Year 7 Camp

This week at the Middle College assembly, Will Block, Jack Carmichael and Holly Williams reported on their experiences at the recent Year 7 camp. Following is what they shared:

“Wednesday morning was the most exiting day of the whole school year as we set off for CAMP! When we arrived, everyone saw the well set out cabins and we were all exited to start the activities. One of the activities we had to do was mountain biking; it was so fun speeding down a rocky mountain with the wind flying past my face. All of a sudden when I was riding up a hill, BOOM my back tire popped! But, lucky for me the end was in sight. Overall mountain biking was fantastic. Another activity was raft building. On our way to this activity we saw a wallaby and two wild koalas. In groups of four, we had four minutes to build a raft and then had to sail across to an island in Somerset Dam. My group did knots after knots after knots. It was fun and we wanted to win so much. I really thought we were going to win but I was so wrong! With no warning our raft fell apart in the water. We had to paddle back but it was hilarious. I loved this activity. When we got back to the camp we had to get ready for dinner. For dinner we had lasagne. It was the best lasagne I have ever had. After dinner we had dessert it was also the best Pavlova I've ever had.” – Will Block, Year 7 Student

“On the second day of camp we had high ropes and group challenges. High ropes was a fun activity but also hard. There were four jobs for students in each group; the belayer, back up belayer, the rope coiler and the climber. Each time you would move forward to a new job. I was lucky because I was one of the first people to climb but I started off as the back-up belayer. As the back-up belayer, your job is to make sure that there is no slack in the rope. Then you moved on to the belayer where it was your job to make sure the person climbing was supported. Finally, it was my time to climb. I put on my harness and got strapped in. I climbed up a ladder and then across a thin wire. Holding on to a rope one meter in front of me, I climbed onto the cargo net, which would swing back and forth. Then I climbed up staples on the side and across the train tracks to the end. I rang the bell huffing and puffing then came the exciting part of jumping off. I jumped knowing it was the easiest way down. We then moved to knot tying since at Year 9 camp you need to build a raft to take your stuff across a river. We learnt about three different knots. One of the knots we learnt about was where you tie two ropes together, then we learnt about a cross knot which was good for stabilising things and the butterfly knot for tying things together.” – Jack Carmichael, Year 7 Student

“On the last day of this amazing camp, the Wira girls and I did canoeing and archery. Canoeing was a fabulous experience that I will remember forever. In this activity we learned how to hold and use our paddle. I was sitting at the back of the canoe, which meant I had to know how to turn the canoe. One way to turn the canoe was to use the paddle as a rudder. So my partner Ava and I had to work out how we were going to paddle and where we were going to sit. Once we were out on the water, I started hearing lots of teamwork and nice compliments. The water in the dam was beautiful and calm. I heard the sound of wildlife surrounding me. The feeling was tremendous I really enjoyed it. The final activity was archery. I was one of the first to shoot an arrow and I felt that I was pretty good it. Archery will be something from the Year 7 camp that will stick with me for a long time. Thank you to Dr McMahon for organising this wonderful trip to Somerset and to all the teachers for making sure we had a fabulous time. Thank you also to all of the helpers at the camp and especially Helena, our guide, who was always making sure we were safe.” – Holly Williams, Year 7 Student

Mr Brendan Delaney, Director of Students