Third Time’s a Charm: end of year camp in Euroa

by Hagan (English teacher)

Nobody knew if camp would happen this year. Restrictions might have prevented it, and if not restrictions, the difficulty of finding a place that could take 60 or so people at short notice.

What do you do when faced with such uncertainty? Go with what you know. We’ve camped at Euroa for the last three years now, and we don’t seem to be sick of it yet.

Whole School Meeting al fresco. We’re so inclusive we even make space for the tents!

And how could we be sick of it? The place has a pool, a large creek, some op shops, bushwalks, a great spot for laser tag in the bushland nearby, and, a selling point for those most inclined to complain, McDonald’s is a 30 min walk away. To add to the appeal, Scott (English teacher) and Oscar (Yr 9) organised a day of exploring the local area. This involved picking strawberries at a nearby farm and bowling in Shepparton.

The summer of cricket begins at Euroa.

Personally, I find the most entertainment from hanging around the campsite. People find all sorts of things to do to keep themselves entertained. Cricket or kicking a football is an obvious option and cards is also popular.

The survivor games prompted fellow feelings. In this challenge, participants had to stand behind the cones and place a series of objects in order from smallest to largest on the other side of the skipping rope without using their hands. Don’t worry, nobody understood what to do at the time, either.

Some took a creative turn to banish boredom. A group of teachers and students convened a junk band around the campfire, using pots and pans, empty storage boxes, cutlery, tree branches, a guitar, a banjo and a harmonica to sing the blues on Thursday night.

Thursday saw a road trip to experience some of the local lifestyle. Strawberry picking bore fruit, but the local nut warehouse was closed.

The camp in Term IV can seem like a tiny version of the preceding year. Some things are planned, some aren’t, the point being that we are all planning or not planning together. A re-animation of 2020 would have looked different, with all of us staying in our own tents and conversing through the walls. We’d only come out with masks on for meals and bathroom trips and a 60 min bush walk. However, this camp was the opposite of 2020. Rather than sitting alone in our tents, conversing through the walls, we managed to distill a last-minute experience of normal, reminding us why we seek to belong to communities that bring us together face to face.