Darebin/Yarra Program Week Three

This week was nearly all about surf camp! After a couple of games of volleyball, we spent Wednesday morning preparing the menu for the camp and working out our budget. Once we knew what we had to buy we headed up to the supermarket to do the shopping as a group. This was a great activity to start the week with a strong sense of working together.

Wednesday afternoon was our second and final session with Neil over at Decibels Music Studio. We spent our time here forming a band and learning to play a song chosen by the students. Everyone had a go at either playing an instrument or singing to contribute to the song, and it sounded fantastic after only a few run throughs. This was a really cool experience to get a taste of what it would be like in a recording band. We also learnt about how young people can get involved at the music studio including through the Freeza program, who are currently looking for young people to get on board. Let us know if you know someone interested!

On Thursday we picked up the students and headed down to Bancoora Beach near Torquay. We were lucky with the weather and had a great couple of surf sessions over the two days. Our first lesson was spent with Kev, an experienced instructor from Torquay Surf Academy. We had a couple of hours in the water and the students really made the most of it. Surfing as an activity requires a lot of strength, perseverance and determination. These traits were showed by every one of our students, which was evident in everyone managing to stand up and catch at least one wave into the shore! Our first session was full of successes.

Once we left the beach, we headed into Torquay to check out the Australian National Surfing Museum. Here we learnt about the history of surfing in Australia and worldwide, and undertook an interesting quiz provided by the museum. After this visit and some hot chips, we had a bit of extra time to check out the Torquay shops before heading back to the caravan park to cook dinner. Everyone pitched in to create a BBQ feast, which was followed by a walk on the beach for sunset.

Friday we had another surf session bright and early. We had a different instructor Nicola, who was just as competent and had us straight out in the water. The waves were bigger and rougher for this surf, but once again all the students gave it their best and were out there for nearly the whole session. Lots of great waves were caught and everyone should be really proud of their efforts, in how they conducted themselves both in and out of the water for the duration of the camp.