Year 9 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Week

Reef to Rainforest

By Saffron M & Sophia H

On Monday, June 30, we met at the airport at 9:00 am for our flight to Cairns at 11:20 am. When we arrived, we were greeted by the guides from Small World Journeys and taken to our hotel. That evening, we had a welcome dinner and a safety presentation to prepare us for the week ahead.

Day 2 & 3:

Our group started with a tree-planting activity on a local farm. We planted over 100 trees in just 15 minutes! Afterwards, we cooled off at a swimming hole in the Daintree Rainforest, where a rope swing quickly became everyone’s favourite thing to do there. That night, we stayed at the Cape Trib Beach House, which was one of our favourite accommodations.

The next morning, we were lucky enough to spot four cassowaries by the side of the road. We also went on an Indigenous rainforest walk, learning about the land, culture and traditions of the First Nations people. After returning to Cairns, we had some free time to explore the Cairns Night Markets.

Day 4 & 5:

We visited James Cook University’s Marine Labs and learned about some of the most dangerous marine creatures. We also got to see the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre and meet three turtles with different injuries and hearing about their recovery was really eye-opening.

The next morning, we hit the road again and stopped at two amazing waterfalls. At Millaa Millaa Falls, which is 17 metres tall, we swam behind the water curtain, and at Josephine Falls, we slid down a natural rockslide; it was freezing but so worth it! That night, we stayed at Woodleigh Cattle Station and were welcomed by Caitlyn, the owner. She gave us a tour of the farm which is huge and we only saw about 5% of it. In the evening, we played volleyball, threw boomerangs, and in the morning, learned how to crack whips and milked the cows, which was new for a lot of us but super fun.

Final Days:

To wrap up our trip, we went camping and snorkelling at Fitzroy Island and collected reef data. It was really interesting to see how the coral is changing. The next day, we went out to a pontoon in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. We snorkelled around the great barrier reef, went on a glass-bottom boat tour while we were on the boat we saw turtles, reef sharks, and so many colourful fish.

Overall, camp was such an incredible experience and we’re really grateful for all the teachers who made it all possible!

Great Ocean Road Hike

By Archie M & Cam R 

In the last week of term 2, we participated in the Great Ocean Road hike. We had so much fun and made so many new friends. Some of the highlights were seeing a whale, enjoying the nature, hiking, the experience of getting outdoors, making new friends, playing spike ball on the camping benches and many other things. We would defiantly recommend this camp to future year 9 students, and we can't wait to hear about their experience on this camp. Thank you!

Urban Expeditions Week

By Kate O & Lara K 

During Week 11 of Term 2, the Year 9 students did the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure Camp’. This included Reef to Rainforest, where you explored the marine life of Cairns. Urban expeditions, where you went into the city every day for a week and got to take part in multiple fun activities. Then, there was the Corio sailing camp, where you spent the week in Corio Bay learning how to sail.

I went on The Urban Expeditions camp. This camp was a wonderful opportunity to see and do more of the activities in and around the city centre. Every day, we got on the train and met at Fed Square at 9:40 in the morning. Groups A, B and C all engaged in the same activities, just on different days. I was a part of Group B. On day 1, we caught the train to Flinders Station and met at Fed Square before beginning the short walk to the Eureka Skydeck. 

This was an excellent experience as we got to take in the views of Melbourne from up high. Later in the day, we took a tram to the Docklands and visited the Archie Brothers Arcade. We did group bowling, and then we were given cards to explore and play the other games in the Arcade. 

Throughout the week, we got to explore the city, doing rock climbing, a river cruise and laneways, as well as so many more activities that I didn’t even realise were there. A large part that made this camp so fun was the independence we were given. Every day, we were given about an hour to explore the city for lunch. You could go to a little café, explore some of the nearby shops, if you met back at Fed Square by 1:45 or 1:50 pm. 

At the end of the week, on Friday, we started off by going to Imax at the Melbourne Museum, where we watched what is known to be one of the most accurate documentaries about the T-Rex and its evolution throughout time. This was a cool experience as it was all 3D, adding to the fun. 

After this, we were taken to an Italian restaurant nearby called Universal, where we stayed for a nice lunch. We had drinks, pizza and pasta before the teachers dismissed us early at 1:30 pm. We were allowed to go home or stay and explore more of the streets and shops.

Overall, this was an experience I wouldn’t trade, as it really showed what hidden fun things there are in the city. 

Sailing at Corio Bay