The activities for the day started at a late 10am by the time the tests were complete.
Today was paddling day. This would involve a couple of games on the water at Island Pool before a 4K paddle down the upper Murray River.
The boys were given time to get into their wetsuits, PDFs and helmets before loading onto their bus. Keely kindly lent me all of her paddling gear as she was again unable to participate due to her injured foot. At this stage I was a little apprehensive and could relate fully to the nervous boys who kept saying, “I’ll go down the rapids if you do Fiona” – nothing like a little bit of pressure!
We spent the first couple of hours playing in the pool in the kayaks. This taught the boys how to change direction, change speed and stay in a straight line as well as, most importantly, building their confidence before the rapids and paddle down the Murray. British Bulldogs was the main game of the morning and much hilarity was had with the boys paddling in all directions as they tried to escape from the staff. After this the boys had to get their kayaks out of the water and carry them upstream to above a nearby grade 2 rapid (the same rapid we had swam earlier in the week). Now it was time for lunch. Today was meat and salad rolls prepared on the river bank. The sun was shinning and the boys appeared to enjoy their time very much, particularly when it involved empting their water bottles over each other.
Once lunch was finished, and the boys had been given a chance for their food to settle, we proceeded back to the kayaks for the start of our paddle. Those boys not feeling so confident about the rapid were allowed to take their kayaks back down to the pool and wait for the others – challenge by choice played as much a part at Moray as it had at Explorus.
Deciding that not taking part in the rapid wouldn’t set the best example for the boys, I went down second. I was one of few stay upright! It was amazing fun and I am glad I pushed myself. All the boys who tried it were super proud of themselves. Even the ones who toppled over came up smiling!
The rest of the paddle was a lot calmer. This has to be one of the most beautiful ways to see Australia; surrounded by over hanging trees, birds flying by and feeling the water below you. It was very calming and all the boys, even the apprehensive ones, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Again, the boys took this time to ask questions about Scotland, frequently making the joke about us living in caves in the highlands! Our different words for vegetables fascinated this group of boys as it had the last, as did our term Whirly-Gig for clothes lines – this one I found particularly amusing as they tried to guess what it could mean whilst I gave them cryptic clues.
Before we knew it the 4K was over and it was time to get out and travel back to camp for our final dinner – chicken cooked on the bar b q. The boys cooked first followed by the staff; we would be eating in a separate area from the boys tonight.
The evening ended with the boys sitting together in the main hall/classroom for a slide show of the photos and videos from the week. The boys really enjoyed this and I felt it was a great way to remind them how far they had come over the last few days and show them everything they had achieved.
For this last night the boys would be sleeping on camp before an early start of clear up and orienteering before leaving camp at 10.30am.
