Sunday 17 April 2016

Year 12 Camp from Zoe Walsh

Year 12 Camp to Brisbane City was a great experience and a fantastic way to start off Term 2. The first day commenced with starting the journey to Brisbane City, with buses boarding at 4:00 am and arriving in Brisbane at around 10:00 am.

The first activity on the itinerary was a tour of The University of Queensland, St Lucia, which was breathtaking. With many students wishing to move away to begin studying at university next year, it was a great opportunity and experience to see what this university has to offer and to get an idea of what happens at a university campus, how to apply, courses offered and all that UQ offers its students. After our lecture and tour of the campus, groups of students then performed a UQ mini Great Race around the University Campus. This involved meeting up with Old Saints for photos, finding and answering questions and also buying a Go Card for Day Two of our Brisbane adventure, this would be used for public transport around the city. Afterwards students toured the colleges at UQ, St Johns for Boys and Girls and then Kings College for boys and Women’s College for Girls. It was interesting to see what independent living is like and learn about the process for applying to colleges like these. Students got to tour bedrooms, bathrooms and common rooms to get an idea of what it would be like to live on campus. Students and teachers then travelled via a ‘City cat’ to QUT Gardens Point. Students were then given their money for dinner at a restaurant of their choice in Southbank. That evening back at ‘Camp Warawee’ we organised a strategic plan for Day Two, The Great Race.

Day Two commenced with all students travelling to King George Square in the city to start the Great Race. The Great Race required us to make our way around the city using different modes of transport to reach our desired destination; we would then answer questions once we had arrived. We travelled to beautiful and interesting places such as St Johns Cathedral, Hilton, Museum, GOMA and IGLU - a new student accommodation centre, who gave us a Subway lunch  This race allowed students to become familiar with Brisbane City and public transport. It was a fun and enjoyable day that enhanced team spirit and was a fun competitive outlet.

That night we had our ‘T’ themed fancy dress dinner at “Kookaburra Café”. It was a very fun and enjoyable night, filled with plenty of laughter. With Mrs. Thorne as the MC, there was no doubt in everyone’s minds that it was going to be a fantastic night. There were Tradies, Twenties Flappers, Tribal people, Thugs, and of course the T-Birds from Grease. It was a hilarious event, which also included modeling down a catwalk! and a fantastic dinner produced by the Chefs at Kookaburra Café.

Day three was very emotional for many students. We had the chance to experience one of the most amazing and inspirational speakers, Bernie Kelly. He dug deep into our emotions and brought our cohort closer together then they had ever been. I think the whole of Grade 12 is thankful for Bernie, not only for the fun activities but also for making us realise that we truly are one big family. We need to look out for each other and work as a team to achieve the best we can, Bernie is a memorable speaker. Unfortunately the last day also meant that we had to pack our bags and leave Brisbane City to travel back home. In the short three days we were in Brisbane, we learnt so many valuable skills and lessons about University and City life. Most importantly our friendships were made stronger and it was one of the most enjoyable school camps we had been on.

Thank you to all the teachers for supervising and all the staff and students that made this trip so positive.  A special thank you goes to Mr. Robinson for organising and planning the whole camp.  It was an amazing experience to travel around the city with still checking in with Mr Robinson by sending pictures of checkpoints by phone and gaining bonus points in the great race. We really appreciated the trust and freedom allowed to us on this camp.


A massive Thank you from all Grade 12 Students of 2016.

Zoe Walsh

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