On the first day of camp we headed to Arkaroola rock lookout, just outside of Wilpena Pound. We walked up a trail for about an hour and looked at some nice scenery and some Indigenous paintings. We learnt these painting tell of a significant learning narrative for the Adnyamathana people. We had our recess and walked back down. It was slippery for some but we managed to safely make our way to Ikara National Park where we set up our tents. We had slices and birthday cake celebrating the birthday of Vinh and Emily, which were supplied by the year 9 Home Ec group.
At 2:00pm we set off for a walk to the home stead where the boys and girls split up for their solo Abyss. We were to sit alone for 40 minutes and think about who we wanted to be in the future and what we wanted to overcome. After our Abyss we walked back to the campsite and got warm by the campfire. After our dinner of hamburgers and roast potatoes we had a quiz night. When the quiz started it began pouring with rain. A few tents got flooded but we eventually set up some spare tents. It was a cosy night for some boys who got to all share a tent together when their tent got flooded. All night it was constantly raining and windy, which made for a little excitement.
Most people chose to come out of their tents at around 6:30am for a pancake breakfast made by Mrs Eckert and Miss Blowes. All of our events like the big hike and the cooking were cancelled due to the weather so instead we played some team games and packed up our tents while waiting for the bus. We nibbled on some muffins, fruit and left-over slices on the way home.
Overall it was a good experience despite the cold and rainy weather. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t continue with the activities we had planned but it definitely was a good experience and prepared us for trek if we choose that next year.
