Tuesday morning the buses were loaded with tents, swags and sleeping bags and headed off to Anglesea. The bus trip was long but without phones and social media it gave the 60 year 8 students a chance to get to know each other and enjoy the trip. On arrival to camp the tents were set up quickly and it was off to the first activities. The afternoon was spent canoeing, stand up paddle boarding and snorkelling. The snorkelling at Pt. Roadknight was great with a variety of fish being seen and a few large stingrays. The students also got a chance to test out their body surfing skills in some of the small waves breaking near the rock pools. Stand up paddle boarding was mastered amazingly quickly by the students and they explored the inlet of the Anglesea River with ease and learnt a lot about the diverse ecosystems thanks to our guides from ecologic.
On the Wednesday morning one group was at the Anglesea main beach learning to surf while the rest of the groups went to see how the real surfers do it at the famous Bells Beach. The waves had a bit of size and were a lot of fun and just about everyone managed to stand up and ride a wave. Some of the boys looked like they had been doing it all their lives with Ben Dixon, Mason Coote and Jacob Russell riding them all the way into the beach. There was some great spills including Mr. Sanders crashing out on a big wave trying to bite off more than he could chew. The afternoon was spent doing a rock pool ramble where some students saw a huge octopus attacking a massive crab. The ecologic staff again did a great job educating about the tidal system and the animals that live in the ever changing environment.
Thursday was a bus trip to the Otway Fly and spent high amongst the tree tops. The zipline course was a highlight as students whizzed between the trees strapped into their harness. The zipline was at times 20metres above the ground and as long as 120metres from tree to tree. A great way to see the only rainforest in Victoria. On returning to camp those that weren’t too tired went for a sunset walk along the beach and grabbed an ice-cream to cap off a great day.
The final day saw the second groups get to do their surfing in fun little waves and again the skills shown were excellent especially for students from the country. By the time everything was packed up and ready to go on the bus everyone was exhausted. The trip home was a lot quieter than the trip down and more than a few including staff had a quick nap. Arriving safely home was great to sleep in our own comfy beds.
