Term 1 Week 8 2022

On Wednesday we went to the Eltham Leisure Centre to meet with our instructor Brad. We had a group warm up session working on some resistance band exercises which allows us to activate more muscles and helps build strength. We also used a spikey ball to massage our muscles which increases blood flow to the connective tissue, helping to recover quicker from workouts. We had a squat challenge following a song which definitely got the quads burning! We then all went into the gym to do our workouts. The young people did really well at pushing themselves and staying engaged in the gym activities. For the afternoon, we went for a 11km bike ride along the Eltham bike trail. The students were introduced to the bikes that we were going to use on camp and all safety measures were discussed before heading off. The young people showed enthusiasm and confidence on the bikes which was great to see.

On Thursday morning, we picked the students up from Collingwood station and went back to CAS to continue to pack our bags, organise all the food and prepare all extras for our Bike Trail Expedition along the Great Victorian Rail Trail. Before heading off, we asked the students to think about an individual character strength goal to focus on for this camp and we relayed the expectations, given they are assessed on areas such as self-organisation, team work, leadership, participation and behaviour. We started from Alexandra and rode to Molesworth where we spent the night in the Caravan Park. The group morale was high and the students did a great job on the trail, riding the first 17kms. Once we arrived at camp, we set up our tents and then had a nice break with afternoon tea. We spent the later afternoon working on our journals, writing a gratitude letter. We then went on to cooking our BBQ for dinner. Everyone had a role, including cutting, cooking and washing up which everyone did really well. The students were given more responsibility on this camp and often made the decisions collectively as a group which showed their leadership skills. We had cake and s'mores around the campfire and relaxed under the stars. During our debrief around the fire, we discussed how everyone felt about the day and how they were doing with their own character strength goal they decided on. We spoke about how we could improve for the following day and students made suggestions to each other on how it could be achieved and how they could support each other.

On Friday the students got up on time, packed up their tents and were ready for breakfast in a timely manner. We were impressed with their efforts and the energy remained for the entire day which was great. We rode from Molesworth to Yea which was another 17kms. There was a longer, gradual incline on this part of the trail, but the students pushed through it and was rewarded with a great down hill ride afterwards! We went through the Cheviot Tunnel which the young people really enjoyed! The rail line tunnel operated between 1883 to 1970 and is still in excellent condition today. Once we made it to Yea, we relished a well deserved lunch and then jumped on the bus back to Melbourne. Once we unpacked the bus, we talked about the camp overall and shared our achievements of our goals. All students on the expedition did a fantastic job and showed new improvements and skills. Amazing work crew! \