by Simone Erasmus
In the final week of Term Three, Chloé, Joe and I embarked on yet another Colac camp adventure. For many of the students, it was their first time going on the rough and ready style of camp to Colac, where there’s no running water, no permanent structures, and very little phone reception. The three of us left on Thursday with 12 students, and returned on Saturday afternoon with (thankfully!) the same amount of students.
As we trekked into the campsite, we encountered a dead snake; there were lots of screams, and whether or not some of those were mine can neither be confirmed nor denied. After we settled in, some students began chopping wood for the fire, while Ash, Chloé, Saskia, and Amie dug the “facilities“ for the toilet. We set up a special tent for the food (thanks Amanda for the lend!) so that it would be protected from the rain. Joe brought along his gas stove too, so that we could cook on something other than the campfire. Our first dinner proved interesting as some had forgotten to bring plates and cutlery.
Over the two days there, we played a lot of Uno, there was a lot of wood chopping, and plenty of roasted marshmallows. Noah didn’t bring his s’mores gear along this time, so we had the marshmallows on their own, which was still delicious. Declan and Kye managed to build their own little fire near their tent, though it wasn’t as popular as the big campfire we all got going. On the last night there we had the traditional bonfire, on a ridiculously massive scale. Chloé stood there with the fire extinguisher on hand and ready to go, but all was fine and safe.
Joe brought his creativity to the fore the morning we left, using up and cooking a whole heap of the leftover food we had for people to eat on the buses home. Overall, the camp was nice and relaxed, everyone was in good spirits, and I’d encourage other students to try out the Colac experience for themselves!