YEAR 12 VM CAMP

On Tuesday 11th March our Year 12 VM students headed to Melbourne for their school camp. 

Day 1 

We woke up early on Tuesday morning, ready to catch the train at 6:30. We sat through a long train ride for 4 hours; it was such a long train ride. After arriving in Melbourne at Southern Cross Station, we caught a tram to the accommodation organised rooms and unpacked our stuff. The rooms were very new and the communal area was quite homely. After having time to settle in, we went out to complete a scavenger hunt, which was quite a challenge due to our lack of knowledge of the city and public transport. The boys only completed it by using an e-scooter. They learnt a big lesson about money and these scooters. 

After the scavenger hunt, we went to the Magistrate's Court, where we were able to get a photo taken with the police officer. We saw many cases presented before the Magistrate and had to be calm when some people who had done bad things were let off with a warning.

We caught a tram back to the accommodation to get ready for dinner. We had chicken pamas at the accommodation which were very nice. After tea, we tried to go to the bowling alley but the cost was exorbitant, so we went to the food courts instead. After a long day, we finally made it back to the accommodation and went to bed.

Day 2 

We were ready for breakfast nice and early and were able to help ourselves to the continental food. Decisions had to be made as a group as to how we were to travel to our events during the day. Some walked, some took trams and others wanted to get the trains. It took some brain power as the the quickest way, and we all learnt about the PTV. Thankfully, the app helped us get around.  Our first activity was the Salvation Army, where we learnt all about homelessness. They had a massive cafe where everyone in the community could have free food. We learnt a great deal about the statistics of why people become homeless and we were shocked by what causes homelessness.

After finding somewhere to have lunch, everyone met up at the Melbourne Museum. While at the museum, we did the Road to Zero road safety education experience. It was about driving safely on the road, how many people die on the road and what future cars will look like. We made an advertisement about safety using the latest equipment.

We were then given a bit of free time and people were able to follow their passions of Formula One, fashion and art. Then we were back to the accommodation for a dinner of burgers. Then we got ready to go to the night festival, which had shopping, food, music and lots of different stalls. It was quite overwhelming to see food from every corner of the globe. Everyone tried lots of tasty treats and enjoyed a very different atmosphere. Then we headed back to the accommodation and got ready for bed.

Day 3

We were up early again and had breakfast. We packed our bags and dropped them at Southern Cross Station, and caught a tram to the barista course. We were trained to make all different types of coffees and hot chocolates. It took us 4 hours to complete the course and we made drinks for other people doing different courses at the center. It can be quite stressful to make lots of coffees at once, but the trainer said that we all did a great job. Thankfully, we all came away with a qualification. 

We had 2 hours of free time in the city, before we had to get ready to go home. It was a late night, as the train arrived back into Swan Hill at 11:30pm Thursday night. Overall, it was a great experience and we learned many new skills.