Wilderness Education News

Year 11 Outdoor Leadership Caving Expedition

With excitement and trepidation, Year 11 Wild Ed packed the trailer with camping and caving essentials and headed down to Bungonia National Park on the last Monday of the holidays. This was the first overnight expedition as Senior Outdoor Leadership students and proved to be an excellent bonding and learning experience for all. In the final weeks of Term 1 the students made plans around the trip, including their menu, cooking and cleaning rosters. Shopping in Mittagong on the way down had them questioning some of their budgeting decisions, but they did a great job with what they had and were able to create delicious and filling meals. 

With little to no experience in wild caves, the students were eager to soak up as much information as they could before entering the first cave on Monday afternoon. Grill Cave is a great start as it doesn’t require any roping skills and really shows everyone what the next couple of days is going to be like. Facing complete darkness is a sobering experience and highlights the seriousness of this challenging environment. 

After conquering Grill Cave, we climbed into B4-5 Cave on Tuesday. This was definitely a step up, with roped climbing, crawling, sliding, squeezing and exploring to be done. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this cave and were ready for the challenge of Blowfly Cave the following day. Blowfly did not disappoint, with students stepping up (down and around) to the challenge. 

Apart from the obvious challenges of the underground environment, this expedition certainly strengthened Year 11’s bond with each other and the staff. In the words of Thalia Boda “Definitely one of the best camps I have ever been on! I learnt so many new skills; even got over some fears!”

I am very proud of their achievements as well as honoured to spend time with such quality students.

Ms Adele Stubenrauch

Wilderness Education Teacher