Year 7 Camp 2020!!!

Year 7 camp was amazing. It began with a crazy bus ride filled with singing, yelling and chatting. Excited gasps flew from everyone’s mouths when we turned the corner and saw the Arrabri Lodge sign. The grounds of the camp were extremely pretty, with bright, tall, green trees all over the border of the lodge. First up was meeting the wonderful staff and being introduced to 18 year old Gus- a blind and deaf Jack Russel who lives at the camp. After a quick introduction, the fun began. Once we were told our cabin number, we all rushed off to set our rooms up. Twenty minutes later we were at our first activity.

The activities included: A giant swing, a zipline, a pool, a low ropes course, a games room, playing in a freezing river, playing mini golf and doing archery. The   giant swing was like nothing else. The exhilarating feeling when you fell the first time was so incredible. Your heart leapt when you were soaring down and leapt again when you were flying back up. The zipline was really fun. Sitting on the seat and then swishing down past the teacher as they threw lollies at you. In the pool we played volleyball and did Zoomba like maniacs. It was really enjoyable and really helped everyone feel at home with each other. The low ropes course was a great bonding experience. Supporting your partner as they made their way through the course, was really fun and a great way to make new friends. The games room was a really fun relaxing activity. Inside the room was an air hockey table, where everyone got really excited when they discovered how to turn it on.

There were 2 Foosball tables that were heaps of fun especially when you won! Table tennis had everyone chasing after little balls and running all over the place because it was so tricky to hit them properly! The river was a really… well… cold activity! We all loved splashing each other and swimming with the current, it brought out a whole new side of everyone in your group. Mini golf was also a very relaxing activity, in a shady bushy area, where we all had a great time chatting and playing golf. And last, but certainly not least, archery. Archery was quite a satisfying activity. We all lined up and shot at the same time and shot, desperate to either pop a balloon, or shoot the yellow center. It was such a great sound when the balloon popped or when the arrow got wedged in the yellow center.

The camp was a different place at night. The first night we did bush dancing, which was super fun. Learning the dances was a totally new experience for all of us. We were all in fits of laughter dancing around and getting all hot and sweaty. After the dancing we headed out into the night. We went for a walk in pitch darkness with only a single torch to guide us, and even though we had been told that it wasn’t a race, everyone raced anyway.

We all had a great time collecting the letters to spell out the word puzzle. (ANSWER: Arrabri Lodge nocturnal walk.) Again, it wasn’t a race, but we raced anyway. The next night activity was the famous MGC activity Red Faces!!!! But before red faces we had to do the house challenge, which involved quiz questions and some interesting eating methods. Red faces showed us heaps of amazing talent. Congratulations to Meera from Maris and Issy from Chisholm for their great wins! Overall camp was incredible. Thank so much to the teachers and staff of Arrabri Lodge for this amazing experience.

By Sunday Bickford 7M1.