Our Year 9 Outdoor Education class spent three nights at Wilsons Promontory in mid-October and hiked a total of 35km across the three days. While the teachers were leading the camp (Mr Beard, Mr Dimitracopoulos, Mr Waters and Miss Spencer), the students were largely responsible for themselves and had to draw on their navigation and meal planning skills, and the minimal impact principles that they had learnt in class.
Here are some student reflections of the camp:
We did this camp to learn how to ‘leave no trace’ by walking in single file, using pre-existing campsites and in non-vegetated areas. By everyone following this we created a better environment and not having an impact on the wildlife. At the start I didn't even want to go camping because I despised the outdoors, but I felt like I needed to try something new. Not many people get to go to Wilsons Prom and experience this with a great group of people, and that's what the highlight of this trip was. I am so proud of what I accomplished. — Ashlea Calvi (Year 9 Red)
The Outdoor Ed camp was lots of fun. We covered 35km of hiking carrying packs that weighed 10 or more kilograms. We walked for most of the day and got to see all the beautiful views all the time when we were walking. I learnt how to cook without making a fire, instead we cooked with trangias. I was looking forward to the last day as we went off straight away and had to cross a river at six in the morning. We kept on walking all the way to the cave and most of us went in. It had crickets all over the top of the wall and you could hear the water in there running to a creek. — Liam English (Year 9 Green)
The Outdoor Ed camp was full of great views and challenging hikes. We all worked together to make it to the end and all of us had some fun along the way. We had to complete a total of 17-1/2 hours of hiking — five on the first day, 7-1/2 on the second and five on the last day. We made our own meals each day, some of them were great and some of them didn’t really work. At the start I was excited and a bit nervous for how hard the walk/hike was going to be. Every time we got to a really cool view I was relieved and thought that everything was worth it. By the last day we were all pretty sore but encouraged each other and pushed through to the end. — Jay Lewington (Year 9 Green)
Our hike lasted three days and two nights. We were set a cooking and camping area and were given the responsibility to cook our own meals and carry all of our rubbish out that we had used. We were hiking using the minimal impact rule — take out what you bring. We camped at Sealers Cove on the first night and Little Waterloo Bay on the next. During the Wednesday hike, the weather was absolutely horrible, the rain was soaking us, our packs and our mood. We had to set up our tents in the rain and had to cook in the miserable weather. The experience was second to none, it was the best getaway I have been a part of. I felt so happy with myself at the end of the journey because this was my first camping adventure. — Andre Parlas (Year 9 Blue)
