27 Jun 2020

Let me paint you a picture.

You're kayaking in a lake with your gullible friend. You've just told them that there are eels at the bottom of the water. Then, you rock the kayak whilst they plead for their life.

"STOP! STOP!" they scream.

Whoops, your velocity topples the kayak over. You watch your mate panic, struggling to hop back into the kayak in their frazzled state. This sounds real dramatic but you cackle and then get razzed by the teachers who specifically told you not to fall out.

Welcome to school camp.

 

Where would I be without school camp? Severely lacking in anecdotes, that's for sure.

Like, this one time, at school camp, I broke my arm. Not during rock wall climbing, the flying fox or doing the ropes course. No no. Long story short, I shaved my eyebrow off in a game of truth or dare whilst we were supposed to be sleeping.

My mate Erin was tucked in bed and screamed "if you don't SHUT UP I'm gonna go get a teacher" so the rest of us tried to be quiet. But then, as I lay on my top bunk, I remembered that I was now missing an eyebrow and suddenly had a laughing fit so all-encompassing that I fell out of the bed, on my arm. Erin was probably pleased because the pain shut me up real quick.

Now, school camp is where you see the true colours of your year group. You see how they really look in the morning, how much or how little they like getting their hands dirty, how freakishly good they are at abseiling and even how they react with fear.

I will never forget Jake, a tough as nails kinda kid screaming with such a high pitch that people over 40 wouldn't be able to hear it as he flew down during the giant swing. He owned it afterwards, shrugging "I'm scared of heights." Deadset legend.

I also miss being able to play God for a hot minute because I packed an assortment of chocolates and lollies (honey, that camp food aint sustainable). Everyone would trade their money, favours and knowledge in exchange for a Freddo frog - "yes, my friend is into your friend... now gimme the chocolate." I was fully in control for a few sweet days.

Never in my life will I feel as devastated as finding out that the camp disco was... oh man, I'm getting choked up now just thinking about it... CANCELLED! School camp offers the opportunity for a blossoming romance and that disco was going to be when my crush would realise that I'm the girl of his dreams. Actually, I think that was the night that I broke my arm and lost an eyebrow so he probably realised that I was maybe not the girl for him. But at least my friends scored some cheeky kisses during night games and activities or around the campfire, sharing marshmallows like an old married couple.

In the end, it's safe to say that school camp was my favourite experience during school (I mean, I literally broke my arm from laughing too much). I miss the wild activities in such a big group, being away from your 'rents for the first time and just going wild. So, lets cheers to the infamous school camp.