Cocurricular

Last week Year Nine Students attended their camp in Karridale, near Margaret River. 

Please see below some of their reflections:

We spent a total of four nights and five days on campsites in which we experienced the great outdoors. We had a marvellous time and formed closer bonds with our peers. Some of the activities we did were high ropes, low ropes, caving, hiking, and abseiling. 

High ropes was a thrilling experience that pushed many students out of their comfort zones. The course sat about 30 metres off the ground with it stretching around 80 metres long. Congratulations to the students that participated because it was a very worthwhile accomplishment. We had three of our mates on the forest floor holding us up with ropes and pulleys. It was very nerve-racking to start off with but soon after it was really fun. There were seven different sets of obstacles, one of which was a zip-line. It was very entertaining watching Dr Mitrovski go down as everyone was cheering him on. 

Abseiling was one of those activities that was petrifying but really fun. Some of us were ready to jump straight into it, daring to be the first person to go, while others took some time to go. Everyone started off on a 10-metre abseil and for a couple people that was more than enough. Meanwhile, a lot of the group decided to do the 20-metre one. There were two 20-metre options, one easier than the other with a slightly shorter length. I did this one because I wasn’t too confident but still wanted to do a big one. Abseiling is something I never would have thought about trying but ended up really enjoying it and I think a lot of people felt the same way. It is an activity I would highly recommend you try when you get the chance. Even completing the small one is a great way to get out of your comfort zone and I will definitely abseil again if I have the chance. 

One of the enjoyable experiences that was part of this camp was being guided around Giant’s Cave. The first part of the caves was called the ballroom and was 86 metres deep. The entire group sat in a circle on the sand, turned off our head torches and tried to lie still in silence. We were then led through the cave, up ladders and through tight tunnels to the Arborite chamber inside the cave, where there were many interesting rock structures. Our guide asked us to turn off our headtorches so that he could show us with a UV light which parts of the stalagmites were still growing. Overall caving was an amazing, almost once-in-a-lifetime experience, which I think all Year Nines were grateful for.

During camp we also hiked, our group hiked from our camping site to a pick-up point approximately 10 kilometres away. We set-off at a quick pace with everyone keeping in one main group. We were surprised at how long and how far we managed to get before needing a group break. After eating some rations we set-off with a little more energy. Once we reached the lookout we were shuttled to our camp-site before setting up our tents and beginning to make our dinner.

Mr Ian Robson | Head of Cocurricular