Year 7 Camp to Central Australia
25 March 2012 3am- Woke up, changed and set off for school to meet the teachers and my other 44 students
On 25 March 2012, 45 Year 7 students and 5 teachers went on camp to Central Australia- the Red Centre.
Day 1
I woke up at 3 in the morning because our flight up to Sydney had been rescheduled an hour earlier to 7am and we had to be at school by 4:30am. Everyone looked very tired. At 4:45am, we said our final goodbyes to our family as Mr. Williams, Ms. Ackermann, Ms. Lloyd, Miss Raven and Miss Cass asked us to board the bus. Upon boarding, we were given an activity booklet and a sketchbook. We took the plane to Sydney for transit, and had my breakfast there. I sat next to Ali and Mr. Williams on the plane to Sydney and Ayers Rock. We arrived at Ayers Rock 30 minutes before scheduled arrival. The hot wind hit me the moment I stepped out of the plane and the sun was beating down on us. Uluru was very big when we drove around it.
Highlights
Uluru- Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
Food
Chicken Kiev
Day 2
We woke up early in the morning, and it was very dark outside.
We arrived at Uluru at 8am. We were met by Vincent, our guide, he is a local Aborigine. He gave us many interesting facts and told us many stories. He also introduced us to a new fruit- plum bush. It is sweet at the start but it turns bitter. We then travelled to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). The walk up was very challenging as there were all loose rocks. We did a Geography activity about landforms and land patterns.
Highlights
Uluru, Kata Tjuta
Food
Hot breakfast,Wrap,Lasagne
Day 3
We woke up very early again. We packed up our tents and our bags, loaded it onto the bus and went to Kings Canyon. The drive took 3 hours. We first did the Kathleen Springs walk, there were signposts around and we had to summarise what had been written on each sign with our own words. We then went to Kings Canyon. I found the best water of the camp at the tap there because it did not taste like chlorine. After that, we did the Kings Creek Walk. There was a brook so the only way to get to the other end was through the rocks. I found that hard because some rocks were unstable and many rocks were either too small or hard to lay a foot on because it was slanting. After a while, I finally got over the rocks and made it to the lookout where we were resting. We then started to head down again and did an Art activity, we had to draw and colour the reflections of the stream with only colour pencils. We then headed to our accomodation for the night- Kings Canyon Resort. We were given the opportunity to go to the pool, but I chose not to go and stayed in the room I shared with Pramiti and Crystal. I slept on the double bed while Pram and Crystal slept on single beds.
Highlights
Kings Canyon, Kathleen Springs
Food
Hot breakfast, Hot dog, Sweet and Sour chicken
Day 4
Another early start. Packed our bags, locked our rooms and got onto the bus. We all had to cope a 5 hours journey to Alice Springs. I was very excited to go to Alice Springs because it was a town and there wouldn't be so many walks to do. We were also going to visit the RFDS base and ASSOA.
We made a stop in Curtin Springs about halfway through the drive. I bought a bottle of cold green tea. It costed an unbelievably expensive $6! In Melbourne, I could get the same thing for $4. I also found out that in NT the petrol costs 215.9c/l whereas in Melbourne it got up to 160c/l. I also bought 2 postcards of Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon- 2 places that I had visted earlier on. On the way to A.S. we also stopped to view Lake Amadeus, a salt pan lake. It was white, we did some Science while sitting there. After a very long while, we were finally in Alice. Compared to Melbourne CBD, the Alice Springs CBD is very quiet and there are hardly any tall skyscrapers in Alice as we see in Melbourne. There was a similarity: as the Yarra runs through Melbourne, the Todd river runs through Alice. The Todd river was named after Charles Todd, and Alice Springs was named after Alice Todd! We drove to 'Alice In The Territory' which was WAY better than the other 2 accomodation. I was with Charmaine, Sanduni and Kithmini. We had bunks and a toilet in our room. We then went to the RFDS where we saw a video about what they do, and we also went to the historcal museum where we saw a replica of a RFDS plane. We then went back and went to the pool. Going to the pool was really fun because we got to splash the teachers and also jump from the top into the water. We had dinner and then came the reptile show. Crystal was very scared of snakes so Mr. Williams was scaring her. I got to put the snake aroung my neck, it was a baby snake but could grow to 20m long. Crystal was certainly not recovering from the snake, nor was Charlotte K. She had this very frightened face and was screaming the whole time the snake was on her. The funniest part of the night was that when it was Mr. Williams' turn he kept really calm. That was until the snake decided to curl around his neck and stay there for half an hour. He didn't know where the snake's head was and accidentally touched the snake's head. He was sooo extremely close to getting bitten, in fact the snake's teeth did get him a little bit. The snake's teeth was razor sharp. We finally got back to our rooms at 10pm, and I had a proper shower.
