by Thomas Foody and Tomer Berkowitz
At Alia, each school year begins with a whole-school orientation camp. In 2018, that took place at Torquay, as students and teachers headed to the surf coast to begin the school year, from Tuesday, 30 January to Friday, 2 February.
After the bus trip down, a strong sense of camaraderie emerged as students helped one another pitch tents in the bad weather. After a week of 35+ degree weather in Melbourne leading up to the camp, it felt a bit odd to be at the beach in 20 degree, overcast conditions. Unfortunately, this lasted over the first two days of the camp, but cleared up by the third day.
Fortunately, this didn’t put any dampener on the enjoyment of the camp, as people relished the proximity to the local shops, buying and eating lots of beach food like fish and chips, ice-creams, and pizzas. The camp meals were also successful, with students’ participation increasing over the camp, enthusiastically helping to prepare the burgers, falafels, marinated chicken, and chilli con carne, among other things. As Alia College camps rely on the willing contributions of students in this way, it was good to see everyone getting involved to help out.
The scheduled activities were well enjoyed; both the surfing in cold water (thank goodness for those wetsuits!) and the kayaking in slightly warmer water. There was also a rock climbing and bouldering adventure in Geelong – hopefully it isn’t too bould-er statement to say that rocked!
Thanks to all the dedicated students and staff who put in their effort to make this orientation camp such a great experience. Special mentions go to Charlie (Year 12), who planned much of the camp, and Tomer, Scott, and Antonia, for their hard work.
We look forward to another excellent experience at the next whole school camp in December!
