Secondary Camps
Year 9 Wilderness Camp
Rachel Arsenis - Head of Year 9
Another year arrives, bringing a new cohort of students who were ready to tackle the physical and mental challenges of a week in the wilderness up at the Bogong High Plains.
It was a challenging beginning to the week with stormy skies and cold temperatures, but our students rose the occasion, with grit and determination. We were thankful for the sunshine when it finally arrived!
We are so proud of the resilience and courage that each student demonstrated, and our prayer is that as they were stretched, their reliance on God and understanding of His world were strengthened.
Some student reflections from the week:
A voice of one calling; “In the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord - make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
This verse reminds me that the wilderness is to bring us closer to God. The Israelites were in the wilderness and the Israelites established their identity and God revealed Himself to them in the wilderness. So in the wilderness it makes us rely on God more, and He teaches us lessons and it shows how much we really need him.
Before the trip I was a bit ungrateful - the things I had and thought most people had the privilege to go to school, eat food, sleep in a house and have fresh water.
However, after Wilderness I am much more grateful for the things I have. I have grown to realise that the things we have is a privilege and that we should be content with what we have instead of wishing for more.
On Wilderness, I must admit I wasn’t the most positive person. Well, at least not the most positive in my group. On the hike there was times I felt challenged, both mentally and physically.
On the first day I was physically challenged through the hardest hike of the week. This, as well as people in my group talking about how hard it was and how they wanted to go home, really put me down and made me upset and homesick.
But the next day, our group realised that talking negatively just made it harder to push through, we changed our mindsets and tried to think and speak positively.
Wilderness has helped me be a better person in many ways, both physically and mentally. Through this experience I have matured mentally, socially, emotionally, and spiritually in times of hardship, and growth too.
As a small community, my group and I, individually have come back with stronger values, that helped us get through and experience shalom in some parts of camp, even when there were times of hardship, when we feel as if we’re completely lost, or messed up, and just want to give up.
Year 10 River Camp
Jo Evans - Christian Studies Coordinator
The Sound of Distant Thunder
“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
Lying in my tent, lit up by lightning and counting the beats until the thunder answered, I said a prayer for all the groups and then lay grinning in the dark. Nearby, 24 students were giggling, gasping, and making sounds of amazement as we all shared a 4.00 am thunderstorm from the cozy comfort of our tents.
In the morning over breakfast in the washed-clean air, we checked the pace of the river’s currents and shared our recollections from the storm.
Sharing moments like these is the reason we dress up in unusual clothes, carefully pack our gear according to the list, and surrender our bodies to small plastic canoes on the mighty Murray River.
As the current carries us downstream, our conversations carry us closer together, over stories recounted, funny moments shared and discussions that range from faith to favourite books to best marvel movie of all time.
It’s not until we step out of our comfort zone and into places we don’t control that we realise we never had control to begin with. The Author of rivers, skies and trees paints daily sunrises over all our comings and goings, and faithfully calls us, as He has always called His people, to come to a place He will show us, a place of freedom, beyond our comfort zones.
Some student reflections from the week:
Year 10 camp was an experience to remember, filled with laughter, friendship and fun. Paddling down the river each day, we were surrounded with the beauty of the Murray and although this trip was filled with lots of adventure, it was also relaxing and peaceful. This camp was a great opportunity to play and create our own fun using the natural environment around us and to try new things.
It also gave us an opportunity to form new friendships and stronger connections with other people in the year level. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go on this camp, it truly was an incredible trip and has left me with many memories that I will treasure for a long time.
This year’s camp was my favourite so far in high school. It included all the fun parts of wilderness, but the walking part (the hard part) was cut out. I thoroughly enjoyed paddling down the Murray river, seeing cool things, and talking to people I never really talked to before. Besides lots of stuff getting wet and sandy, this camp was really good.
Camp was an enlightening experience, I have never have I felt so relaxed on a camp. Throughout the course of the camp, many lessons were learned about the diversity of how people live. I heard stories from many, some funny and some vulnerable.
People opened up to conversations they normally wouldn't and showed sides I had not seen. Overall, it was an amazing experience with beautiful scenery and wonderful weather.
