Why you ask??? Well take 88 eager Grade 8's, 5 keen teachers and just add mud, water, heights, depth and darkness and you have camp - yep I took about 2/3 of my little cherubs away for their camp and it was awesome.
I have been to this camp once before - back in 2004 or something like that and loved it but still walked away going gee I wish I did that and I wish i had the guts to do that. So this time, I set myself a challenge which was NOT to come home saying those exact same words again and guess what - I didn't, I haven't and I won't because I did EVERYTHING I set out to do and man, it feels great. So what did it all involve you ask - well I will let the pictures speak for themselves:
A reinactment of the Vietcong Tunnels from the Vietnam War - very deep, very narrow, almost no fresh air (except for this section of the tunnels) but an amazing thing to have done. Too scared of getting stuck the first time I went to camp and this time I thought to myself stuff it, get in there and have a go and OMG I am so glad I did - more than worth all the grazes, bruises, aches and pains.
Bridge over the Riverf Kwai - another one of the challenges I didn't/wouldn't do last time because I was too hung up about my size. Basically the idea of this challenge is for two people on opposites sides of the bridge to cross over to the other side. 
The easiest way to cross over is for one person to lie down and let the other person step over them. Considering I was up for a challenge, the instructor told my partner and I to 'cross over' standing up - no mean feat given the wind and the 'wobbliness' of the bridge. I almost fell in a few times but managed to balance myself again - not sure how but I did lol.
Yay she made it to the other side. (On a side note - OMG how disgusting do I look - I know that I am large but OMG seeing these pictures just highlights it even more. Definitely time to get even more serious about changing this situation.)
The Kokoda Track - very tough challenge, physically and mentally and a lot of having to get over my size issues and just get on with the job at hand. This mock-up is about 50m long and it was very tough going so I am amazed and bewildered at the strength and tenacity of our WW2 diggers and all they had to go through in PNG to defend us from the threat of the Japanese Imperial Army.
Warning - do not stand up because you will sink - no matter how big or small you are. Best way to make your way through the mud? Crawl/dog paddle type actions, minus any kicking - I swear I must have swallowed about 3 or 4 huge mouthfuls of this mud during my Kokoda adventure.
Alpha Company - the most awesome group of students who did my proud. Yep I will admit, I was like a very proud mummy with my little campers- tears spilled over more than once during our two day adventure. How did I ever get to be so lucky to be able to work with such a great group of students???
Also have some scrapping to showntell but will put that in another post.
Love you, mwah
Me xoxoxo
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