Outdoor Education
On Wednesday, 7th of October, 20 students from the Semester Two Outdoor Education class departed for Halls Gap to spend 3 days in the environment of the Grampians National Park. Accompanying them were Mr Sullivan (class teacher), Mr Hinton and Ms Li.
The students and staff stayed at Stoney Creek Lodge run by Absolute Outdoors (AO) in the heart of Halls Gap. The AO staff helped lead the activities each day while the cook (Ash) provided breakfast, lunch and dinner each day.
On day one, after the students had set their cabins up and got accustomed to the layout of camp, they were bussed a short distance to the Brambuk National Park & Cultural Centre. Here the students were taught some of the First Nations history of the Grampians (the national park is known as Gariwerd to the Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali people). Students also learnt some geography facts and navigational tips. From Brambuk, the staff and students walked 5km back to camp along Fyans Creek. Along this walk students were able to see some of the local wildlife including kangaroos, emus and a sleepy red-bellied black snake.
After dinner, Mr Sullivan organised an elimination table tennis tournament for group. He did end up winning the competition he organised, but this is being investigated by Table Tennis Australia.
Day two saw the students split into 2 groups (10 students with Mr Hinton and 10 with Ms Li/Mr Sullivan). Mr Hinton’s group departed by bus for Lake Fyans where they spent the morning learning canoeing skills and exploring some of the lake. The other group of students rode their mountain bikes the 15kms out to the lake where both groups ate lunch together. After lunch each group swapped activities. With all the recent rain in the region Lake Fyans was as full as it could get, and the mountain bike track provided some puddles which amounted to river crossings! Plenty of shoes needed to be dried back at Stoney Creek Lodge.
After dinner this night, Mr Hinton and Mr Sullivan got the campfire going where the group roasted some marshmallows and shared some highlights of the trip and something new they had learnt by being on camp.
The last day saw students packing up before breakfast so they could depart efficiently later in the day. The final activity of camp was abseiling and rock-climbing. All students walked together a short distance from camp to a rock face near Fyans Creek. Over the 3 hours at the site, all students were able to try each activity and support each other though the challenges of the climbs and descents.
Heading off just after lunch the students and staff returned to school by 4:15, well rested by some naps on the bus and looking forward to sharing their stories with their families over the weekend.
Dan Sullivan
Year 9 Leader