Outdoor Education Day - Jesse Webb 9M

On Tuesday 16 February 2016, 9M and 9J from SBHS went to the Groynes high ropes course.  After the hot bus ride we had our briefing.  We put our bags in the old shack then got split into our classroom then further again got split into groups.  The instructor of my group was called Ali.  In the morning we just did team building exercises and games.

It was a fun morning with heaps of challenges along the way, like having to communicate and collaborate in the scorching hot sun.  

In the afternoon when the sun was even hotter and our group had moved onto the high ropes course I was dying in the heat.  First of all we went to a massive wooden ladder.  Trying to climb the ladder was hard work with each gap getting bigger.  Second of all our group went to a different high ropes course.  I did two climbs, the first one was a thin wire you had to walk across with only little ropes to hang onto.  The second climb was a rock climbing wall suspended in the air, it made it quite difficult because it swayed from side to side and forward and back but what was way more difficult was that some of the hand and footholds moved. 

Overall it was a great afternoon in the blazing hot weather.  All the climbs were reasonably easy. The climb I enjoyed the most was the rock-wall because it was the hardest.

Outdoor Education Day - Anaru Walker 9M

On Tuesday morning 9M and 9J caught the bus to the Groynes.  We were greeted to the venue and played some quick games to warm us up.  After that we were split into five groups and started doing different activities.  I was placed with Will, he took us and we did team building challenges.

My response: it was fun and challenging and annoying.  It was really hot as well which didn't help.

After some lunch we put on our harnesses, helmets and Will gave us a briefing on how to belay and climb safely.  We had to climb a ladder thing and then did this other climb.

My response: the climbs were quite hard and belaying took a bit of getting used to before I mastered it.

10 March 2016 - Marcus Campbell

Wednesday the 17th of February 9L went to an outdoor education day. One of the challenges for some of the boys was waking up and arriving at school but for others it was just arriving on time.

But after waiting for a long period of time we were off. After a 15 minute drive we arrived at the Groynes. We had instructors who would take us through about three warm up challenges before we actually were harnessed up.

My first look at the rope courses I was really excited about getting harnessed up and climbing. The first course tested our balance and comfort before we climbed the other two. We were harnessed up to a long rope when we had two people holding us up and making sure we won't plummet to our death. We had a foam noodle and battled until your opponent's noodle flies out of their hand.

The other two were the most challenging besides waking up and arriving at school. The second course was combined with ladders, ropes and a climbing walls. It was really challenging except if you are physically strong in upper body and lower body.

My most challenging part of my day was the giant rope ladder. We were harnessed up and we had to climb around about 11 poles up until we were at the top. It was challenging because it is very hard to climb when you're short.

Overall I really enjoyed the experience at the Groynes.