Saturday- yesterday- was also such a good day. There are two people staying with Andy and Eleanor from the USA atm because they are doing some work with the university. We went to Scarborough beach an hired some surf boards. Brent (one of the guys with us) surfs back home so he was teaching me and Winita. It was so much harder than i thought it would be. The waves are so strong and it is so difficult to stand up on the board on top of a wave. I spent most of my time on my tummy on the board so i got a few bruises on my ribs and hip bones and a sun bunt back! oh well... all for good fun.
I couple of times i got take under by the wave because you have to paddle out to a particular spot to catch the ways- on your way out there you get caught up in all the white water from the crashing! To avoid that you have to either got over the wave or if it is too high you have to put your head against the board and got through it! Once i was trying to get to the shore after getting taken under and i was just going with the waves but i got close to the beach and a huge wave came up from behind and threw me right onto the beach! Was quite funny but hurt a bit... i did get a whole shorts full of sand though!
After that we went to anther popular surfing beach called Cottesloe where there were some big random sculptures on the beach.
Ah then Me and Winita went for a jog along the coast on the biking track. It was so beautiful... the sun was settling over the sea and we got back to the car in time to get my camera out just as the sun went down. Really cool- was really nice to run though. It was quite a big jog too- about 3 km?! perhaps- that is just a guess.
Will try write again before my next camp next saturday- I am moving to the permanent accommodation this fri which i right next to a train station so will be easy to get places. Looking forward to that because it is so hard getting buses and travelling from Andy and Eleanors house.
Since Monday i have Hiked, Canoed, Kayaked, Rock climbed, Absailed, Caved, Surfed and Jogged! Good week all in all. =)
Saturday, 20 March 2010
I am REALLY living life now! Camp number 3.
Hello. I though instead of doing lots of little posts from time to time i will just write one big post when i have spare time.
So i last wrote on here after the rafting camp. So the week after that I went to Darlington to spend some time with my friend Trina and here cousins. They have such a lovely house and it over looks the city of perth from the hills. It was really nice to be in a family home that i have connections with and I was saying to mum that i was really nice talking to Trina about people we both new from school or just general chatter. Monday we went into the Midlands shopping mall, in the evening we went out to darlington national park to look for Kangeroos... surely enough there were loads just chilling out in the feilds. Tuesday we got up quite early and went to Fremantle. It is a toristy town because it is where the first aberiginales landed their boats, so there are a few 'historic' buildings! Its werid how the history of Australia only goes back to about 100 years ago. Everything is very new here and there are new suburbs popping up everywhere. Whenever Eleanor and i go in the car somewhere she says she remembers when that plot of land was just sandues!! it is amazing how fast this country is growing. Don't blame them i spose, there is heaps of land. Anyway so we spent the moring in fremantle, went to Little creatures for lunch. Then got the bust to Rockingham (further south) because trina had said the beach there was amazing- I didnt think the beaches could get much better, but i was wrong! it was incredible. White sand, blue clear water, really sunny. ahh wooooowwwww...
I got the train back to Wanneroo (Andy and Eleanors) for the evening ready to get an early night and head for work in the morning.
Wednesday was quite a good day at work. I got a text the night before saying we were going Canoe and Kayak training and had to meet at the office for 7.30am! I found the Kayaking quite difficult because the swan river was really rough and the wind was quite bad that day. After all that I had to drive the 4x4 uite and the canoe trailer back to the office... we took a wrong turning and i had to reverse the car and trailer up a steap hill and round a bend.... at first i got out the car and was convinced i could do it but the leaders talked me into it and said it would be a 'good learning experience' i was determined to prove them wrong but i actually surprised myself and did it easy! I have found that with alot of things actually that i am more capable than i think i am.
Thursday was quite a stressful day because i was trying to get things done for the camp last week but also prepare for the camps the following weeks too. I kept getting tasks to do from people and got quite stressed out. Not the best day really. Friday was ok as well. We had Geoff Westlake come into talk to us about small group and warriuka times again which was really awesome and helpful. I always come away from those meetings feeling so full of ideas. We had to pack up the trailer and car ready for monday in the afternoon.
