During the last week of Term Three, the Year 8 students went to Nanga Bush Camp for couple of days. Here are their stories.
Reflection 1 - By Neisha Adma Weda & Mia Nicholson
Our Year Eight cohort was excited to have a break from work and our normal life. We arrived at school on the Wednesday 20th of September with our luggage and bags ready for our departure to Nanga Bush Camp. Once at School we were organised into our activity groups, which were most of our preferred choices. We received our booklets that outlined our activities for the next 3 days of fun and adventure. The bus ride was two hours long but everyone enjoyed themselves being very… loud. Some people played cards, read books, slept but the most interesting thing was making cubbies out of sheets or jackets.
Once we arrived, we put our bags and luggage in the Woodshed dormitory, where the boys slept and was also the meeting hall. Our first delicious lunch was a pizza roll. Girls were introduced to their dorms and at first, it was a shock. It looked like a spartan ‘boot camp’ with striped pillows and old rickety beds. However, after a while it was cosy especially after we chopped some wood with an axe and then lit the fire. After we settled, we were introduced to the Adventure Works staff. The head staff introduced us to the keys, which were keys that had the potential to unlock the mystery toolbox. You would be given a key if you tried your hardest, always participated, showed enthusiasm and great leadership. The box contained a sweet surprise that the adventure works staff had prepared. They encouraged us to challenge by choice, which means you try your hardest with all activities and to always participate. We were then assigned to our first activity where we created the number-off system; this is to make sure all students are there. At Activity One, our group encouraged the teachers to go on the flying fox, but unfortunately, Mr Alchin declined our offer. Group Two first had the flying fox where one student was very eager to help Ms Kerins. Unfortunately, the student (who shall remain nameless) was a bit too excited and pulled Ms Kerins quick into the metal steps. However, Ms Kerins did not lift her legs leaving her with a big purple bruise; the girl quickly apologised and ran up the hill. Thankfully, this was our only casualty on camp. Even though it was raining, we showed resilience and continued to participate and try our hardest in all activities. Especially on the rock-climbing wall, we came out of our comfort zone because it rained and it came as a shock when one of the rocks on the wall started to spin around and was not screwed in properly.
After a short break, the groups headed out to their second activity. Groups split off into activities, which were flying fox, group activities, rafting, raft building, water activities, rock climbing, low ropes course and bush survival. In bush survival, Franchesca enjoyed being the patient for the hand-made stretcher, maybe a little too much, as she giggled throughout the whole role-play. Franchesca would have to have been the happiest casualty alive! After our second activity, we got 30 minutes of free time. After dinner, the disco was cancelled due to the amplifier not working. So instead, we had more free time including a group of people playing cards joined by Mr Borrello. We then later formed group for a trivia night. After trivia night, we went back to our dorms and washed up ready for bed… but one girl in the dorms decided to bring a facemask.
The next day we had four activities that we all enjoyed in the rain. That night we had lasagne and after we had chocolate mousse and fruit salad. After dinner, some students created a photo of lights making a sign “2017!” using their torches. People then made s’mores and marshmallows along with a glow stick party from the students that organised s’mores. In the end, the mystery toolbox was opened by Franchesca Waithman who received a very sweet surprise of jumbo party mix lolly bags. We finished our camp on a delightful note after completing our last activity and a sausage sizzle for lunch.
Overall, our Year Eight cohort had an enjoyable and exciting camp. We came out of our comfort zones and challenged ourselves to always try our hardest. Thank you to all the parents and staff that encouraged us to never give up and to persevered with our efforts.
Reflection 2 - Written by Patsy Moore and Amy MacDonald
During the last week of Term 3, the Year 8 cohort was buzzing with excitement to embark to Nanga Bush Camp down in Dwellingup. After a two hour bus drive, we took a long look at the scenery surrounding us and were thrilled to begin our first set of activities. Over the course of three days, we took part in activities such as: Flying fox, rock climbing, team building, low ropes, bush survival, water activities, raft building and flat water rafting. Many memories and friendships were made, with some people even facing their biggest fears. All of the activities involved some sort of teamwork, with each and every person stepping up to the plate. Leadership skills were the focus throughout the entire camp and everyone shone in the spotlight of the different activities, revealing many hidden talents.
The organisers of the camp, Adventure Works, introduced us to a reward system. They explained to us about a toolbox with a mystery prize that we could win. By showing skills such as leadership, encouragement, unity and teamwork, we could earn multiple keys. These keys belonged to a set of 100, and only one was able to unlock the toolbox. This encouraged all of us to strive to do our best at every activity, whether we thought we could do it or not. Many people came back to the dormitories jumping with joy after receiving a key and explaining the reasons as to why they got it.
Coming from activities absolutely drenched, everyone’s spirits remained high and each of us proved how resilient we could be. The activities themselves pushed us to face our fears, many people facing their fear of height, with almost everyone having a go at the 20 metre high climbing wall. Nearing the end of camp, we all became incredibly tired, especially with a large amount of us staying up until past our bed times, either due to chatting with others over the roof of our dorms, or by being haunted by the bats flying around inside our room! Though exhausted, spirits stayed high and overall everyone seemed to really enjoy the camp.