BY LILY MILLINGTON, RAQUEL SLY & GABI NICHOLL

On the 9th of May our class travelled to Rubicon Outdoor School’s Naook campus near Warburton. We started the camp activities with a 4 kilometre walk from the top of Mount Donabuang, where we discussed different risks and precautions we had to take for the hike including wet surfaces and high speed winds. After we completed the walk, we set up for the night at Warburton Camp Site and began to cook our first meal for the camp.

The next morning, we prepared to go river sledding. Considering the weather conditions (wet, cold and windy), everyone was reluctant to get in the icy water but everyone sucked it up, got in and had a ball. The day was full of laughs and splashing around in the cold water as no one could stay on their rafts. We then made our way down to the Rubicon School of Outdoor Education and set up for another night of camp. Our chill time consisted of playing intense games of Uno and getting to know each other even more.

Our final day of camp started bright and early. To make this early start even better, there was icy cold weather and heavy rainfall to get us ready and warm for our final activity: tree climbing. The weather continued to get worse as we scaled the tall and mighty trees of Rubicon; we soldiered on and had a blast. We finished off the camp with homemade pizza, music and warm drinks. The 3 day Advance Camp was short but sweet; the whole class had a fabulous time and we all came back closer than ever.

BY NIKKI JOHNSON, YEAR 11

Going to Nepal with World Challenge was an incredible experience! It was my first time overseas and I cannot wait to travel again.

Our group had a lot of fun and made some amazing memories when we visited the bat cave, the Pagoda, the Monkey Temple, the Budha Stupa and the Dunbar Square. We also volunteered at a local primary school in Pokhara where we painted the walls of the classrooms and built a small room which became a canteen.

As rewarding as this part of the trip was the trekking phase was utterly unbelievable. Trekking through the Himalayas was perfect. The views were stunning, the actual trekking wasn’t too challenging and the group became good friends helping each other through tough times and playing cards into the late hours.

I strongly recommend this experience to anyone who wants to travel and be challenged. My advice would be to bring a camera, a journal to write in and an extra roll of toilet paper!

Recounted by Olivia Mansfield and Adam Fowler, two Brighton Secondary College students.

I found the Antarctica experience exciting and interesting. When we first started to go over Antarctica, I wasn’t quite sure whether it would be an amazing experience because there was quite a lot of cloud and fog and I was worried that it was going to be like that the whole plane ride. But then once the clouds and fog cleared, the sight was breathtaking.

The ice was broken up into tiny pieces, with little ocean around them, creating a kind of ice mosaic. The further we went into Antarctica, it felt as if we were solving more and more mysteries and wonders of this earth. This feeling only went on even more when we walked down the plane and were presented with a type of science experiment that Monash University was doing, which was fascinating. They showed us how the magnetic south and north pole worked and how maybe in a couple of millions of years, it may flip, so the south pole will be the north pole and the north pole will be the south pole.

As we circled around the grand finale mountain from both points of view, I tried to get as many shots in as possible, after all, it was a once in a lifetime experience. In the end, I got about 200 photos and watched about three movies, which started and stopped again and again and again, all because of the beauty outside the window which I couldn’t tear my eyes off. The captain sometimes would talk to us about what we were looking at and the history behind it, which never bothered me. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I would most likely recommend it to every living thing on this earth.
OLIVIA MANSFIELD

The Antarctica Flight has probably been the most unique and amazing experience I have ever had. One of the most incredible things about the flight for me was just seeing how untouched and natural the land is as it has hardly been effected by humanity.

The second greatest thing about the flight was all the fun and interesting people I got to meet. I spoke people from all around Australia including researchers, students, teachers and people just there to enjoy the experience and learn some new things.

Overall I absolutely loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat.
ADAM FOWLER