Highlights
Royal Flying Doctors Service, Reptile Show
Food
Baked beans, wrap, spag bol
Day 5
I was happy today because breakfast was way later than usual at 7:30am. Our room was watching HP & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. At breakfast, everyone was saying that GWS(the newest team) beat the Cats. We went to visit Mbantua Gallery- which is an Aboriginal art gallery. There were many colourful art. There are many different stories behind each artwork. There were many artworks that I wanted to buy but I could buy so many, so instead Ibought the pack of 12 postcards which has my favourite artworks in it. We then went to Simpsons Gap. That was the easiest and shortest walk. There was a leg of water separating the rocks. We then visited Desert Park which included a Birds of Prey show, a Nocturnal house and an Amphitheatre. There were many reptiles in the Nocturnal house, it was very dark. We then drove back and went to the pool again. I then was going to the room to change but Kith locked the door and I didn't have the key so I was locked out. I couldn't change nor get my eating utensils. I was screaming, I felt alone. I told Millie and Sarah, and they went down to dinner to tell Kith. Kith finaly came up and rescued me.
Highlights
Mbantua Gallery
Food
Hot breakfast, wrap, barbecue
Day 6
Our last day in Central Australia. We packed our bags and checked for any other things around the room. We watched TV and heard that Melbourne was 29C that day. We went down and left for AS School Of the Air. We watched another video about what they do, how they run the school and also saw a pre-recorded lesson. There is also a celebrity wall where when famous people come to visit they sign their names on the wall. Tony Abbott has visited the ASSOA. We then checked in at Alice Springs airport and flew back home to lovely Melbourne, our home.
Highlights
ASSOA, going back home!
Food
Toasties, Chicken and Salad sandwich
On 25 March 2012, 45 Year 7 students and 5 teachers went on camp to Central Australia- the Red Centre.
Day 1
I woke up at 3 in the morning because our flight up to Sydney had been rescheduled an hour earlier to 7am and we had to be at school by 4:30am. Everyone looked very tired. At 4:45am, we said our final goodbyes to our family as Mr. Williams, Ms. Ackermann, Ms. Lloyd, Miss Raven and Miss Cass asked us to board the bus. Upon boarding, we were given an activity booklet and a sketchbook. We took the plane to Sydney for transit, and had my breakfast there. I sat next to Ali and Mr. Williams on the plane to Sydney and Ayers Rock. We arrived at Ayers Rock 30 minutes before scheduled arrival. The hot wind hit me the moment I stepped out of the plane and the sun was beating down on us. Uluru was very big when we drove around it.
Highlights
Uluru- Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
Food
Chicken Kiev
Day 2
We woke up early in the morning, and it was very dark outside.
We arrived at Uluru at 8am. We were met by Vincent, our guide, he is a local Aborigine. He gave us many interesting facts and told us many stories. He also introduced us to a new fruit- plum bush. It is sweet at the start but it turns bitter. We then travelled to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). The walk up was very challenging as there were all loose rocks. We did a Geography activity about landforms and land patterns.
Highlights
Uluru, Kata Tjuta
Food
Hot breakfast,Wrap,Lasagne
Day 3
We woke up very early again. We packed up our tents and our bags, loaded it onto the bus and went to Kings Canyon. The drive took 3 hours. We first did the Kathleen Springs walk, there were signposts around and we had to summarise what had been written on each sign with our own words. We then went to Kings Canyon. I found the best water of the camp at the tap there because it did not taste like chlorine. After that, we did the Kings Creek Walk. There was a brook so the only way to get to the other end was through the rocks. I found that hard because some rocks were unstable and many rocks were either too small or hard to lay a foot on because it was slanting. After a while, I finally got over the rocks and made it to the lookout where we were resting. We then started to head down again and did an Art activity, we had to draw and colour the reflections of the stream with only colour pencils. We then headed to our accomodation for the night- Kings Canyon Resort. We were given the opportunity to go to the pool, but I chose not to go and stayed in the room I shared with Pramiti and Crystal. I slept on the double bed while Pram and Crystal slept on single beds.
