King River Kayak Camp

Andre Garfi, Year 7, Ridgeway Campus 

Friday 9 August marked the start of the 2024 King River Camp located in the small town of Cheshunt, approximately 3 hours away from Ridgeway Campus. While traditionally the yearly camp is organised by Ivanhoe Grammar School, this year the Melbourne Canoe Club (MCC) hosted the trip.  From organising the accommodation and the amazing kayaking activities, to arranging the incredible food over the entire weekend, everything was organised and planned for. 

Although the water was cold (freezing actually), we couldn’t have been luckier with the weather – sunny days all round. 

The camp began with an amazing dinner at the local Mountain View Hotel on Friday night, followed by a late-night briefing about the days to come, and a strong suggestion by Alumni Brad McLaughlan to get as much sleep as possible in preparation for an early start to the morning. 

 Saturday morning started with everyone being spilt up into two group, with the more experienced paddlers doing a river trip in plastic boats, and less experienced paddlers driving up to the dam to have a paddle around on slalom kayaks, with a focus on speed and technique (and a bit of fun!). 

This early morning session was followed by everyone returning to the camp where an amazing lunch was prepared – allowing us to rehydrate and recharge in preparation for the afternoon activities.  Because the river trip took longer then anticipated, the more experienced paddlers stayed back to have a bit more rest while the younger paddlers wasted no time and jumped straight back on the water, heading down to the main river to get a taste of the race that was to come on Sunday. At the end of the day, the exhaustion set it, so most of us spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and having yet another amazing meal, including a few laughs around the largest campfire I have ever seen. 

Like Saturday, Sunday started extremely early with a continental breakfast with all the trimmings. After the trailer was packed with all the kayaks, we all made our way to the section of the river where the race would commence. The race was extremely difficult but very fun at the same time, and I can’t wait to do it all again next year.  Watching the older paddlers navigate the course was eye opening and inspiring. Whilst my experience involved me getting stuck on an inconveniently placed rock (three times!), it was an experience I will never forget. 

On behalf of all the students and parents that came to the King River Camp I would like to give a big thanks to Mr Gibbs and the McLaughlan family, especially Leanne and Brad, for all the hard work they put in before and during the camp to make sure everyone had a safe and enjoyable time. I would also like to thank all the parents that volunteered to assist with food preparation and other general duties.