Saturday was quite a quiet day. Was just at home in the morning catching up on sleep and rest, then went to Fremantle in the afternoon with Brian and Emily. Sunday did some baking with Eleanor then went to St Matts Uni church in the evening. Feel like i have really made some friend there and its so nice to go there and meet new people. The age of most of the students range from 18 ish to about late 20s so all sort of my age or older which is really cool.
Monday was first day of camp... always an unexpectant day because the week is often determined on how good the kids are so meeting them is always a bit nerve racking! Basically the camp was made up for 3 warriuka staff (me Brian and Ross) the Chaplin from the school and one other teacher. there were only 14 students this time because it was for the school council team. And the aim of the camp ws to get them to work together and bond as a team. For this we didnt have small groups within the group because then they could always be working and sharing ideas together. It was really nice not to be responsible for a certain amount of students (just me) so we all were dong everything together. The kids were all really nice and everyone got on so well. Had loads of little jokes and phrases by the end of the week- something which i will remember for ages!
So on the monday after meeting all the students and teachers we set of the hike. We were on the Bibbulum track, which is basically a path through thick bushland. The pathway wasn't always that clear so it was difficult trying to work out where to go... but luckly we had a map and a compass and there were occational markings on trees to say where to go. So we all set of with out packs/sleeping mats/tents/ food supplies. If you have facebook there are photos of me with my pack on... thank goodness for christmas presents! Thanks mum and dad =)
we only hiked about 5/6 Km that day because we got a bit lost trying to find the path we were ment to start on. That night we camped out at Yabberup hut- literally a shack in the middle of the path with a long drop toilet- which was a bit of a luxury compared to just the bush floor! Anyway we pitched our tents and did Warriuka Time- small group time. We had typicall first night camp food of spag boll that had been defrosting in our packs most of the day. So yummy and we were all starving. Went to bed and woke up about 2am to here about 20 kangeroos just sitting outside my tent... was so cool, you could here the 'BOINK' in their steps and i was so tempted to stick my head out but thought i wouldn't jut incase i would get eaten! lol.
Tuesday got up at 6.30 packed up tents and got ready for the day. I was told I had to hike on my own back to the car to drive it to a certain point on the map to meet them after their walk. It was one of those things that i really didn't want to do but surprised myself in doing it. I had to hike about 2 KM on my own through the bush with map compass and my pack... it was such a good feeling when i could make out the car through the trees. I got to the car but i was packed off road and the only way of getting it out was to go over this ditch. No problem with a 4x4- but i different story with a trailer attached to the back! I did thry to do it but the trailer came off! it didnt get stuck though which was good so i just had to put it back on. Ha funny story i think i will remember in a few years time. I then met the others as they finished their hike and left the car with the other leader to take down to the dam. I walked with the group to Wellington Dam where we had dropped the canoes and lunch off on monday morning. We set up lunch and i practised my briefing of the PFD (personal floatation device) and the paddles. Was good practise. We then canoed with all our packs to Potter Gorge where we set up camp. I had a go on the Ski Kayak which was really good fun because i am leading the flat water rafting on the next camp on a sea kayak so it was good practice. I am finding i really like kayaking... perhaps a new found sport i can carry on in england?
Wednesday was a bit of a rest day. I had organised this thing called adventure journey- team challenges to get the groups working and problem solving together. Then in the afternoon we drove to a different camp site in geographe bay with the luxury of toilets- showers- beds and a roof over our heads... it was sooo good to have a building! In the afternoon we all went down to the beach for a few games which i ran and a free swim. Although that didn't last long because the waters were swarming with stingers. not good.
Thursday was i think the best day i have had here yet. In the morning we drove to Giants Cave which last time i did i found such a challenge and really hard for me. This time i really enjoyed it and discovered i overcame my fear. That was awesome. Then we had lunch on the run whilst travelling to Williabrup- a stretch of coast with some awesome cliffs to absail and rock climb. We rigged up a few ropes and off we went. Ross is and trained absail instructor so was really good to have him. Brian and I took turns to do the rock climbing. We had to hook them up then lower them down when they had finished. It was alot easier than it sounds. I managed to get a go on the 15 meter absail which was soo good. I got to the bottom and felt like i wanted to do more. So we rigged up some ropes on the 30 meter one and i went down that one. I would quite happily do a 60 or even 80 meter so i suggested it to ross and we are going to do a training day with some in. cannot wait for that one!
