Gelantipy Camp

Horse Back riding with my group

     Last week instead of being in a classroom at Traf Primary School, I went on a school camp with the Grade 5/6's. We took buses with 102 students and 5 parent chaperones and teachers up to Gelantipy. It is a 5 day camp where the students all stay in cabins and there is a mess hall where they eat their food. There was a lot of activities for the students to take part in throughout the week. On Monday after we arrived (after the 5 hour drive) we ate dinner then went on a night hike. I was able to see kangaroos jumping through fields and koalas up in the trees. On Tuesday half the camp drove up to the border of Victoria (the state I live in) and New South Wales. We went white water rafting down snowy river. The kids (and I) had a great time!

Team Bonding Activity

    On Wednesday, my group went off to do some zip lining. I was told on the bus that I would be assisting the guides with the students on the zip line. There were three guides who work at the camp that were coming with us. Two of them would be taking half the group Absailing, which is propelling down a huge cliff. So there was one guide to run the zip lining. There were actually two separate zip lines for the students. The start of the "flying fox" was at the top of this huge hill. You go on this zip line and it runs across to another hill. Then you are unattached and hop over to a second zip line. From there you go over a small lake and land at the bottom of the hill. I was walking up the big hill with the guide, another American guy who just finished university, and another teacher, Kelley. After he briefly explains which carabiner goes in what hole on the harness and how the contraption works, he starts to explain that we are going to be zip lining over to the second station, then unhook and go to the end. From there we will run up to the second hill where the students will come across and we will unhook them from the first zip line. We will also hook them onto the second line.  It took me a minutes to realize that he was telling me to zip line myself across to the second hill and then unhook myself (alone), hook myself back up to the second line (alone!) and zip to the end of the station. After that feat, I would be deemed qualified to hook and unhook children up to this life threatening activity. I was amazed at how little training I got. At no point did he even watch me hook anyone up. He just clipped me on top of the first hill and away I went!

Rock Climbing Wall 

     Overall the zip lining went well and everyone lived through the experience, I was just thinking, "This is absolutely crazy! I can't believe this is allowed!" Also, the students were swimming in the river with no lifeguards or any trained professionals the day before. I doubt that kind of thing could happen back home with all the lawsuits and legal issues.
        The students and I went horse back riding and swimming in the pools at the camp. We held a talent show in the lodge one night. I played a lot of euchre with the parents after the kids went to sleep. They did a ropes course and a team challenge course. They also went rock climbing in the gym.  One day the students got a crash course in orienteering. We broke up into our activity groups and were handed some maps with a compass. We had to find a station where we would be given a new direction and how many paces we had to go in that direction. The goal was for us all to end up at Dingo Hill in the end. My students did pretty well. It was essentially just a four hour hike in the country which ended at the top of a hill with a great view. Before we left, another teacher was bragging about his ability to work compasses. It became my silent goal to beat his team. Well, everyone ended up beating his team because he got lost for a half hour with his group. It turns out he was holding the compass in his left hand and the metal on his wedding ring was interfering with the compass and redirecting them off course! I felt really bad for him. . .

The Top of Dingo Hill (our destination in the orienteering activity) 

     The camp was a great experience. The students had a really great time and I believe they got a lot out of it. It was the first time most of the kids had been away from camp for that long. There was some drama and tears with some kids. We had to take a kid to the hospital because he had an allergic reaction. There were cat fights among 12 year old girls and kids getting homesick. I help an impromptu circle time with a gang of girls who were having massive issues getting along. It was basically massive chaos the whole week, but overall a great time. I am glad I got to see a different part of Aussie and I got to know the staff at the school a lot better.