Another Awesome Camp!

Our camp at Gilwell Park, near Gembrook, was challenging, exhausting and heaps of fun. From hanging out of Puffing Billy to falling out of canoes, from running the Gauntlet to swinging from High Ropes and Abseiling down the ten meter tower, this was an extremely physical camp experience.
Which is exactly what we'd planned, and part of the reason for switching from the earlier (August) camp far away in the west of the state.
Gembrook, being much closer, allowed us to cram in a lot more physical activity. The photos here tell a bit of the story (click on them for a larger version).

Kids laughed, planned, cooperated, flopped, complained, questioned, ran, jumped, tired themselves out, cooked, ate, built huts, danced & discoed, put on Red Faces acts, and generally grew up just that little bit more.

Tons of photos and videos were taken, using cameras, phones and DS devices. Many students have said they'll be making follow up presentations back at school.

Every child will have a different story to tell - some saw an echidna, some tipped their canoe in the freezing water, some fell victim to leeches! 

The instructor-led adventure activities - Flying Fox, Abseiling, Canoes and High Ropes provided a level of individual challenge and the chance for each student to "face their fears" in a different sort of way. The teacher led activities - cooking damper, low ropes, the hikes, running the "gauntlet" and building bush huts - focused more on thoughtful planning and cooperation.
So a nice balance was achieved.

We're booking this camp - Gilwell Park - again for 2014, so the Year 4s will have the challenge of doing it all again better / higher / faster. We haven't confirmed next year's camp yet, but it's likely to be down at Portsea again, a quite different camping experience. We like the idea of alternating bush and seaside.