Friday was just a pack up day- said good bye to the students which is always a bit sad but all good things have to come to an end! Got back to normal life fri eve and was really weird going from such a tight community of people to a house where people do there own thing. I do really love being on camp and having the sense of belonging to i group I always come back on such a high.
So i last wrote on here after the rafting camp. So the week after that I went to Darlington to spend some time with my friend Trina and here cousins. They have such a lovely house and it over looks the city of perth from the hills. It was really nice to be in a family home that i have connections with and I was saying to mum that i was really nice talking to Trina about people we both new from school or just general chatter. Monday we went into the Midlands shopping mall, in the evening we went out to darlington national park to look for Kangeroos... surely enough there were loads just chilling out in the feilds. Tuesday we got up quite early and went to Fremantle. It is a toristy town because it is where the first aberiginales landed their boats, so there are a few 'historic' buildings! Its werid how the history of Australia only goes back to about 100 years ago. Everything is very new here and there are new suburbs popping up everywhere. Whenever Eleanor and i go in the car somewhere she says she remembers when that plot of land was just sandues!! it is amazing how fast this country is growing. Don't blame them i spose, there is heaps of land. Anyway so we spent the moring in fremantle, went to Little creatures for lunch. Then got the bust to Rockingham (further south) because trina had said the beach there was amazing- I didnt think the beaches could get much better, but i was wrong! it was incredible. White sand, blue clear water, really sunny. ahh wooooowwwww...
I got the train back to Wanneroo (Andy and Eleanors) for the evening ready to get an early night and head for work in the morning.
Wednesday was quite a good day at work. I got a text the night before saying we were going Canoe and Kayak training and had to meet at the office for 7.30am! I found the Kayaking quite difficult because the swan river was really rough and the wind was quite bad that day. After all that I had to drive the 4x4 uite and the canoe trailer back to the office... we took a wrong turning and i had to reverse the car and trailer up a steap hill and round a bend.... at first i got out the car and was convinced i could do it but the leaders talked me into it and said it would be a 'good learning experience' i was determined to prove them wrong but i actually surprised myself and did it easy! I have found that with alot of things actually that i am more capable than i think i am.
Thursday was quite a stressful day because i was trying to get things done for the camp last week but also prepare for the camps the following weeks too. I kept getting tasks to do from people and got quite stressed out. Not the best day really. Friday was ok as well. We had Geoff Westlake come into talk to us about small group and warriuka times again which was really awesome and helpful. I always come away from those meetings feeling so full of ideas. We had to pack up the trailer and car ready for monday in the afternoon.
Saturday was quite a quiet day. Was just at home in the morning catching up on sleep and rest, then went to Fremantle in the afternoon with Brian and Emily. Sunday did some baking with Eleanor then went to St Matts Uni church in the evening. Feel like i have really made some friend there and its so nice to go there and meet new people. The age of most of the students range from 18 ish to about late 20s so all sort of my age or older which is really cool.
Monday was first day of camp... always an unexpectant day because the week is often determined on how good the kids are so meeting them is always a bit nerve racking! Basically the camp was made up for 3 warriuka staff (me Brian and Ross) the Chaplin from the school and one other teacher. there were only 14 students this time because it was for the school council team. And the aim of the camp ws to get them to work together and bond as a team. For this we didnt have small groups within the group because then they could always be working and sharing ideas together. It was really nice not to be responsible for a certain amount of students (just me) so we all were dong everything together. The kids were all really nice and everyone got on so well. Had loads of little jokes and phrases by the end of the week- something which i will remember for ages!
So on the monday after meeting all the students and teachers we set of the hike. We were on the Bibbulum track, which is basically a path through thick bushland. The pathway wasn't always that clear so it was difficult trying to work out where to go... but luckly we had a map and a compass and there were occational markings on trees to say where to go. So we all set of with out packs/sleeping mats/tents/ food supplies. If you have facebook there are photos of me with my pack on... thank goodness for christmas presents! Thanks mum and dad =)
we only hiked about 5/6 Km that day because we got a bit lost trying to find the path we were ment to start on. That night we camped out at Yabberup hut- literally a shack in the middle of the path with a long drop toilet- which was a bit of a luxury compared to just the bush floor! Anyway we pitched our tents and did Warriuka Time- small group time. We had typicall first night camp food of spag boll that had been defrosting in our packs most of the day. So yummy and we were all starving. Went to bed and woke up about 2am to here about 20 kangeroos just sitting outside my tent... was so cool, you could here the 'BOINK' in their steps and i was so tempted to stick my head out but thought i wouldn't jut incase i would get eaten! lol.
