Year 8 @ Camp Columba

Year 8 Camp, 2025, how could I put it all in words?  From the flying kiwi, to the zip-line, going to the pond on the burning hot days, kids falling out of kayaks, to me, being so scared at the top of the high ropes; camp was awesome! In the two years that I've been with my year group, I'd never seen us all so excited. We even woke up super early, driven by excitement and adrenaline.

The bus ride was filled with a sense of anticipation all around me. Some of the kids behind me were talking about the flying kiwi and how awesome it is. I was so eager to go to camp but in a way I was also a bit scared. We didn't know who was in our cabins, we didn't know who was in our activity groups; we really didn't know anything, but, I think the feeling of the unknown was probably what made it so exciting.

When we got to camp, I read the list of names on the bunk room door; names of girls I knew and had friendships with. Safe to say, I was super happy. We didn’t have much time until our first activities, led by our awesome parent leaders. Each group came back carrying big long smiles on their faces, before talking my ears off about how much fun they were having. I was happy to see everyone having such an amazing time.

The rest of the activities were also amazing the flying kiwi felt like I was really flying, until I fell on the ground! By the way, I think it was worth it. Kayaking was also amazing when we went down the slide. My cheeks hurt because I was smiling so hard. And that was before the manu competition!

Camp was awesome and I could go on all day about it. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I wouldn’t change the girls talking at 10:00 at night, I wouldn’t change getting so scared on the tarzan ropes, and I wouldn't even change rolling my ankle or tripping down the hill. All of this, and more, made camp funny, awesome, exciting and crazy. Camp was mind-blowing in the best possible way.

Shout out to our wonderful teachers, epic parent helpers, and Evie and Riley for making our week so memorable.

Lola Cayford's reflection, complemented with some other Year 8 input.