9/10OES Phillip Island Camp
Phillip Island Camp Diary
DAY ONE
Three bags and a camp chair weighed down my arms as I walked over to the bus shed at 8:20 in the morning. Each bag has a different purpose; one for clothes, one day bag and one bag for food. Lynley and I dumped our stuff on the ground side by side like we have done each camp before. Shawry stood at the bottom of the bus doors loading bag after bag into the bus, I passed mine in to be packed in so I didn’t have to waste another thought on what I might have forgotten. My sleeping bag!!!! A flash of worry flashed over me at the thought of no sleeping bag. Luckily Malcolm had a spare. Then after one final goodbye to friends, we scrambled for seats on the bus and waved our school goodbye.
The bus ride over to Phillip Island seemed to go quick, as we talked about the days to come. The first stop was Smith’s beach for a morning surf. The waves rolled in one after the other too strong for my body to take. With every few steps forward a wave would push me back making it a struggle to get out into the surf. The first wave I caught carried me like I was a feather in the wind. I immediately put my hands in the centre of my board, launching my feet into a sideways formation, keeping myself balanced. The cold salty air rushed over me, giving me a shiver. I looked behind me and waved to my friends who were still looking for a good wave until I jumped off the wave and made my journey back into the surf for my next wave.
After hours of surfing, it was time for lunch but the storm the night before made this task difficult. There was no power in Cowes making Kristine, Lynley and I venture to Woolies for any chance of food. As we entered the shop it was as if it was abandoned with nothing in any of the cold sections, we walked around the whole shop and only found a salad and some room temperature kombucha to share. As we exited the grocery store suddenly 3 beeps followed by lights lit up the store. All the customers cheered and clapped for the electrical power. We ate our food and headed back to the bus ready to see our campsite.
The NRMA caravan park was right on the beach with our campsite surrounded by caravans. Kristine and I struggled to set up our tent due to the ground being to tough for our pegs, although after a long while we finally finished and loaded all our stuff inside. As we finally sat down, we took a good 30 minutes to ourselves before setting off to have a look at the beach. Lynley, Kristine and I all walked along the bay, sand and seaweed getting stuck on our legs. We watched the waves crash up against our feet until we reached a point on the beach where there was no longer any seaweed. This is when we decided to make the long walk back to camp.
As we arrived back at camp, it was now time for dinner. Kristine and I got our Trangia out and started cooking spaghetti Bolognese. It was a filling and delicious meal before we got to see the penguin parade. We took our bus over to the penguin parade and walked along a boardwalk to reach a massive grandstand of steps and seats. I made the choice of sitting on the beach where we could see the penguins the closest, and then sat and waited for the penguins to appear. At first glance Ruby, Elise, Lynley, Kristine and I thought that multiple rocks might be penguins in the water as we swore that we could see them move eventually we accepted that we were wrong. Finally groups of penguins started appearing as the sun went down. One penguin had been standing in the same spot for ages, while others passed and went into the long grass bushes to find their families. On the boardwalk back, I made sure to whisper and keep my steps as quiet as possible. Bella, Lynley, Kristine, and I all took the boardwalk that not many people were occupying meaning that we had almost a whole stretch of penguins to ourselves. We saw many baby penguins looking for their parents and we heard loud calls from the babies. We thought that this could be so the parents could find their children. Finally, we made our journey back to camp knackered from the day and went straight to bed.
DAY TWO
The next morning was quick and simple. Kristine and I woke up recently early before the teachers and decided to get ready for our day. Bright and early by the time everyone was ready to go, we had had breakfast and packed our bags full of everything we needed for the day to come. The first thing we did was a morning surf and the waves were no better than yesterday. They crashed up against us, pushing us back with every wave. I managed to stand up multiple times and became extremely comfortable on my board. I tried to get some green, unbroken waves, although struggled because there wasn’t much of a selection. After the surf, we hopped back on the bus ready for the koala exhibition. During this walk we search far and wide for koalas in the massive eucalyptus trees. most of them were fast asleep, although we managed to see some koalas eating a meal.
Now that everyone was starving from our busy morning we headed back into San Remo for lunch. I roamed around the town and had a wrap that I’d made the previous day. This small lunch break went quick before we raced time to get to the Churchill Island farm. I looked around the old house interested in what times used to look like for Australians in the 18 and 1900s. I then visited a small nursing room where I saw baby, goats, rabbits, chickens, and more. This was then followed by me, getting the chance to milk a cow, which I found disgusting. A quick rinse of hands before the sheep shearing began. I watched as the lady shaved a sheep in just a few minutes and demonstrated what happens to Australian sheep every year. Then we headed outside to see a dog roundup sheep although the sheep were very stubborn. My favourite part of this island was the next event where I got to crack a whip. After a few attempts, I finally got the whip to crack and was glad when it was over, although my heart was still beating like a drum with adrenaline. As this event came to finish, we had it back into town for dinner where I got a delicious lasagne.
After dinner, we headed to where we would begin our night hike. We started by walking along the beautiful Woolamai beach and then went up into the mountains and saw many beautiful views and a stunning sunset. This was one of my favourite experiences of this camp as it was beautiful, and I had many conversations with all the people around me. After the 2.5 hour hike, we climbed back into the bus and then returned to our tents where we fell dead asleep.
DAY THREE
We awoke early once again and immediately Kristine and I started packing to get a head start on everyone. After all our bags and tent were done at around 8 o’clock the coffee van finally opened after two days of not opening because of the power shortage. I begged Shawry and Malcolm to allow us to use our phones to buy something and with a little convincing they complied. I was very grateful to have a chai latte that morning; a perfect start to the day. As we said our final goodbye to the campsite, we set off to Smiths Beach for the third day in a row and went for another morning surf. Today’s waves were no better than the waves from the past two days, although I didn’t care, I set off for my final surf with fun and excitement in mind. After a few hours of surfing, I decided that it was my time to leave the ocean and visit the rock pools where many other students were already sitting. We played in the sand and talked while we waited for permission to go back up to the bus. Once Karen finally gave us the all clear we went back up to the bus and quickly got changed. Then came back down on the beach where I kicked the footy and threw the vortex. Once everyone was ready, we left Smiths Beach for our journey back home.
On our way back home, we stopped in San Remo for lunch. This is where I got a delicious sausage roll. Everyone was not as chatty as they were on the way there because of the exhaustion of the last few days. As we got back to school we washed the wetsuits and rashes marking the end of camp.
By Milla Bailey