Tuesday got up at 6.30 packed up tents and got ready for the day. I was told I had to hike on my own back to the car to drive it to a certain point on the map to meet them after their walk. It was one of those things that i really didn't want to do but surprised myself in doing it. I had to hike about 2 KM on my own through the bush with map compass and my pack... it was such a good feeling when i could make out the car through the trees. I got to the car but i was packed off road and the only way of getting it out was to go over this ditch. No problem with a 4x4- but i different story with a trailer attached to the back! I did thry to do it but the trailer came off! it didnt get stuck though which was good so i just had to put it back on. Ha funny story i think i will remember in a few years time. I then met the others as they finished their hike and left the car with the other leader to take down to the dam. I walked with the group to Wellington Dam where we had dropped the canoes and lunch off on monday morning. We set up lunch and i practised my briefing of the PFD (personal floatation device) and the paddles. Was good practise. We then canoed with all our packs to Potter Gorge where we set up camp. I had a go on the Ski Kayak which was really good fun because i am leading the flat water rafting on the next camp on a sea kayak so it was good practice. I am finding i really like kayaking... perhaps a new found sport i can carry on in england?
Wednesday was a bit of a rest day. I had organised this thing called adventure journey- team challenges to get the groups working and problem solving together. Then in the afternoon we drove to a different camp site in geographe bay with the luxury of toilets- showers- beds and a roof over our heads... it was sooo good to have a building! In the afternoon we all went down to the beach for a few games which i ran and a free swim. Although that didn't last long because the waters were swarming with stingers. not good.
Thursday was i think the best day i have had here yet. In the morning we drove to Giants Cave which last time i did i found such a challenge and really hard for me. This time i really enjoyed it and discovered i overcame my fear. That was awesome. Then we had lunch on the run whilst travelling to Williabrup- a stretch of coast with some awesome cliffs to absail and rock climb. We rigged up a few ropes and off we went. Ross is and trained absail instructor so was really good to have him. Brian and I took turns to do the rock climbing. We had to hook them up then lower them down when they had finished. It was alot easier than it sounds. I managed to get a go on the 15 meter absail which was soo good. I got to the bottom and felt like i wanted to do more. So we rigged up some ropes on the 30 meter one and i went down that one. I would quite happily do a 60 or even 80 meter so i suggested it to ross and we are going to do a training day with some in. cannot wait for that one!
Friday was just a pack up day- said good bye to the students which is always a bit sad but all good things have to come to an end! Got back to normal life fri eve and was really weird going from such a tight community of people to a house where people do there own thing. I do really love being on camp and having the sense of belonging to i group I always come back on such a high.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Rafting camp
Hello all!
Sorry I haven’t been able to write on here in a while, I have had so much on!
On 13th Feb I moved into emily’s host family house for a couple of weeks. It was so nice to be in a really homey home and really good to live with emily too!
I just finished my second camp yesterday (fri 5th march) and I feel so exhausted. It was so much fun though and I got so much out of it! It is really amazing how much i have learnt in just over a month now. The camp was a rafting camp down the blackwood river 5 hours south of perth city. The weather was so different there, much cooler and alot windier which was actually quite nice to not be so hot all the time. The camp was with 6 Warriuka leaders (me included) 4 teachers from the school and about 40 year 9 students. I was given a group of 7 students, I think they were the ‘cool kids’ a bit because the were a little bit loud and dominant. My team was the only one without a teacher on the raft which was hard at first but by the end i found the students to be so much more relaxed.
So the basic outline for the camp was to build our rafts out of 4 blow up boats and 6 long poles. There was an upside down table in the middle where they had to put all their gear, so tents sleeping mats and bags. My teams raft was pretty sturdy but other rafts had a few sinking problems... luckily none of their gear got wet apart form a couple of sleeping bags!
