Milgrove Camp

I just camp back from an AWESOME camp out in Milgrove, and my eyelids feel as though they've got weights attached to them. I wanna get all the precious memories down before they slip outta my mind, so please read on despite it's length =)

Milgrove was a great opportunity to gain some leadership skills, confidence, and to get to know more people. Well, i pretty much did all those things, especially the last one. I got to know so many friends so much more! I think part of the reason was because my good friend Jase was "sick" *coughs!* and couldn't go for the camp. haha! It all seems to come together as i remember him telling me that he hates camps food, is anti-social, likes to be pampered by his mum, has to kiss his sister goodnight every night, and doesn't like to be out in the cold, oh....and ofcourse, his worst fear - breaking sweat.

Monday was just an orientation around the camp, learning how to belay and to get into the habit of bagging Gary about Maria. Megan took the group out into the temperate rainforrest. I never knew such forrests existed! They're as dense as tropical rainforrests, but much cooler. Yea, i can still remember the cool freshness of the air that was just so distinct as it brushed gently on my face. Adding to that was the tranquility in the surrounding; all i could hear was the singing of the birds and the gentle rustling of the leaves. Every breath that i took then, was a moment to treasure. I could feel oxygen-rich air pumping into my lungs....oh yea, i just love that feeling, which is non-existant in the city.

On Tuesday, my group, which consisted of Ronald, Banh, Trent, Anthony, Arpit, Sam, Chris, Nick, Carl, Elwin, Sid, Kong and myself, went Cross-Country skiing at Cold Lake Mountain(I think that's the right name). It was my first time skiing, and i stacked a couple of times on the way up, but i managed to keep my balance the whole way down =) haha! It was really funny when Gary and Ronald kept falling on top of each other repeatedly. Arpit and Nick were pros, they did all these fully-sick tricks, at least i tried to do the same, but Trent was just being a coward :P
Oh yea, i can still remember the bus ride. Trent started bagging me because i said "Hi-larious" instead of "Hilarious" -.-" And Kong was making up really corny but funny jokes, Ronald was scratching his head, Banh was digging his nose while he was unconcious, and Trent was screaming away because of the intense heat from the heater just below his feet.

The food at the camp was really good for the first few days, but the quality dropped as the week dragged on. The desserts, however, we first-class - Apple Danish with ice cream, Chocolate Mousse, and more ice cream. haha! But there was never enough for seconds. I didn't like the beds at all. On Wednesday, I somehow slept with my entire body resting on my wrists and ended up having to bear with the excruciating pain throughout the day. On Thursday, I woke up with a sprained neck. Sigh...i can still feel the pain right now -.-"

Everyone had rings around their eyes by Wednesday. Despite that, we set out with confident spirits on a mountain biking expedition that we planned all by ourselves. Going up hill was HELL! Seriously... my calves and quads were crying out due to the intense pressure - I had to walk my bike up a few times. Anyway, coming down wasn't as tiring, but it sure was treacherous! I had to take up the responsibility as the group navigator for that section of the route, and that also meant i had to cycle right up the front.

I can still remember this particular slope that was about 70 degrees, literally. I didn't believe that we could actually make it down as there were many rocks in the way too; someone could have gotten severely hurt if a rock were to knock him off balance. Well, i clamped on to my breaks with all of my might the force of gravity dragged my bike down the steep slope, many rocks clashed hard against my front tyre, causing my handles to wabble, and all i could do was to hope and pray. haha! Thank God i made it in the end, we all did. I was quite surprised that that were absolutely no injuries! About 100 metres from camp, both my quads started to cramp up. I threw my bike to the ground and jumped off, but my quads contracted so much that i couldn't stand on both feet; i landed awkwardly on my hips. lol! I was forced to walk all the way back -.-"

I must say that this camp was much more challenging and way more interesting than the one i had in Year 9. We had the same instructors as before, Megan and Matt, but we got to choose the activities. Yea, before i go on, i have to commend Megan and Matt. They're just splendid role models, and they have really inspired me to think more about the environment and to keep persisting under difficult circumstances.

We did three really interesting initiative activities on thursday which enabled me to get to know how the others more. Yea, i got quite disappointed with this particular person at times, but i asked God to help me love him. After the initiatives, we headed on to the high-ropes course. haha! Trent, myself, Elwin, Josh and Tian were put in a group, and we had to take turns attempting the high-ropes course. The course was really high and so was the risk involved. Trent and i did the belaying for each other as we had no faith in the others. loL! I mean, the belayer literally "held" the life of the person attempting the course in his hands. Yea, i managed to complete all the obstacles, but i couldn't do the last one as my arms were too short -.-""""" We watched a really retarded horror/comedy movie before going to bed that night. There was a really sudden scene at the end of the movie which caused Trent's bum muscles to spring him metres into the air. LoL! I'll keep it a secret ;)

Then came the last day of camp, today. 4 days of full-blooded activities really sucked the life outta me, but i had something in me that didn't want to leave that secular place in Milgrove. I gave Chris ( TheYear 11 student volunteer) the shock of his life this morning. He was going around the cabins waking everyone up for breakfast. When i heard him approaching, i jumped straight outta bed and stood right in front of the door. I said "Hi!"as he opened the door .

We did the Leap of Faith today. It's this 10 metre high tower with a really small wooden box at the top of it; just enough for one person to stand on. I climbed up the tower really quickly, got on to the wobbly wooden box, jumped off and reached for the metal bar. I caught it, but it slipped outta my hands, but i was held up by the safety ropes. haha! During the camp, i got to know Sam, Venables, Gary, Josh, Trent, Anthony, Chris, Banh and Arpit so much more. I'm really glad to have such great friends. I thank God for all of you.