Sunday 24th
October (Day 1)
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed our Year 9 cohort arrived at the Barrie Holmes Stadium this morning at 6:45 am. Many anxious looks were spread across the gymnasium and that was just from the parents and carers. After a short briefing and some wise words from Mr. Patzel, all 138 students made their way to their respective buses and were on a journey of a lifetime.
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9A have spent the afternoon bushwalking through the Deep Creek Conservation Park and have had the pleasure (?) of our Head of Senior School Ciaran Buckley supervising. Ciaran is joined by Sports Trainee Emily Dawe and Wilderness staff members. They have successfully made their way through the first section of the walk and have enjoyed their first night of cooking their own meals on the Trangia stove.
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9B supported by Heidi Clark have spent the afternoon on a property owned by Wilderness Escapes on Hindmarsh Island. Students have been relaxing throughout the afternoon playing numerous games and fishing off a small jetty. These students will now travel 2km up the road to undertake their solo night. They were dropped at an individual location at 7:00 pm and will set up their own tent and be left to their own time. This is the centerpiece of the 9SHINE experience, giving the students an opportunity to reflect on the year that has been and the development that has occurred. Students will also be given a letter to themselves that they wrote way back at the start of Term 1. Too often in our modern society, our young people are not given the opportunity to stop, reflect and be present in the moment.
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9C supported by Micki Greenham and George Adamopoulos has spent the afternoon Kayaking. Due to windier conditions than expected, they have had to make alternate arrangements and will be kayaking to a different location. Students have spent the night cooking their own meals and will camp on the dunes of the Coorong.
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9D supported by the evergreen Steve Primer and Ange Queale have spent the afternoon on their first leg of the bushwalk. 9D started at the opposite end to 9A and they will cross paths tomorrow. This is an energetic group, to say the least, and they will be more than capable of achieving great success over the course of the experience.
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9E supported by Nick Patzel and Alisha Gasparini has also spent the afternoon Kayaking. They had a slightly later start but have made it safely to their camping spot on the Coorong. Students will spend the night at a ‘zero’ facility site and gain the full camping experience. Rumours circling that Mr. Patzel has a very red nose from the Southern Fleurieu sun.
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9F supported by Nathan Fleetwood and Sarah Mutch has also spent the afternoon at Hindmarsh Island enjoying a relaxing afternoon before the busy period of camp really takes hold. They will also undertake their solo night tonight and set themselves up for a successful experience. Special mention to Chelsea Ryan who forgot her hat, plate and now only has three prongs left on her fork.
