Manning Gorge camp reflections

Students and staff from Yiramalay Studio School left Yiramalay on Friday, drove to Galvins Gorge, and had a swim there. Then we drove to Manning Gorge, we set up all our tents and went to the river where we went fishing. Some of our students caught three fish and a turtle. We ate the fish but let the turtle go. Everyone went swimming, enjoying their lives at the nice camp spot and the nice swimming spot.

On Sunday, we packed our tents and drove to Yiramalay. We listened to the music on the drive back. We were tired and happy.

Devan Wunungmurra, Year 10

On the weekend, the mentors and students from Yiramalay, went camping at Manning Gorge. They tried to leave early on Friday morning, but some boys and girls took too long to pack their stuff. They left Yiramalay just before 10am and headed to Leonard River for a quick dip. They jumped back onto the bus and I told everyone about the rock in the shape of Queen Elizabeth’s head. They pulled over at Imintji Roadhouse to have lunch and then they headed off to Galvin Gorge.

Finally, they made it to Manning Gorge roadhouse and then we found our camp spot. We all had dinner and sat around the campfire. Staff and students went to sleep and in the morning, it was really cold. They started the one hour walk to Manning Gorge and we swam there for about three hours. They had great time fishing and swimming. It was paradise.

Juan Nyandi, Year 10

On Saturday morning, we drove to Fitzroy and past Wangkatjungka and Yiyili. We arrived at Halls Creek to have lunch and left at about 2.00pm and we arrived at the Bungle Bungle to set up camp. The next morning we packed up and travelled a couple of hours to Warmun and got to the Wyndham turnoff.

We headed to Emma Gorge to have a swim, it was a two-hour walk in total, but it felt longer on the way back to the bus. We arrived at Home Valley Station and had a good look around. We set up camp, only to find out we were in the wrong spot. We had to move closer to the playground just after dinner. I had a cold the whole camp.

On Monday we participated in the Welcome to Country. We then chose between fishing or staying at the campsite. I went fishing and we caught some bait. We caught some catfish and headed to another spot. We saw a crocodile up close and it was scary. We were there for a few hours and the girls caught catfish and Rhett nearly caught a barramundi.

We stayed at Home Valley for the final night. We packed up camp and drove to Kununurra to do some shopping. We drove to Bungle Bungle caravan park and set up camp. The next day we headed back to Yiramalay. It was a great trip.

Alonzo Rogers, Year 10

After our trip to Home Valley Station a few of the students and staff stayed for another night at the Bungle Bungle Caravan Park so we could visit the Purnululu.

They went to the Bungle Bungle World Heritage. We went to Cathedral Gorge and we went inside and it was very open. We took a few photos and made a few noises and sung a song. We went for another drive and we fell asleep. We went to the Bungle Bungle Lodge and went for a swim in the pool. Rhett saw some old friends. The camp was amazing and we enjoyed it.

Rohan Watts, Year 12