Stage 4 Bournda excursion

Stage 4 Excursion 2011

Bournda / Tathra

This was for some a huge adventure into the unknown and for others a return to the place of family stories often told. You see Bournda National Park affectionately known as just Bournda has been for many of the Forbes families, part of their educational fabric in times past. Since 1984 when the park was first established, the school took a regular pilgrimage to Bournda to expand the student's horizons and give them a true adventure. In 1999 this idea was changed and other venues were explored. After a 12 year break…we were back and in force….. 9 staff and supporting person Mr Hill and 74 students, a mix of yr 7 & 8 boys and girls. Bournda welcomed us with open arms. Many of the students who came on the excursion were the children of the original campers, or had Aunts, Uncles or neighbours who had been.

Mrs Hill (Yr 7year Advisor) who organised the excursion had originally  tried to get a ski trip sorted but the costs were prohibitive and it was Ms Kelly (Deputy) who suggested the return to Bournda. So the plans were laid and it was decided to split the camp into two sections…roughing it at Bournda and then recovering somewhat at Kianniny resort. This way the students were able to experience both the best of the bush and the beach.

The weather was kind to us throughout the excursion with rain falling only when we were either indoors or asleep. Apart from one sprained ankle and an oyster cut everyone returned home intact and full of memories.

The fishing groups caught fish and there are photos to prove it. Both Mr Hill and Mr Little had grins from ear to ear. Oliver Carlisle's fish was almost bigger than him.

The raft building was a huge success with the year 8 boys winning a bag of BBQ chips by getting all 15 students on their raft before it sank in spectacular fashion.

Christopher B gets the dare devil award for taking the most acrobatic flip over the handle bars of his bike. He then recovered and under the tutelage of Sam C and Jordan B and he braved the waters of Tathra beach and learnt to blitz it down the face of waves with his boogie board… unstoppable. Raine P gave Isaac P a run for his money in the Beach games…..it was a near thing and the boys would never have heard the end of it had Raine won.

Another memorable moment was the following day when a putrid smell was discovered emanating from two certain  tents ….it was discovered that these tents had suffered a covert  possum attack in the middle of the night….one wonders what they were after boys when lollies were BANNED!!!!!??????

The Yr 8 girls were voted best groomed and the Yr 7 boys the worst. A couple of Year 8 girls had three showers a day while a couple of Yr7 boys were dragged screaming to their first in 3 days. Jacob B tried to outstare a possum in the spotlight game and the possum apparently won with Beardy running away screaming even more than Mr Little.

Jack R and Josh S proved their abilities by handling a BBQ for over 80 people after being awake nonstop for over 35 hours. Perhaps this lack of sleep may have contributed to Jack's decision to thread himself through a small inner tube (pictured below), which incidentally he had a lot of trouble getting out of, without losing his dignity.

While we are on the topic of Jack R, the impromptu talent quest discovered that Jack has the X factor…… he can really sing! Well done Jack. We also discovered that Mr Hogan can't or won't sing and that Sarah Duncan apart from loving carrots has some really lovely ballet moves and during her performance she also manage to test the stability of the railing on several occasions. Incredibly we found the hidden talent of Oliver Carlisle…he  must have been moonlighting as a robot…OOOh  and oh yes that several of the year 7 & 8 girls can do the splits…ouch….please don't ever again we are still all wincing!

Nathan M was voted the student most likely to move an entire cabin out on mass, in a hurry. Ask Nathan for the details on how he managed it. Also that Ethan B turns bright red when Happy Birthday is sung to him over and over and over. We learnt that Mr Little while being a fantastic judge of the talent show and a stalwart fisherman, he also proved to be our saviour when McDonalds let us down and would only take a bulk payment at 3.15 am.

Mr Hogan and Ms Hallet, Ms Allgood and Ms Kelly proved to be the super fit staff who were more than able to keep up with the students and Ms Henry and Mr Allen (Prac Teachers) also were hot on their heels too.

Ms Stibbard was great on the serving spoon and she also turned into a very comfortable pillow on the bus at one stage too.  Mr Hogan managed the coordination of table groups and first aid while Mrs Hill proved that she was the most bounce able teacher, after biting the dust on day one over a tree root, she still managed to spot light patrol into the wee hours of the night, bouncing all that ventured forth. Only the two possums eluded her spotlight, the students were wiser and decided not to try it. J

Well that's it for this year's camp round up.  We in Yr7 now will be off to the Central Coast in Yr8 in 2012…..at The Great Aussie Bush Camp in term 4….so start preparing for that adventure too. Year 8 we will not share a camp with you lot again until 2013. It was a great privilege and we will try to get the Ski thing organised for that one perhaps.

 It has been a fun year …All please stay safe, you now know you need to avoid blue bottles, bees, ticks and oyster shells, logs, tree roots, possums and to have a 4 minute shower every day…….I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and thank you for all being so wonderful!…Mrs H