several platypus and some black cockatoos. We set up camp near Orbost, at a corner known as “The Quarry” - a small sandy area where we witnessed local business with contractors coming up to collect sand to supply to local garden shops.
Our group experienced our first “groover”, where students needed to do their business on a makeshift toilet – “hanging a darky” as they referred to it! That night we were treated to the most amazing dessert of golden syrup dumplings, made from scratch! We all joined in on some traditional camp games (including “Sticks”, “Black Magic” and “Crossed and Uncrossed”) where students were puzzled, with only a few discovering the secrets. A few of us enjoyed a great night’s sleep on the sandy riverbed – Mrs Dennison’s best sleep of the trip!
Our last day on the raft was an early start, to avoid the potential headwinds as we moved toward the Southern Ocean. Luckily, it was another relaxing day, with the Snowy again pushing us along quickly to arrive at Karringal Reserve, a beautiful spot for lunch.
We got to experience a traditional Outdoor Education meal, the “bucket lunch”. It is a Mexican mix in a wrap and turned out to be one of the favourite meals of the week. Students all joined in on a little hack sack, a game that most students had never played and another Outdoor Ed tradition. After this lunch, we shared one of the most memorable experiences about camp and, likely, our school-life. We walked over the sand dunes and reached the 90 Mile Beach, with all students and Mrs Dennison enjoying a refreshing dip in the salty ocean, laughing at being knocked down by waves and trying to do some bodysurfing. Kai forgot his drink bottle for the 50th time but luckily Mr Graham was quick to remind him!
Once we were all refreshed, we paddled into some headwinds, across the river to Marlo Boating Club, where we packed up our rafts and all of our gear. We were treated to a night in the Marlo Caravan Park, including hot showers and a trip to the local store for ice creams and soft drinks - a little way for us to give back to the local community. We all headed down to Fisherman's Pier to watch the night sky, and got to see an amazing catch of gummy shark by a local couple.
We got up early on Friday morning (packing up just in time to avoid the rain) and headed home excited for our comfortable beds, hot showers and thrilled to see our families. All of us had an amazing time, soaking up the sunshine, enjoying nice swims to cool down and getting to know one another.
Mrs Dennison and Mr Graham are extremely proud of how well all students contributed and mingled as a group, and we hope that they're taking away lifelong memories and friendships. Thank you for a great week!
Mrs Jessie Dennison, Mr Kimberley Graham & the Year 9 Snowy students 2022