Camps

Year 10 Central Australia Camp

In the final week of Term 2, 72 Year 10 students were given the incredible opportunity to travel to the heart of Australia with some of their closest friends. It was an incredibly challenging 10 days, but we thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. The trip allowed us to form unbreakable bonds and learn valuable lessons about ourselves.

For many of us, the highlights of the camp were the hikes we went on through King’s Canyon and Kata Tjuta. The sights we saw were truly amazing and it was so surreal to be seeing them with our own eyes. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit some sacred sites during these walks which gave us a deeper understanding of Indigenous Australia history, culture, and traditions.

During our stay in Coober Pedy, we toured an opal mine where we learnt about the history of the town’s establishment and the experiences of a miner in the present, as well as the mine’s early days.

We visited the Alice Spring’s School of the Air which showed us the reality of education for children in remote areas of the outback; they don’t have easy and close access to schools like us. Another mentionable stop was at the Royal Flying Doctor’s Base where we learnt about the founding of the organisation and the incredible impact they have saving lives across the country, especially those in remote areas. Both these experiences allowed us to appreciate our lives back home and the ease of access we have to all the necessities.

The most anticipated destination of the trip was – by far – Uluru… and for good reason, too! Here, not only did we marvel at the natural beauty of our country’s most famous natural landmark, but we also attended a presentation at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre during which we learnt about how the First Nations people lived off the land.

Despite all the amazing experiences and sites visited, some of our most cherished memories from camp came from the long bus rides, conversations around the dinner tables, or setting up camp together after a long day of travelling. It was during these times where our group felt less like a collection of students and teachers and more like a family. Through the experiences we shared, the trip gave us the chance to get to know our classmates and teachers in ways that aren’t possible in a school setting. The memories we made and the bonds we formed will be with us for a lifetime.

by Kaitlyn Scott (10G) and Ava Ninnes-Tidyman (10E)

Year 12 Camp

Year 12 has been quite a fun experience for me; year 12 camp was just as fun. On the day of camp, I was excited to attend camp; I hadn’t attended a camp since year 8. I woke up tired due to me having no sleep because of my excitement; this probably wasn’t a good thing when no sleep was going to be achieved on this camp.

The time before we got onto the buses was long  but the highlight of the time before the bus ride was playing chess against Cooper. During this game of chess Cooper and I were close in skill, but he just barely beat me. After the wait, we loaded up onto the buses. The bus trip was short; only about 50 minutes.

When we arrived at the camp, we all were told to go to the theatre. We had a very long sitting time and then Mr Perry gave us a speech that was very sentimental. After the long sitting session about rules and year 12, we finally got into our cabins. After waiting a long time to see everyone leave for their cabins, we realized that there were only 18 of us; we all clocked in that we were in the same cabin. We all looked at each other and just laughed; there was no way the teachers thought it was a good idea to put us in a cabin together.

After we got the cabin organised, we had our first activity which was free time at the beach. After some fun beach time, we had some free time around the campsite where of course I went straight to the basketball court. After a fun time on the basketball court, it was dinner time; it was lasagna but it was pretty bland so we had to end up loading it up with salt. After dinner, we had our trivia night and my group ended up winning the whole event. 

After a night of not much sleep, we woke up early for the beach walk which was quite enjoyable. The 2nd day was dreadfully hot and almost to the point where it was unbearable. For activities on the 2nd day, we participated in an amazing race and again had beach free time. At the beach, we found a fun activity where we launch people in the sky and they do flips. 

After dinner, we had our games night which was an absolute blast. The highlights of the night were Tyrese and Noah’s duet, Ali Hydari getting chased down by Miss Kinsella and drenched, Jackson’s singing and the overall good time with the boys. After the fun games night was lights out, and we did not sleep at all. The teachers ended up giving up on trying to make us sleep and apparently a possum almost ran into our cabin. Surena, Karthik and I played UNO until like 3 am. The highlight of the final day was the giant water fight that broke out between everyone and the arm wrestle between Ed and Dev. After camp, I was extremely tired and had a basketball game later that night.

Overall, the camp was fun and something I would have regretted not going to. Luckily the weather was really hot and surprisingly I managed to not get sunburnt. The activities were fun, our cabin was fun, and the vibes were just immaculate. 

by Jack Negro