Each day the idea was to raft down the river a certain distance to the next campsite or felid we were in. First day we travelled 5.5 Km, second it was 4km third day it was 3km. In the evening we would set up tents... dig toilets... and cook dinner on a stove, then have something called ‘Warriuka time’ which i had to plan for each day, and with you and your group you would sit down for 45 mins, debrief the day, read a bible passage or a story and chat about issues in the passage. There is alot of freedom you can give with warriuka time and each leader does it differently. There were some really awesome discussions in my group and I was really inspired by what the kids were saying. For example one of them was describing how hard it is to get to heaven yet the easy way leads to hell. He had a picture which was so detailed and i think it really inspired other people in the group to share ideas. I always came away from the warriuka time on a high because it is so amazing to see year 9s talk about christianity and get excited about it! SO AWESOME!
We had a game or activity after dinner. Then it was bed ready to pack up and raft onto the next site the next day.
I got a chance on wednesday morning to take the motor boat out and keep the rafts together which was heaps fun... went really fast!
This weekend I moved back into live with Elenor and Andy for these next couple of weeks then at the end of march before a camp I am moving to greenwood which is alot more central to things. Emaily Brain and I went to a comedy club last night which was really good and then this morning i have been sortying out some of my stuff out of suitcases. I went to lunch with some people from Andy and Elenors church and they lived in cambridge down mill road till they moved out to work here. Tonight im going to st Matts Uni church then tomorrow im going to spend a couple of days with my friend Trina from Milton because she is staying with her Aunties in Darlington (not far from here)
Must dash as im skypeing mum dad and ella soon!
Sorry I haven’t been able to write on here in a while, I have had so much on!
On 13th Feb I moved into emily’s host family house for a couple of weeks. It was so nice to be in a really homey home and really good to live with emily too!
I just finished my second camp yesterday (fri 5th march) and I feel so exhausted. It was so much fun though and I got so much out of it! It is really amazing how much i have learnt in just over a month now. The camp was a rafting camp down the blackwood river 5 hours south of perth city. The weather was so different there, much cooler and alot windier which was actually quite nice to not be so hot all the time. The camp was with 6 Warriuka leaders (me included) 4 teachers from the school and about 40 year 9 students. I was given a group of 7 students, I think they were the ‘cool kids’ a bit because the were a little bit loud and dominant. My team was the only one without a teacher on the raft which was hard at first but by the end i found the students to be so much more relaxed.
So the basic outline for the camp was to build our rafts out of 4 blow up boats and 6 long poles. There was an upside down table in the middle where they had to put all their gear, so tents sleeping mats and bags. My teams raft was pretty sturdy but other rafts had a few sinking problems... luckily none of their gear got wet apart form a couple of sleeping bags!
Each day the idea was to raft down the river a certain distance to the next campsite or felid we were in. First day we travelled 5.5 Km, second it was 4km third day it was 3km. In the evening we would set up tents... dig toilets... and cook dinner on a stove, then have something called ‘Warriuka time’ which i had to plan for each day, and with you and your group you would sit down for 45 mins, debrief the day, read a bible passage or a story and chat about issues in the passage. There is alot of freedom you can give with warriuka time and each leader does it differently. There were some really awesome discussions in my group and I was really inspired by what the kids were saying. For example one of them was describing how hard it is to get to heaven yet the easy way leads to hell. He had a picture which was so detailed and i think it really inspired other people in the group to share ideas. I always came away from the warriuka time on a high because it is so amazing to see year 9s talk about christianity and get excited about it! SO AWESOME!
We had a game or activity after dinner. Then it was bed ready to pack up and raft onto the next site the next day.
I got a chance on wednesday morning to take the motor boat out and keep the rafts together which was heaps fun... went really fast!
This weekend I moved back into live with Elenor and Andy for these next couple of weeks then at the end of march before a camp I am moving to greenwood which is alot more central to things. Emaily Brain and I went to a comedy club last night which was really good and then this morning i have been sortying out some of my stuff out of suitcases. I went to lunch with some people from Andy and Elenors church and they lived in cambridge down mill road till they moved out to work here. Tonight im going to st Matts Uni church then tomorrow im going to spend a couple of days with my friend Trina from Milton because she is staying with her Aunties in Darlington (not far from here)
Must dash as im skypeing mum dad and ella soon!
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