Surf Camp 2023

Wednesday 13th December arrives, and students were packed and ready to go. We headed to Ocean Grove Holiday Park to set up tents and then make our way over to Ocean Grove Surf Beach to catch some waves. On the drive-up staff and students were very sceptical about whether they were going to have the opportunity to surf in the afternoon, we had sunshine in the morning followed by rain, thunder, and even lightning all whilst driving. We arrived at Ocean Grove Holiday Park, students had set up their tents and staff organised wetsuits for everyone. We headed to Ocean Grove Surf Beach for our afternoon session, luckily the weather was good to us and delivered some big waves. Once our safety briefing was given, all students were eager to get out there and have some fun. After our first surf session we packed all the surf boards to head back to camp to set up for a BBQ dinner, movie night and games.

Thursday 14th December sun was shining, breeze was fresh, and students were up and about ready for another day full of surfing and fun. Breakfast was an essential for the busy day we had ahead. After breaky, wetsuits and boards were packed, everyone was on the bus ready to go. We arrived at the beach for day two of surfing, all students warmed up and were ready to get back out there. We saw so many students already achieving growth in their ability to stand up on the surfboard and catch a wave all the way back to shore. It was fantastic to see students persevering when the wind was not too nice to them and knocked them off their boards, students would get back up and swim out ready for the next one. The highlight for students and staff were the ‘party waves’ where a line of surfers jumped on the same wave cheering and laughing. The kids loved it. After a day full of surfing, we headed back to camp for lunch and then travelled to Torquay for shopping.

In Torquay we had a lovely walk around and then met back at the bus to head to the park. Whilst at the park the whole group participated in a range of games such as a Bacawk which was highly entertaining, Ninja, Zap and Duck, Duck Goose. All games were fantastic, lots of laughs especially when we all witnessed a ‘Moo Off.’ We then travelled to the foreshore for a pizza dinner followed by a nice walk on Bells Beach Torquay. It was a beautiful night, and the sunset was magical.

Friday 15th December everyone was well rested and up for a beautiful sunny day. We had breakfast, packed the buses, and travelled over for our last surf day at Ocean Grove Beach. The weather turned it up for us on Friday, the sun was shining, the waves were big and not too windy for surfing. Some might say the best weather for surfing. It was hard to hop out and head back to camp because everyone was having fun, catching waves, and even doing cool surfing tricks.

All staff were pleased all students enjoyed their time at Ocean Grove and for some new friendships were made, some students it was their first time and was remarkable to see them standing on their board’s multiple times. Whereas others were regular attendees who attended surf camp every year and progressed to achieve growth in their physical abilities. It was a fantastic camp and for some 2024 Year 12 students was their very last surf camp. We hope you all had an amazing time on surf camp and remember the fun, friendships and laughs that we had.

Regards

NEO, SHW, KIG,PHI