Duke of Ed Camp Reflections
This Term saw our second Adventurous Journey for 2023! As part of the Duke of Edinburgh Program, 22 Year 10 students set off on their Practice Journey in the Grampians National Park. It was here they spent three days working on their hiking and camping skills as well as investigating the native flora and fauna to help prepare them for their qualifying journey in Term 4.
The Journey We All Waited For…
“Bro where is the M8?”. And that was the start of our journey to the Grampians. After weeks of planning and excitement, we had finally gotten to the day we’d all been waiting for. With the Maggi group navigating and the rest of us hoping we’d somehow get to the Grampians soon, we set off not knowing what was yet to come.
Our first stop was all our favourite - McDonalds where we stopped to have what was probably the best breakfast we had all week. After bulk buying our Macca’s we headed off onto the M8 again. After multiple naps, we reached The Halls Gap Zoo. We learnt about the Grampians’ native and introduced species, even meeting a dingo up close. The teachers had fun chucking frozen turkey legs over the precariously short fence to two cheetahs. My personal favourite was probably the ‘rainbow chicken’ (cassowary).
Next, we headed off to the Boroka Lookout which was almost the prettiest view we had seen. After taking dozens of photos in the cold we headed off to our home for the next three days. Using a couple of seconds to take in everything around us we set off to set up the campsites. After about 2 hours we were finally satisfied with everything and started preparing our meal for the night.
Like Joel Edgerton said, “Everything is a learning process.” And we sure did learn so much that night from cooking. We made a Trangia circle and chopped vegetables under the almost-full moon for what was a surprisingly good dinner for ‘most’ of us. After roasting marshmallows and burning half of them came the most challenging bit for many of us. Drop Toilets. Giggling in our tents we all dozed off hoping for the best in the next two days.
One of the best parts of our Duke of Ed camp was waking up later than usual. The second day was the highlight of our camp. With a late start and a quick breakfast, we started packing for the day. After a short drive, we reached Halls Gap town. With excitement and motivation, we started our hike to the Pinnacle containing multiple stops and multiple turnbacks. It was hard, yet with the encouragement from peers we got there after vlogging, seeing a rock wallaby, singing multiple songs, bush peeing and a couple of minor injuries. We had morning tea at the beautiful Venus baths and lunch after we finally got to the top of the Pinnacle, where we were greeted by stunning views and persistent crows. The pinnacle was probably the best view we had seen at the Grampians. Going downhill was much easier than going up. After an exhausting hike, we were treated to a Halls Gaps' special Ice cream.
That night we all huddled up around the campfire talking and laughing about ourselves through multiple team building games. We could all definitely agree that the campfire discussion session brought the group together and allowed us to learn about others and make new friends.
After a good night of sleep, we reluctantly woke up the next day and packed the campsite up. Folding tents up, packing our packs, doing an emu bob around the campsite and saying our final goodbyes to our home for the last two nights.
Getting back on the road we headed to Mackenzie Falls. Excited, we jumped off the bus where we met disappointment. Realising the path down to the falls was closed so we headed to see them from a lookout which still looked amazing. After a fun walk back to the bus we took off onto the ‘rat’ path. From Halls Gap to Ararat to Ballarat we sang songs.
At one o'clock we stopped at Ballarat Midlands Reserve & Water Park for lunch and a camp reflection. We took this as a great opportunity to talk about things we enjoyed and the memories we created as a class. After an emotional reflection and snake lollies we were back onto our favourite M8. Most of us were fast asleep while others were vibing to songs. Soon enough we met Melbourne’s afternoon traffic.
As we reached school we were ready to go home, but not until we had unpacked everything. Upon arrival at school, we set off to another challenge where we unpacked our packs, took out our tents and tarps, washed trangias and cleaned out other camp equipment. Finally, we had come to the end of our journey.
Thank you to Mr. McLennan, Ms. Hobbs, and Mr. O’Brien for making our Duke of Edinburgh Practice Journey so memorable. Our experience allowed us to learn important life skills, take responsibility for ourselves, learn perseverance and resilience, and connect with our peers, which is what we love about the Duke of Ed program as a whole. We would also like to thank our class for creating such great memories with us. It was an unforgettable journey for all of us.
Suvathy S and Kevinya D