Yr 7 Outdoor Ed

Sherbrooke Bushwalking Camp

By Hannah Crispin (Outdoor Education Teacher)

Last week our two Year 7 Outdoor Ed classes had their first camp experience. We pitched tents here at school on the Senior oval. Although, sadly for the second group, Thursday’s rain was so consistent, and the ground so flooded and sodden, that we had to ‘pitch’ in the gym! It wasn’t the rain from above that would be the issue so much as the rivers we would be floating on. 

Although we had used trangias in class to boil water for hot milos, for virtually all students, this was the first time they had cooked a full meal on a trangia.  At this point some of you might be thinking, ‘that was the first time my child has cooked any meal!’ And so yes, considering most of the students’ cooking experience, it was a major accomplishment all round. 

Especially since this was no two-minute noodle affair. Students had fully nutritious and energy-dense meals full of vegetables, carbohydrates, meat and various flavoured sauces. I was heartily impressed with the culinary dedication our students had. Perhaps they could cook you this same meal as a Friday night treat sometime? They are even excellently trained in cleaning trangias - not a hint of black or brown on those aluminium pots was to be found. I’m certain this could be useful to you too.

The next day students packed down their tents and packed up their daypack to take on the walk through Sherbrooke Forest. Our walk began at the north-west end, near Mt Dandenong Tourist Road and Sherbrooke Road, and continued for 8km in a roughly south-easterly direction where we finished at Nation Road in Selby. Student leaders were responsible for navigating our direction, making decisions and looking after the group’s needs - and did an excellent job of this. We spotted Lyrebirds scratching around, examined (and battled) leeches, and there was even a large black spider that curiously landed on my pack (it didn’t appear to be a native Sherbrooke species - more rubbery in appearance than organic...)

On Wednesday, students had arranged to bring a shared lunch - so we broke bread together. And break bread they did - it pretty much was all bread! There was lots of fun and learning that was both planned and spontaneous. Students were encouraged to ponder the long history of Sherbrooke Forest, with human and natural influences. When we looked up close at the moss-covered trunks of trees, a few students noticed how:

‘the tree is in a forest, but there is also a forest in a tree’. 

I only hope the profundity of that realisation will live on inside them.