Year Nine Camp

On the 29th March, Girton’s Year 9 students headed off bright and early for a week in Melbourne as part of the Year 9 Programmes CUE experience. 

Jones student Tom Conlan shared his travel diary with the elink!

On Monday the 29th March, 120 Year 9 students boarded our buses, bound for a week of excitement in the big smoke of Melbourne. After about an hour or two on the bus it was time to go to a place called Go Climb. Mr Williams did “the leap of faith" and caught the boxing bag (but not after asking them to bring it in a little for him). My favourite part of Go Cimb was when we went to the obstacle course and ran up the wall and had to pull ourselves up. Only a few of us were able to do this and many brave kids jumped, before falling short and sliding back down to the bottom. After Go Climb, we went to the Miami hotel where we would be staying. My friends and I were very impressed as this was a proper Hotel – complete with ensuite, city views and Pay TV! 

After we had a bit of rest (which we needed after a lot of climbing earlier) we went to  St  Kilda Beach where we met in Catani Gardens. We split off into our groups and explored all around St Kilda – including the Jetty, the famous Esplanade and Luna Park. When dinner time came, Ted and I actually got to choose where our group was going to get dinner that night. The group voted to have Mexican and the first one we saw was a place called Radio Mexico. To be honest, it wasn’t the best of food, but as we were leaving we saw Comedian (and Tigers fan) Micky Malloy and got a photo with him. He was pretty friendly and accommodating.

The next day we woke up nice and early and had breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, Mr Williams was short in number for his group (and had clearly seen mine and Ted’s potential and talent in picking restaurants).  He decided he would draft us in the first round to his group which was a huge coupe for Group 10. 

On Tuesday we visited the Shrine of Remembrance in St Kilda Road which was a great experience for those who hadn’t been there. We learnt about the Eternal Flame, Simpson and his Donkey and a couple of other aspects. After a quick lunch in Melbourne Central, we journeyed over to North Melbourne where we did the Blender workshop, creating our very own piece of Street Art.

After a full day of activities on Tuesday, we joined up with some other groups and all went on the Melbourne Star for an evening flight. Let’s just say that everyone knew Archie Bowles was on board. On day 3 we went to the Salvos and two volunteers told our group some very interesting stories about the homeless. After a nice afternoon on ‘The Amazing Race’ it was our turn to head over to Carlton where we watched a 3D film at IMAX before heading down to Lygon St for a special dinner with our group. Mr Williams had once again known my good taste for food and gave me the important job of picking the last (and most special) of meals in famous Lygon Street. I chose a place called Universita as I had been there many times and had been very impressed. I told our group that they cook a mean Penne Amatrichana – a dish that is renowned up and down Lygon St as the most delicious and special of all the delicious Italian Cuisine. Despite a slight ‘chilli-kick’, everyone enjoyed the dish - even more than we enjoyed hearing Mr Williams try and pronounce it. 

After a bit of banter in our cabin on the last night, my friends and I offered to help carry and stack everyone's bags onto the buses the next morning. To do this we were up at 5:50am which was bright and early and a good reminder about going to sleep on time at camp! We arrived at the cable park (which according to the students was the best part of the trip) The teachers were very good to us and gave us the nod to participate in the activity and we all had loads of fun running around the inflatables and dominating on the water. 

A big thank you to all of the teachers who supported us and gave us this opportunity. Overall the Year 9s had a brilliant time in Melbourne and definitely took many skills away from the trip – not least of all being able to navigate the city with confidence, to be able to book a restaurant and being able to go to sleep on time!