Prep Camping Trip

 

This past week the students went camping with Miss Dalke and Mr. Brown.  They travelled to Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island.

 

Upon arrival, the students picked their partners and began setting up tents for the two-night stay. Everyone chose the sand by the beach for their camping location. Setting up the tents took teamwork and cooperation, and of the students did a great job getting organized. There was time to explore the beach and see large driftwood pieces that everyone was able to climb on and race around. 

 

After exploring our beach, Mr. Brown drove everyone to a park with paths that led to the ocean. We went on a small hike and ended up at Botanical Bay. We all took our time exploring the rocky shoreline and were able to see many quartz crystals embedded in the rocks. Caio took off like a lightning bolt and was very good at climbing and jumping across the rock formations. At the top of the rocks there were small tide pools with small fish and shells that we were able to observe. The waves were very big and the kids enjoyed watching them crash into the sides of the rock and splash us. Ravi, Emily and Su Min enjoyed watching the waves crashing against the rocks the most.

 

On the return hike from Botanical Bay, Paul tripped over one of the rocks and took a short tumble into the ocean water.  He was a good sport about it and everyone enjoyed a good laugh.

 

That evening we had a campfire.  Everyone was encouraged to go to the beach and collect small pieces of driftwood so that we could make our fire. Mr. Brown taught everyone how to stack the wood and showed them how to light a campfire. While the boys were all on the beach with Miss Dalke collecting wood, the girls took a break to carve hot dog roasting sticks for everyone. The marshmallows were a huge success. While some people were experts at roasting their marshmallows to golden perfection, other students preferred the burnt taste and would light their marshmallows on fire to burn them sufficiently.

 

That evening we played some games around the campfire. Finally, before heading to bed, some of the students chose to stargaze while lying outside on the beach.  It was a crystal-clear evening and the sky was beautiful.  

 

The next morning we had a big breakfast before we left camp for our big hike. Everyone put on their hiking boots, packed a big lunch and brought lots of water because we were heading out for a long journey. Although the hike was fairly advanced everyone did a very good job of keeping up to speed and was positive about the hiking experience. We were required to walk across wooden planks, fallen trees, through muddy patches, up steep hills and over rocks - and everyone made it! We had our first snack break alongside the ocean. It was a very pretty view and everyone was very happy to take a break before continuing on the second part of the hike. While we were hiking we played games including ‘I spy.' Meanwhile, Kevin sang songs and Ravi made loud sounds to scare away bears. Candice, Su Min, Emily, Chris, Maho, Stephanie and Skylar giggled the entire way.  We ate lunch at a second rest stop in the bush surrounded by large trees and sheltered from the hot sun. We hiked along the same path that we came in on, with Stephanie (who was on a mission to get back to camp) in the lead. The total hike was 14 km long.

 

When we returned to the bus everyone was elated to head back to the campsite and relax. Upon arrival at the camp everyone began doing different tasks to assist with dinner preparation. Ravi, Paul and Caio gathered more wood for the fire. Kevin helped cut up vegetables. Maho was in charge of frying the vegetables. Su Min, Stephanie and Emily carved new sticks for marshmallows. Candice, Skylar and Christina worked on making the fire. We had chicken quesadillas for dinner and marshmallows again for dessert. After dinner the sun began to set so we decided to have a few rounds of hide and seek. Everyone really enjoyed this activity. Some of the students chose to hide in the bush, others hid behind driftwood pieces, some hid on the beach and then one student hid in a tree. Christina climbed high up into a tree and was able to hide from all of her classmates for over 20 minutes - all while barefoot! It was very funny and everyone could not believe how high she could climb! After hide and seek we practiced our English by playing a fun game that required us to ask lots of questions and try to solve English speaking patterns. The game had everyone racing to be the first ones to solve the pattern. It was very enjoyable! Due to the long 14 km hike everyone was very tired in the evening so we went to bed at 9:30 p.m. in order to get a good, long, well-deserved sleep.

 

The following morning we had a quick breakfast, packed up the tents and headed back to Shawnigan Lake School. While everyone seemed to enjoy their Prep School Camping Trip, the students were equally thrilled to return to civilization where they could shower and have clean, dry clothes.

 

There were a lot of fun 'firsts' on this trip. Quite a few of the students had never experienced an “outhouse” or “long drop” bathroom before. Watching them check out their portable bathroom they would be using for 2 days was quite amusing. Many of the students had not set up nor stayed in a tent before, so having that as part of the camping experience was exciting for us all. Many of the students mentioned that they had never been on an intense hike before, so it was great to experience that too.

 

– Amanda Dalke