Today, everyone competed in the orienteering challenge. Everyone got their gaiters on, wore their best shoes and got ready to go. People formed up into teams, and then had the tricky task of thinking up a team name. Then after each team chose a course to complete, they set off into the wilderness. Soon after heading out, people discovered what can only be described as a swamp, and in said swamp lay many hole-punches, and then it became apparent that wearing ones nicest Nikes may not have been the greatest plan. However, after a few snakes were fended off and some tears were shed over destroyed shoes, everyone returned with at least a slight smile on their faces. But, alas, our efforts were in vain, because one team completed all of the courses in close to record time, and we all wore our mud with pride. It was a fun afternoon out and I had a great time.

Euan - Timboon P-12 School

My favourite activity from this week so far would be our first lesson of Expo Skills.

We had a talk over our past experiences and were preparing ourselves for the upcoming actual expedition that is going to be happening in a few weeks.  We got geared up with our hiking bags, tents, food and were being sun smart with our hats and sunscreen all over ourselves. Just before morning tea we took off. But before we took off, everyone in the team was given a role to take control of. Xavier was our navigator and he did a great job of guiding the team through the bushes and around.

Overall, everyone worked well together and helped each other out and had a great time. We all learnt something new, like how to set up a tent. We finished our lesson off with a mini concert that we all very much enjoyed on our way back.

Sonya from Victoria University SC

It started in a beautiful and warm morning with decent wind. I woke up with a big smile on my face because it was Rest Day and it was also my first student leader day. I was singing cheerfully in the shower like a bird making noise on a rainy day. I walked out in the common room with my pretty woollen pyjamas on and it was kind of weird but I didn’t care because I was happy. The breakfast tasted more delicious than any normal day, but why? I was very excited.

After the headcount and the speech, my friends and I headed out with the teachers to go fishing. We sang on the bus happily and made jokes then laughed. When we first arrived, the worst thing was the mosquitoes; they were annoying. I spent 30 mins with the same position and I caught no fish but my friend was next to me and he caught a fish in 10 mins. WOW! It was a very memorable and enjoyable moment. I really wanted to do this again although I didn’t catch any fish.

I was thinking to go to the beach and chilled but I had to run soccer training that I announced the day before. It was tiring because the temperature suddenly rose but we did well to complete the drills. First we warmed up to reduce the chance of muscle cramps. After that, we practiced our passing and dribbling. Finally, we had a fun little game which was the best part of the training.

I was exhausted at night but it was fun. My roommate woke me up in the middle of the night because I snored loudly. I can’t wait for the next Rest Day and do all the activities again. My goal will be to catch at least one fish.

Phuoc - St Albans Secondary College

Rhiannon and I (Liam) were student leaders for the first time. We found it an enjoyable and new experience for the both of us. We are looking forward to being student leaders again. There were challenges along the way.

Today we both had Bridge Building. We found this exercise to be a great team building exercise as it required immense amounts of teamwork and communication. This activity was challenging without being overly frustrating. We believe that, while some of the community are still late to classes, the majority of our peers have settled in well and are making valuable friends.

We are all having a great time here and are bonding well. The time appears to be flying by and we are all eagerly awaiting our surfing lessons. We are also learning a lot of new knowledge and skills which we hope to apply to make ourselves better people and better leaders.

Rhiannon- Derrinallum P-12 and Liam- Mt Clear College