During the last week of Term Three, the Year 9 students went to Camp Mornington for a fun and challenging couple of days. Here are their stories.
9.1 to 9.3 Reflection – Written by Mia Wilkinson and Christelle Robbertz
Good food, great activities and even better company led to the best camp our side of the cohort has had yet! Despite the weather - it was hard not to get wet no matter if you were participating in mountain biking or raft building - we had a blast, with students and teachers alike eager to take part and have fun (even though it may or may not have ended in Pak Porteus biting off more than he could chew).
Even though the talent show was not a resounding display of performance skills, we did enjoy a musical performance by our Indonesian exchange students, Stephanie, Ann and Raoul. Mr. Johansen seemed to relish his judging impersonation of Simon Cowell, while Miss Cutler played to the crowd, predictably becoming the most liked of all the judges. A further bonus was the privilege of witnessing the finest bit of praying (or was that grovelling?) by a certain Goose and his friends! Being lead into mealtime Grace by Zac was yet another insightful experience of untapped talents!
More free time this camp meant we could play more sport and witness the intense basketball and soccer skills of many, while others chose the more sublime, exploring the beauty of extensive acreage. Petting the resident pony and friendly goats became a regular pastime of the campers.
Overall, we fell in love with this year’s camp experience, from getting muddy during mountain biking to almost drowning in competitive rafting in raft building; it was easily one of the best camps yet.
9.3 to 9.6 Reflection – Written by Nicole Bothma and Joshua Melendez
We arrived on camp on a glorious, sunny Monday and were welcomed by the staff from Mornington Adventure Camp. The series of activities that we enjoyed developed student teamwork and cooperation skills. We took part in challenging and engaging activities such as High Ropes, bush biking, low ropes and raft building. On the first night we took part in “The Amazing Race”, a competition in which we had to compete against the other day groups for prizes. The challenges were both physically and mentally demanding, with some requiring a lot of thought and determination. High Ropes tested our courage and our willingness to get out of our comfort zone. In low ropes we had to get across a series of challenges and had to do things that had no straightforward solution. There were very tricky problems to solve. It tested our teamwork skills, because it was impossible to complete low ropes if you tried to do it as an individual. Raft building tested our creativity skills, where we had to work as a team to build a raft that would float and then race it to one end of the lake and back. Bush Biking tested our physical skills, where we had to cycle around the Camp through rough terrain. Overall, the camp tested us physically and mentally and definitely developed our resilience and ability to handle difficult challenges.