Highlights
Kings Canyon, Kathleen Springs
Food
Hot breakfast, Hot dog, Sweet and Sour chicken
Day 4
Another early start. Packed our bags, locked our rooms and got onto the bus. We all had to cope a 5 hours journey to Alice Springs. I was very excited to go to Alice Springs because it was a town and there wouldn't be so many walks to do. We were also going to visit the RFDS base and ASSOA.
We made a stop in Curtin Springs about halfway through the drive. I bought a bottle of cold green tea. It costed an unbelievably expensive $6! In Melbourne, I could get the same thing for $4. I also found out that in NT the petrol costs 215.9c/l whereas in Melbourne it got up to 160c/l. I also bought 2 postcards of Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon- 2 places that I had visted earlier on. On the way to A.S. we also stopped to view Lake Amadeus, a salt pan lake. It was white, we did some Science while sitting there. After a very long while, we were finally in Alice. Compared to Melbourne CBD, the Alice Springs CBD is very quiet and there are hardly any tall skyscrapers in Alice as we see in Melbourne. There was a similarity: as the Yarra runs through Melbourne, the Todd river runs through Alice. The Todd river was named after Charles Todd, and Alice Springs was named after Alice Todd! We drove to 'Alice In The Territory' which was WAY better than the other 2 accomodation. I was with Charmaine, Sanduni and Kithmini. We had bunks and a toilet in our room. We then went to the RFDS where we saw a video about what they do, and we also went to the historcal museum where we saw a replica of a RFDS plane. We then went back and went to the pool. Going to the pool was really fun because we got to splash the teachers and also jump from the top into the water. We had dinner and then came the reptile show. Crystal was very scared of snakes so Mr. Williams was scaring her. I got to put the snake aroung my neck, it was a baby snake but could grow to 20m long. Crystal was certainly not recovering from the snake, nor was Charlotte K. She had this very frightened face and was screaming the whole time the snake was on her. The funniest part of the night was that when it was Mr. Williams' turn he kept really calm. That was until the snake decided to curl around his neck and stay there for half an hour. He didn't know where the snake's head was and accidentally touched the snake's head. He was sooo extremely close to getting bitten, in fact the snake's teeth did get him a little bit. The snake's teeth was razor sharp. We finally got back to our rooms at 10pm, and I had a proper shower.
Highlights
Royal Flying Doctors Service, Reptile Show
Food
Baked beans, wrap, spag bol
Day 5
I was happy today because breakfast was way later than usual at 7:30am. Our room was watching HP & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. At breakfast, everyone was saying that GWS(the newest team) beat the Cats. We went to visit Mbantua Gallery- which is an Aboriginal art gallery. There were many colourful art. There are many different stories behind each artwork. There were many artworks that I wanted to buy but I could buy so many, so instead Ibought the pack of 12 postcards which has my favourite artworks in it. We then went to Simpsons Gap. That was the easiest and shortest walk. There was a leg of water separating the rocks. We then visited Desert Park which included a Birds of Prey show, a Nocturnal house and an Amphitheatre. There were many reptiles in the Nocturnal house, it was very dark. We then drove back and went to the pool again. I then was going to the room to change but Kith locked the door and I didn't have the key so I was locked out. I couldn't change nor get my eating utensils. I was screaming, I felt alone. I told Millie and Sarah, and they went down to dinner to tell Kith. Kith finaly came up and rescued me.
Highlights
Mbantua Gallery
Food
Hot breakfast, wrap, barbecue
Day 6
Our last day in Central Australia. We packed our bags and checked for any other things around the room. We watched TV and heard that Melbourne was 29C that day. We went down and left for AS School Of the Air. We watched another video about what they do, how they run the school and also saw a pre-recorded lesson. There is also a celebrity wall where when famous people come to visit they sign their names on the wall. Tony Abbott has visited the ASSOA. We then checked in at Alice Springs airport and flew back home to lovely Melbourne, our home.
Highlights
ASSOA, going back home!
Food
Toasties, Chicken and Salad sandwich
Labels: Camp, Central Australia, Year 7
posted by REIIJOCE! @ 6:03 PM
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