So its back from adventure camp. well certainly this was a very unique camp by the fact that it is held in a public area, accommodation in tents, and whats more, by the sea! even scouts camps dont do that. they make us pitch tents in some sickening terrain surrounded by jungles. i think this tents thing is a fresh new setting for an adventure camp. and we seem to get along with it pretty well. one thing though, why didnt we have outdoor cooking? (bbq not counted.)
overall i would say it was a fun camp. even though i missed the whole day 1 activities cos i only arrived there at 11+ due to stupid wine course exam. but after hearing how the kayaking went so bad, i was glad i didnt go. afterall, i save $8 on rentals. and before that i only missed tent pitching which i done before.
but i wished i could have gone for the night cycling. it went all well except for a few small injuries. would have been nice to feel the night sea breeze while cycling along the coast. still, after they came back from night cycling, people took a long time to wash up and have supper and stuff, so most only went to sleep at around 3am. which was my sleeping time for both nights.
during this camp, i felt there was a lot of delays between the activities. or maybe also known as free time. a bit too generous with it, so make up for those slower ones. could get rather boring, but fortunately the beach provided a good few hours of free-time killing. surprising how anyone of any age can find entertainment and leisure by the beach. stone skipping, sand structure construction, sand ball making, playing in the sand and in the waters, or simply sitting around and watch the beauty of nature. what could we have done without the beach... just sometimes groups would gather in the pavillion to play some lame social games. im not so much into them.
day 2 beach games, lasted too short due to taking too long in the morning to get ready. it was just a miserable total 3 rounds of captains ball lasting 10mins each. playing area is small too, and the goal lines keep getting distorted. over too fast.
made our way to high elements by 1.30. somehow felt i been there before, vaguely. there was a lot of waiting time; waiting for instructions and briefings, then waiting for each other to have their turns at rock wall, vertical obstacle course, broken bridge and the vine. a few helped to belay. the rest just sat around and get bored, meanwhile getting baked in the sun and not being able to properly watch our fellows sweat it out because of the glare. there really should be a bigger place with more facilities to accommodate a group of this size.
i first did the vertical obstacle course (or how i know it), my partner gave up at level 3. i then had to climb up the remaining 3 levels on my own. was stuck and almost fell at the last level, but managed to push myself up. then for the rock climbing, a bad start caused me to become more wary and cautious, which could have been detrimental to my performance. i realise the trick is to do it quickly so i dont get so tired hanging on. the broken bridge seemed scary at first, but once i started walking across it was so easy. fear and caution is the only thing that would slow downa nd hinder someone across that bridge. once again my partner made slow progress across the bridge, and i was on the other end while he was stepping on. wanted to go back, but didnt in case i made the bridge more unstable. it was a teachable moment on the importance of confidence. ran out of time and didnt get to try the vine. but everyone made it across that one.
day 2 dinner was bbq. just standard bbq items like chicken wing, sausage, satay. plus sotong, prawn and fish cake. then later on the unpopular stuff like corn and tapioca. all bbqed on on small grill, so food flow was slow. we were unsatisfied with the amount food we got, but by the time more was ready, out stomachs made us feel full already. so a large container of leftover food became the forefeit for games played later in the night.
at night, there was supposed to be the campfire session, but there was no fire. so it became instead a 'whose line isit anyway' session. we all sat on the big white canvas which became all wet and sandy with foot juice. still, the girls would be using it to sleep on later. it was an entertaining time but it somehow lacked structure.
after that the rest of the night was free n easy. as usual many didnt wanna sleep so early on last night of camp. so we stayed up and played several rounds of mafia (aka murderer)...began to like the game more. (i dont like the version with the healer though.) and when people started leaving, then we stopped and decided to sleep.
now my tent was wet and flooded from a mishap with the morning rain. it also became very sandy inside. was sickening and i decided to sleep outdoors instead. i camped onto a bench by the beach. but soon a heard the strong wind coming from the sea and went past the camp, followed by drizzle. i knew then i had no choice but to get back into the gross tent and sleep there. so yes, i had to sleep over sand and my legs in a puddle of water. but i realise that was the best place to be then. the rain came and grew into a really great storm. extremely heavy rain and very strong winds. the tent felt like it was gonna be blown off. could hear the fierce raindrops all over the tent, but it was all safe inside. poor people at the pavillion, they had a hard night.
i managed to fall asleep, and wake up to watch the sunrise. witnessed the orange sun rising up from the sea horizon. from then on, we just spend the day getting ready, freshen up, devotions, pack up the place and ready to go home by 12. nothing much on day 3, nor day 1. so i actually all i needed to go for was day 2. which i did. so i do not feel sad on missing day 1. it was a fun, easy and inspiring adventure camp. pros and cons present. perhaps taking these into consideration, next year's could be made much better.
