Year 9 camp

at Cockatoo Island

written by Nikola Sekularac

Day 1

When we first arrived at the Jetty Wharf drop-off point, we were separated into four groups. The first two groups left their bags and went to Manly by ferry. When my group got there, we discovered that we had to go to a place called North Head to check some landmarks off a list we received as part of an “Amazing Race” activity.

Our group missed the bus so we had a really long walk all the way uphill to North Head. It was 14 km long. When we got there we had a well-deserved rest. On our way back to Manly (luckily, we caught the bus) we headed to a local shop to eat fish and chips for lunch. Then our group went on a bike ride along the beachfront. We rode to two places called the Worm Hole and Shelly Beach. The Worm Hole was dug by British settlers to have easy access to the land behind a large hill. Shelly Beach was so named because it was full of shells. After our ride we headed back to camp on Cockatoo Island to unpack our bags and to have showers. When we headed to dinner we were hit with a surprise, we had to make our own dinner for the night. After that we had a bit of free time before we headed to bed.

Day 2

On our second day, we walked around the island that we were staying on and we learned things about the island’s history as a penal colony and shipyard. After morning tea, we headed off on a ferry to continue our Amazing Race style tasks. We were told that we had a certain amount of money to spend and that we had to find our own meals and refreshments for the rest of the day. We walked through Customs House at Circular Quay, the park at the Domain and went to such places as the Channel 7 building and Hyde Park. At Hyde Park we had our lunch and played some games. After that we had to get two people to dress up in Opportunity Shop clothing to go to dinner in Chinatown. It was really funny seeing our boys dressed as girls. Once we arrived at Chinatown, we had to find a restaurant that would barter for a discount meal. The team who were able to get an offer for the lowest price for dinner would get bonus points. We returned to the island after 9pm and then we had some free time around the campfire where we told ghost stories to each other.

Day 3

On our last day, our spirits were down a bit as it had been raining heavily since night time. In the drizzling rain, we packed up all our rain soaked tents and bedding as well as cleaning up the campground before leaving the island for the last time. We headed to Paddy’s Markets where we received a list of items to find as our last task. The list was full of pictures of items that were in the markets. That was really fun for most of us who weren’t freezing and wet. For our final activity, we all went to the Powerhouse Museum where we all discussed the different activities that we did at camp and gave the camp staff our feedback on the things that we liked the most and the least. Then, after a quick lunch, we headed home.