Yarra Week 2 2018

Week 2 of the program started with our camp pack and bike ride. The day began with us packing, dividing and rolling all the equipment that we needed for camp. The young people worked as a team and made this pack quick and organised! Once the pack was done we loaded the mountain bikes and headed down to the Yarra Trail in Richmond to start our bike ride to Federation square. Together as a group we road on the footpaths and took in the scenery to reach our destination. Once we reached Federation Square we had lunch and enjoyed the Winter Olympic coverage that they had playing on the big screen. The ride overall was successful as everyone gave it a go and met the challenges that they faced with a smile.

Thursday morning was an exciting one as it was the start of our first camp! We packed our belongings, food and all our hiking/camping gear and headed off to the You Yangs Regional Park. The You Yangs is a beautiful area close to Melbourne and open to the public that offers high quality hiking and mountain bike riding tracks. Upon arrival we slopped on some sunscreen, filled our water bottles, put our packs on and started the hike. The start of the hike is definitely the most challenging part as it starts with a trek up quite a steep hill. This challenges the young people mentally and physically and really helps to put our resilience practices into play. Once we had concurred the hills and reached the more gentle part of the hike, we travelled at a steady pace and reached our camp site well before dark. Once we had arrived we could relax a little, set up our tents. cook some dinner and share our thoughts on the day around a warm camp fire with marshmallows.

Friday morning saw the group wake with a spring in their step and determination on their mind! We were up, packed and having breakfast within an hour which is a person best for the program! Once we had packed all our gear away, we grabbed the mountain bikes and started our bike ride. The terrain of the tracks we ride can be quite bumpy and often has obstacles like branches and rocks. It was great to see that everyone took this ride in their stride and met every challenge they faced head on. Even those who hadn't been on a bike in a few years looked comfortable and confident and really got involved in all that the tracks had to offer. Once we had finished the ride we had lunch and headed back to unpack and head home to a much needed shower.