Balaklava High School
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14 Gwy Terrace
Balaklava SA 5461
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Email: dl.0769.info@schools.sa.edu.au
Phone: 08 8862 0600
Fax: 08 8862 0650

YEAR 8 CAMP TO PORT VINCENT

On Monday morning of the 7th of November most of the Year 8s left school on an aquatics camp. We all piled on the bus ready for three days of fun at Port Vincent. The bus left at around 9:30am and we arrived at the camp site at approximately 11:30 am. This allowed us to have enough time to unpack and get ready for our first activities. There were two dorms, one for the girls and one for the boys. There was also a dining hall and toilet block. The campsite was the old Port Vincent School. Once everybody was dressed in their bathers, we walked down to the beach to the the aquatics centre. Because we did not have a full day on the beach, we only did two lessons. My group did knee boarding and kayaking. The water was nice and flat on the first day with warm weather. It was good for knee boarding, but not so good for sailing. When we got back to camp that night, we all had showers which were across the road in the caravan park. At teatime we had burgers which were cooked by the caravan park caterers. We had a quiz night and the teams had to include at least one student from every home group. Mr Mussared ran the quiz having his own singing round. We all eventually felt tired, so we got ready for bed. In the morning we had cereal and toast for breakfast. Again, we all got ready and packed for a full day of aquatic activities. We would do four this day and be on the beach for eight hours, from nine in the morning until five in the evening. My group had sailing and paddle boarding in the morning and then we all stopped for a lunch break. While paddle boarding, we went quite a long way away from the shore. We went all the way over to the spit. It was where the water was very shallow, and you could see the seaweed poking out of the water. On the sailboat it was fun but also quite stressful, there was a lot to do and there was no adult or instructor on the boat with you. It was just me and four of my friends from my group. We had sandwiches and muffins with apples and bananas for lunch. We reapplied our sunscreen and had a drink of water to rehydrate ready for more hot sun. I then did knee boarding and kayaking again with my group. We had time for a few more laps on the knee board this time because we had all learnt the basics. We kayaked for quite a long time and practiced capsizing the kayaks. When we rafted up (which is when we all hold on to each other’s kayaks and form a line) someone would walk across the back of our kayaks and then back again. Sometimes it would rock the kayaks so much that they would nearly tip over. When we got back to the camp, we had showers and got ready for tea, it was roast chicken and veggies. For dessert we had ice cream and cake. Later that night some of us watched a movie, the others played basketball or card games. I think we all got to sleep a lot quicker that night because of the full day on the water.

The next morning, we had to pack up all our clothes and bedding to put it all in the trailer and bus. My group did sailing and paddle boarding again for the last activities. They were both a lot of fun. The wind was good for sailing, but not the best for paddle boarding. We stopped for a break in between the two lessons and had a small snack to recharge our energy. We had time to go to the kiosk at the end of all the water activities. Some people bought chips. We tried to catch a seagull with a person in a hole in the sand and a towel over the top of them. We nearly caught one put it flew away too quickly. We all had a group photo and then all piled back into the bus for the trip home. It felt a lot shorter than the way there because I think we were all eager to get home and get some proper sleep (but not so keen for the schoolwork for the next few days).

By Beatrice Marshman

Year 8 camp was an awesome experience. As soon as we got there, we headed down to the beach. I really enjoyed the water activities, with knee boarding and stand-up paddle boarding being my favourites. On the first day, my activities were sailing and knee boarding. We had a safety talk, and then split into our different groups. We put on our PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices) and a helmet. Then we learnt about the different parts of the boat and were out on the water. The weather was calm and sunny, we were very lucky. After this it was time for knee boarding, we headed out on a boat to another part of the bay. Knee boarding was amazing fun. We were all tired and hungry on the way back, but excited for tomorrow. The next day, I tried kayaking, it was difficult to steer. Paddle boarding was a challenge, and I discovered I wasn’t very good at standing up on it! I fell off 8 times! Overall, I had a great time being in the water, making new friends and spending time with the other Year 8s. 

By Melanie Cavanagh 

In Week 4 we went to camp at Port Vincent. The weather was very good for the first two days, but the last day was a bit windy. We did many activities but my favourite was either sailing or knee boarding. The food wasn’t too bad, but we were able to use our money in the Kiosk on the last day. It was a lot of fun. 

By Angus Lemon