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June 12

Camp Illawonga 2017

We were busy packing on the weekend. There was a lot to bring to school!

Mickey courtesy of Tumblr

Week six had finally arrived. The day we had been waiting for since we started in grade three.

We were going …. Camping!

Yay.

Most of Mrs Woolford’s year 3/4 class would be joining our excited campers. We left our families for three days and two nights. Would they survive without us? They would just have to be brave. But it was okay if some parents needed extra hugs good-bye.

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We had a long two hour journey to get to Camp Illawonga in Swan Reach, which would be our new home for the next few days. Thankfully the coach had comfortable seats and seatbelts.

Map from Illawonga home page

The road trip was fabulous, but travelling made us hungry, so we stopped to stretch our legs, have a bite to eat and of course have a little playtime. Angaston was the perfect place.

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Another short ride, well sort of …… and we were soon settled into our dormitories at camp. Our class was on lunch duty so it was straight to work. Yum … Tacos.

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Mark, the Camp Leader, gave us a lot of information and instructions about being safe for our stay and expectations around the camp site. Soon it was back on another bus for a short ride. We were crossing the Murray River on the punt to visit The Murray Aquaculture Centre. This was an interesting place where we learnt about almond farming and yabbies.

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That was fun because we also had a challenge  to see which team would catch the most yabbies. Yabby catching sounded simple enough, but there were some tricks to learn…… patience.

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The girls were Yabby catching heroes, how did they do it!

The sun was going down, and it was getting cooler, but there was still so much to do… more duty groups for tea.

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After our delicious meal, we went into the gym for some outrageously exciting fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the still camera!… But trust us, we worked up an appetite for a yummy supper with twisting and jumping, turning and rolling, hanging and falling…… before it was time to hit the sack. We had a huge day planned so we needed our beauty sleep.

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Some of us slept soundly. Poor little Scarlett.

Up and at em, the next morning was quite eerie. A mysterious fog crept in, it threatened to hide the sun… but we found it.

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Lucky the Sun burnt off the fog by the time we were ready for our river cruise. We needed our floatation devices before we could walk down to the boat.

While we went on the cruise, the other groups went on a caving expedition and a Safari ride. We would all rotate activities throughout the camp. Once again, I left the still camera behind for the cruise… but I remembered it for the ride to the caves.

Those hard hats were fabulous protection, without them I think we would all be a little shorter!

After that adventure we had a short bushwalking to a HUGE river red gum. That tree was so big we just fit around it! We had enormous fun building Tepees with all the twigs and sticks lying around.

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Each time we visited the river, it meant a short but steep 400m walk down a gravel path… naturally we had to walk back up too. That was tiring, luckily Ellen makes us do fitness each week so it was a piece of cake.

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We needed to get back to camp quickly, as we had to get ready for an exciting adventure at Sunny Dale sheep farm.

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What a whip cracking great time we had. We really earned our tea that night. In fact some us sang after supper! Karaoke was so much fun, we have stars in the making. Stay tuned for the videos.

It was a perfect night for a camp fire.. but oh,we forgot to sing a Letter from Camp! Still the planets were smiling for us in the night sky. Then of course the marshmallows needed toasting… yum.

Time for bed, it was a big day indeed and it isn’t over, there’s more to come. To bed!

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Getting up wasn’t that easy, lots to pack and clean up before breakfast and be ready for our last activities. I missed the Safari ride, but I did managed to check out archery. We had some bullseyes. Bravo.

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All too soon we needed to pack the bus and say our goodbyes to Mark and the team. Camp was the best. Three cheers for Illawonga.

We reckon it was sad to leave, but we were glad to get back home to our loving families too. Thanks to our brave Dad, Shane Brow who gave up his time to help with the boys and group C.

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Dear Families,

Apart from a few sore tummies, there were no problems just loads of fun and learning. Thank you so much for allowing me to borrow your precious ones for those few days, we have some wonderful memories. Stay tuned for some great videos the kids will be working on. I might have a go too.

Warm regards, Ellen

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Posted June 12, 2017 by elleneisenkolb15 in category Health, History, Integrated Tasks, Literacy, Maths/Numeracy, Science, Team work, Technology

6 thoughts on “Camp Illawonga 2017

  1. Phoebe

    G’day Ellen,
    Camp was so much fun! My favourite thing to do was gym because I love gymnastics and I do it. I did not like being sick at all!🤒😥 I wish I could go on the safari trailer ride but bad things, like being sick happens. I really do feel sorry for Scarlett because she had to home I also wish that Scarlett didn’t have to go home. My favourite meal was tacos because I don’t get them often and they were very yummy. I never want to climb that hill again it was so tiering!
    From Phoebe

    Reply
    1. elleneisenkolb15 (Post author)

      Hello Phoebe,
      No one likes getting sick and I think you were extremely lucky that the germs didn’t attack you earlier other wise you may have had to go home with poor Scarlett. Oh well it was sad for her but then she has had a fabulous time in Darwin. I guess we’ll hear all about her adventures soon. Now that the holidays are coming I’m sure you’ll have fun things to do. Do you have things planned?
      Regards Ellen

      Reply
  2. Cristina

    Hi Ellen & Santino:

    Do you know who´s writing this post? Guess Santino … Yeah! I´m your Nona … I think you´ll have to explain Miss Ellen and your classmates what does Nona mean, isn´t it? Well dear Tino, I must say that I miss you so much and I´m counting the days left to give you a very big hug. Did your Mum tell you that I´ve already bought the tickets to visit you in December? OK, but as it is a long time yet to December, I would like to know what are you learning now at school. Write me back!!! Love u Santino and, Miss Ellen: Thank you for this possibility. Greetings from Argentina for whole Grange School Grade three 😀

    Reply
    1. elleneisenkolb15 (Post author)

      Hi Christina,
      You may find a new post that would interest you. Santino is very musical and thoroughly enjoyed playing these instruments the other day. I have told him to check out his message, let’s hope he logs on.
      Regards Ellen

      Reply
  3. Cristina

    Hi Ellen! I´m Cristina, Santino Belmonte´s granny. I live in Argentina and I would like to thank you very much for share this photos and comments. It seems that you and the children have had a great experience!!! Congrats!!! The post helps me to feel a little bit near my beloved ones. Thanks again 🙂

    Reply
    1. elleneisenkolb15 (Post author)

      Greetings Christina,
      How wonderful to hear from you. I’m glad you enjoyed looking at the camp post. We did have a great deal of fun, it was terrific that Santino could join us. I’m sure you miss them very much, so I’m glad this blog helps keep you in touch. You can write to him and I’ll get him to reply to you, I’m sure he would enjoy that and feel proud sharing his work. I reckon the class will be impressed to know we have international visitors.
      Warm regard Ellen

      Reply

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