1B today went canoeing down the Yeerung River and it was such a mesmerising experience.

We started the day by packing up the trailer with all of the equipment that we needed, and then we hit the road. When we got to the spot where we were to start, we swiftly unpacked, got into pairs and got onto the water. Mr Burke taught us some paddle stokes and we started to paddle one way up the river. We all crashed into each other and splashed each other and it was a very enjoyable ride. At one stage our whole path was blocked by a large tree, so we decided to take that opportunity to spend just 5 minutes relaxing in our canoes, enjoying the scenery and listening to the environmental sounds. It was amazing.

When we reached our starting point again, we had lunch, then got back onto the water and paddled the other way, towards the beach. We had a stop there and made a human 1B in the sand which kind of failed because it looked more like an 18, but it was fun. When again we got back to the starting point, Charlotte and I demonstrated how to capsize a canoe. We kind of paddled away from the group a bit, then rocked the canoe and fell in. I thought that it would be really cold, but it turned out not to be so bad. I must admit that my feet were quite cold though. Then everyone worked together to get our canoe back up the right way and then we had to awkwardly clamber back in.

We then all did individual capsizes and had to swim our canoe back in. It was a great lesson and it taught us how to be assertive in a situation that results in you falling into the water. We learnt a lot of skills and how to co-operate as a team to smoothly work in a straight line, or to complete going in circles and all kinds of little things.

It was day and it couldn’t have been done without Mr Burke and Ms Beck. Thank you.

Breanna, Mortlake P12 College