Yarra Week 6 2018

Week 6 was our most challenging yet as it was our expedition week! We all work together to complete the journey and were lucky enough to spend three days on the beautiful Goulburn River.

Wednesday stated off the way all of our camp days have by packing our stuff and loading the bus. We then took the 2 hour journey up to the river to met with Kelto and Matt from Rubicon. Once there we covered safety, pumped up the rafts and checked all our equipment, set personal goals for the camp and then got straight on the river. Due to the water levels being high (highest its been in years!) we rafted in two big rafts with 5 people in each. This saw a change from what we had done on Friday and saw the young people adapt to it well. After paddling up the river and enjoying the scenery we landed at our camp site and set up. Together we all cooked, ate and shared storied before we headed to bed to rest up for the next day.

Thursday morning saw us up at 7:30am to pack up, load the rafts and head off for our days journey on the river. We were really lucky on this camp to get perfect weather with sun and cloud providing much needed warmth and cooling when we needed. After some swimming in the river, platypus/echidna sightings and picking of some wild figs we arrived at camp to unpack and relax. The day saw the young peoples teamwork, person goals and patience being challenged with everyone of them working through this admirably. To settle in for the night the young people participated in some mindfulness while the Newstart and Rubicon crew got started on dinner. Thanks to Kelto and Matt we were lucky enough to indulge in some bush delicacy as they provided sushi (complete with picked ginger!) for us to snack on. We went to bed with full bellies and determination to finish their journey.

Our last day saw us wake up to a movie scene with mist settling on the river. It was a really beautiful way to start the day and one that made the 6:30am wake up worth it. After waking we were off and ready to go before we knew it. The journey to our end destination wasn't a long one but was an exciting one as Kelto said we had the most platypus spotting he has ever had. Once we reached our end point we reflected on our journey and packed up to then head home.

The camp is one that challenged everyone in a number of ways and grew them too. Each young person personally accomplished a lot and could go home feeling proud. It was a camp that we all enjoyed and as the young people rated it, was a 10/10!