2026 VM Camp

Did you know that there are TWO Kingpin locations in Melbourne? Ask the Year 12 Vocational Major students how they/we know that… now…

Year 12 had been busy planning and organising their camp in the Melbourne CBD since headstart at the end of last year. Students were tasked with booking activities, navigating the group via public transport to get to these bookings on time, keeping an eye out for significant icons whilst out and about.

Day one was filled to the brim, early start to catch the train – clearly not everyone is a ‘morning’ person, but they made the train, so we let them be. A quick drop off for our luggage to the accommodation then caught the tram to Melbourne Central for a quick lunch before tramming it up towards the Melbourne Museum for a Road to Zero session. Interactive videos, VR, Q&A activities, facts and figures and making ads for road safety all geared towards helping bring the numbers of deaths related to road trauma down to zero in the future.

Melbourne Aquarium was the next target, affectionately referred to as the ‘Fish Zoo’, lots of ooh’ing and aaah’ing at all the cool animals as well as arguments on whether the croc was real or not… turns out, it is… Dinner was delish, an Italian restaurant on Lygon St, and weren’t we the smug ones who got to walk past the loooooong line of patrons at the door and then be seated beside the windows where those waiting patrons had to watch our three tables of camp go’ers eat our dinner. A quick stop at the gelato place next door for dessert (which was included in our dinner booking! Extra kudos to the student who organised that deal, and off to the Old Melbourne Gaol for our ‘Ghosts? What Ghosts?!’ night tour. This is always a great experience.

Day two was kicked off with a brisk walk to the Queen Victoria Market where shopping appetites were teased, with some people watching on the side, lunch at Melbourne Central again – McDonalds being a slice of home and something they know… We had the quickest run through ACMI in history, turns out we were late for that, then on to Collins Street for our booking at ‘Escape Hunt’. The students loved this, if the noise was anything to go by. Our next destination was Kingpin, for highly anticipated delicious platters for our dinner whilst bowling, then interactive darts. As we left the escape rooms, we had to catch a tram from Collins Street to Crown. It was 5:30’ish – peak busy knock-off time. Tram arrived, kids got on, tram was full – we didn’t all fit, tram left. The kids faces – priceless. The rest of us stepped on to the next tram that was 30 seconds behind the previous one, and was only half full, we had a lovely, relaxed tram ride. As we got off at Crown we wondered where the rest of the group was – then, emerging from the dark like smoke rolling in were our kids like a flock of ducklings finding their parent – suddenly surrounding us and telling tales of noses stuck in armpits and the smells, and people being so close and literally being squashed in like sardines. Then the few that had stayed with us, piped up to say, ‘we had heaps of space’, you can imagine how that landed. On to Kingpin we go.

You know when you go to check in for a booking and you see the other persons face drop in a particular way, that in-turn makes yours do something similar? We were at Kingpin Crown, this is where we learned that there was another Kingpin in Melbourne, its new. And guess where it is? Collins Street… It’s called Kingpin Melbourne. Off we trundled back to Collins Street, on a much less crowded tram, only a little bit late for our booking (thankfully we were early to the first Kingpin!). This was a great location; the food was delicious – the brisket bites were awesome.

Day three was a little bit of freedom where students needed to get the rest of the ‘selfies’ in front of the list of amazing race like locations or icons before meeting back at the hotel to grab the luggage and catch the train homeward. Whilst on camp, students showcased leadership skills, teamwork, social and interpersonal skills, in a variety of settings. Catching trams, reading and deciphering timetables and schedules, not to mention maps – kids were put on the spot at times, and rose to the challenges. Connections were strengthened and alliances formed for the challenge of the escape rooms – hearing the cheering & excitement as they made progress was both entertaining and heartening. Thank-you to the Ms Daymond & Mr Raine for coming along to support the camp and to the students who attended and participated. It was a great few days away! We look forward to what next years Yr 12’s decide to organise…